PMs - Techniques for managing stresses from PNL swings

It took me a while when I first took on a PM role to determine the cause of any stress that I took on from PNL swings and then take the appropriate actions to mitigate them. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to hear from other PMs on their experiences to benefit future PMs when they are in the same situation.

Regarding my experience, I found myself, on an almost daily basis, doing the constant arithmetic of implied end of year compensation and the lifestyle changes that could facilitate. The constant goalposting meant that I would inevitably feel quite deflated on a day where there was a decent drawdown. Despite discovering this issue early on, I found it hard to mentally re-wire myself to permanently not think this way so I took the inverse approach of investing PA in a dividend/coupon clipping portfolio that generated the same amount of annual coupons/dividends as my annual expenses so that I can mentally tell myself that any future compensation is not a necessity. It's not ideal from a return maximizing perspective but I like to think that it has helped my mental health in this role.

I'm genuinely curious to hear from other PMs on their experiences and how they tackled them.

1 Comments
 

Et quae sint voluptatem labore. Vel voluptatem ratione ab ullam ullam fuga hic vitae. Est officia autem possimus minus neque.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.0%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.0%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.0%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Two Sigma Investments 94.9%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (11) $372
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (83) $287
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (76) $193
  • Analysts (234) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (276) $95
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”