Positioning oneself for Global Macro via BB - foolish?
Hey all, posting on behalf of a friend, but am also interested.
Yes this is another grad looking at BB > HF/PE thread, but it's with the best intentions (ie. experience gained through genuine interest in the role, not just money to be made).
How foolish is it to enter finance (FICC S&T, economics research, whatever) with the intention of moving to a Global Macro Hedge Fund a few years down the line?
It's not that my friend doesn't want to do S&T (on the contrary) but he thinks in 5/10 years time he'd rather be in a hedge fund, but that the few years experience would be i) insightful and ii) enjoyable.
There's a lot of chatter on here that S&T 'leads nowhere' and 'pidgeon holes you'. I've seen comments that if you don't like S&T you're screwed because you have no transferable skills.
On the other hand I've also seen threads saying that the best way to get into Global Macro funds is via S&T at a BB. How do these two viewpoints tie up?
Is it simply that Global Macro funds are so small in number that it's so unlikely you will get into one, even coming from the above background?
All advice helpful, cheers guys
I'm no expert, but from what I've heard, your exit ops from S&T really depend on the type of S&T. Sure, if you graduate with a history BA and become an equities salestrader, you'll be pretty limited (this type of position is all but dying out with the rise of electronic trading). But if you manage to finish a financial math masters program at a top ivy and then join a prop desk at a top BB (ex: MBS Arbitrage), I'm pretty sure you'll have desirable skills. After a few years at a BB, you could probably jump to a really good prop shop or quant-oriented hedge fund. The bottom line, in my opinion, is that your opportunities in S&T really depend on the product and type of desk.
S&T pigeonhole you in the way that with that kind of experience you won't make it as a C level in a company because you have no transferable skill. But you will be very well positioned to enter a Global Macro fund by doing S&T (in fact mostly T plus economic related research, sales is not somewhere you want to be if you want to trade macro products).
This is different. He started on the floor (as did Mack) and eventually reach the C level but in a bank. There is no way you become C level executive on another big company if you started on the trading floor without doing a MBA for example. Moreover he made it to CEO during boom years. I wouldn't expect a bank CEO to be chosen from the S&T folks any time soon. FIG bankers would be where you want to work if you want to reach a top position in a bank.
This is different. He started on the floor (as did Mack) and eventually reach the C level but in a bank. There is no way you become C level executive on another big company if you started on the trading floor without doing a MBA for example. Moreover he made it to CEO during boom years. I wouldn't expect a bank CEO to be chosen from the S&T folks any time soon. FIG bankers would be where you want to work if you want to reach a top position in a bank.[/quote]
What? There is no way you can be an executive in a bank without an MBA if you started on the trading floor? Not true at all, many former traders and salesman have run banks and big departments at banks. Along with Mack, Sandy Weill, Ace Greenberg, Lloyd Blankfein, and many others started in sales or trading. I find it very hard to believe that nobody in the future will ever run a bank with this type of background.
OP you are so out of touch it's ridiculous. Your "friend" should spend a little less time worrying about having an "insightful and enjoyable" experience and start busting his ass so he has a shot at getting any financial markets related job at all.
And far as I can tell, most people working at hedge funds are most definitely in it for the money.
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