Q&A: Hedge Fund Analyst Out of Undergrad

Background: Target school, studied engineering. Summered at a multi-billion $ hedge fund doing fundamentals l/s and currently at another multi-billion $ hedge fund full-time. Willing to answer anything that does not have to do with my personal past experiences (to preserve anonymity).

27 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Varies based on group performance and market conditions. However, junior levels tend to be less discretionary so a lower % of pay is based on performance. Ratio skews towards performance as you move up. Most good places vary from $150K to $200K for Y1 out of undergrad all-in compensation. Holds true for both single and multi in the initial years. Holds true for multi and single-manager. Multi starts to vary a lot more in Y2 and Y3 based on individual performance, group performance, fund performance, and relationship with PM.

Recruiting process for me was OCR + typical preliminary interview(s) and then superday. Questions were fit/interest in investing-related, accounting-related, or involved pitching.

 

The only fundamental HF I know of that consistently hires undergrads pays north of $200k. Probably varies a ton from place to place.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • Millennium Partners 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Blackstone Group 96.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 95.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.1%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.2%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.3%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (76) $192
  • Analysts (240) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (28) $146
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
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

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
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...”