Please convince me to pursue HF
Long story short I am a PE ASO with a solid resume in tech investing trying to get to a fund or strategy I find more fulfilling. I have been mainly looking at private market opportunities across stages, but I have this sense of impending dread when I think of playing politics and joining another bloated firm with carry that very well may not pay out. On top of that, the more I learn about AI the more I’m convinced it’s impossible to model private markets holds with any terminal value one can be certain of. That’s not even mentioning these things potentially taking all of our jobs.
However, when I think of publics, I think that it’s an entire racket of survivorship bias. Alpha is only generated by pods risk management and not the individual brilliance of any analyst or PM. I also wouldn’t say I am in love with stocks, but I’d probably like the much higher comp and much lower rates of political BS on the other side. So for my own good, convince me to bite the bullet. Why is HF truly the holy land for someone like me? Will AI destroy analysts across the street or will it be a force multiplier? Is the golden age of all investing simply over? Should I just accept it and make as much money as I can even if deep down I know it’s a scam and wait for Claude to steal my job? Any and all hot takes or bits of wisdom appreciated. I am not in a great place…
If you need to be convinced to join the industry, this is not the industry for you. Given your tech investing background and desire for less typical office politics/BS, I'd consider switching to an operator role at a startup , VC, etc.
I can tell you with great certainty and from experience that a) if you need convincing to join an industry then that industry is not for you b) the grass is (very) seldom greener on the other side. I'm telling you this as a market veteran who had similar issues many moons ago. The quasi-existential questions you're asking cannot be answered with any degree of confidence. What I can tell you for sure, is that life will go on regardless and there will always be jobs for people who are useful one way or another. If you're in the financial sector only for the "money", a perfectly noble reason, I have found that these people have a shorter professional lifespan than others who may have one or two other purposes too. You have been given this moment for some introspection. It is your opportunity to get honest with yourself. Think about what's important to you and why and most of all, don't lie to yourself. The rest will take of itself. Guaranteed. Good luck.
dont
the comp in HF doesnt seem to be worth it.
PE still pays higher at the junior and mid-level on a risk-adjusted basis. Top funds like CDR APO WP paying 400-450k for ASO1 higher than HF. By end of associate program would be making ~500k and dont think any HF would be paying that much higher than 500k after a 2+2
In almost all cases PE will pay more in the medium-term. Sr ASO in PE will be making 400-600k cash comp + maybe carry which could be $500k+. HFs would pay in line with those cash comp levels with likely no-to-minimal amount from the bonus (most PMs see Analysts as fixed costs with some upside if fund performs well). It isn't once you become a Sr Analyst where you start to get leverage and PM can't afford to lose you.
If you need to be convinced, don’t do it
Lmao you shouldn't have to be convinced of it. You should want to do it because it's a labor of love. If it's anything less than that, you will get eaten alive. Active fundamental equities is a dying profession (in terms of seat count attrition), everyone here knows that but we all do it because we still just love it that much. Yes, the tails are attractive if you can hit them but your chances of doing this are not materially different from joining a successful startup -- I know this and many others know this, but we still do this because it's very fulfilling.
This is who you are competing with, people who think about markets during work, think about it after work, think about it in the shower, and dream about it when they go to bed. Your lackluster attitude virtually guarantees that you will fail in this industry
del
lol bro it's kinda full over there i dont think they need to convince you with that half-assed motivation
read the title and didn't bother with the text. Don't do it
I tell people that really want to not to do it, so for you, no way.
Can someone explain to me why its fine for IB and PE where you don't have to love the work but can still do well as long as you are somewhat smart and hardworking. For HF, can you not also be diligent and research everything even if you just see it as a job and means to make money? I don't have experience obviously so would be good to know what the underlying differences are.
IB is long hours repetitive work. HF is painful, pnl pressure, psychological uncertainty 24/7
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