Quality of SM Candidate
I see that some of the strongest candidates (perceived prestige) interested in investing end up at SM.
I am wondering if there is a certain “floor” for pedigree to get one of these seats. For context, I am a 1st year at what would be considered an S tier (on those stupid tier lists) IBD group. Thank you
No floor
So just based off ability to convey ideas to PM?
I mean… that’s the whole point of this job… there will always be your tiger globals of the world making their searches pretty narrow due to the amount of candidates interested in them, but the number of those extreme types of funds you can probably count on your hand. I can tell you first hand plenty of these “prestigious” funds on the SM side care about your ability to pitch and work on ideas than your background… as long as your background indicates you can do both, you will probably get an interview. The rest is up to you. I had nowhere near of a “prestigious” background and interviewed for plenty of these seats. This is one industry where meritrocacy trumps prestige…
meh. pedigree helps a lot. there's a million seemingly good candidates. easier to pick one with pedigree
I agree but that's not the question though... the question is whether you need a certain pedigree to be even considered for one of these seats. now a days I think not except a handful of your legacy tiger cub seats. All else equal, there is no doubt the BB+MFPE kid will get the job over the non target kid who started out at a no name buyside shop... but the latter's experience is good enough to get an interview at a top quality SM seat when PMs increasingly care about someone who can plug and play. And a smart kid with the right experience and great case study will trump a dunce from BB+MFPE who can't say/pitch the right things during the case study.
May I ask if you have/had any hf exp? While I hope what you said is true, my personal feeling is the same with the other comment. Pedigree is so helpful it's like a 99 points bonus to a 100 score exam. If the candidate with no pedigree is better than say Buffett maybe there'll be a chance, but then again it'll be easier for these people to run startup hfs than finding a job on the market
yes I have plenty of hf exp and currently work at a fund that has been mentioned as a "top seat" on this forum. I also interviewed at a whole host of other "top seats" over the past year and half before I landed my current role so I know what backgrounds interviewed alongside me all the way to the case study round, who got the job, etc.
pedigree absolutely makes it easier to land an interview... no doubt in that, but it also won't help you get the job. I think what matters more is what the fund is optimizing for. Funds like mine can afford to filter heavy on pedigree because they have the luxury... but that doesn't mean there is a "floor" to all of these seats. I think outside of a handful of these top seats, you don't need to have a gold plated resume to have a shot.
dan sundheim pretty much said he likes hiring ppl with 0 public mkts experience.. so will you interview at D1 without a gold plated 2+2 background? unlikely... but at the same time, my fund (and some of the ones I interviewed at) values experience more than pedigree, even at the junior level (which wasn't the case 5yrs ago) as PMs increasingly want someone who can plug and play. As a result, the candidate pool is a mix of both ultra polished resumes and ppl with "less prestigious" backgrounds but amazing experience. From there, you interview and pick the best candidate regardless of the resume brand names. Often times it just so happens that the candidate with the brand name resume happens to be the best candidate... but that doesn't necessarily mean that the non target kid with great experience didn't have an equal chance to get the job.
And finally if you think running a fund is easier than finding a job in this mkt.. the issue probably isn't the industry... it's that you need to improve your resume, story and network harder.
In my experience, we rarely interview and almost never hire someone that lacks pedigree. More seasoned people that have worked at pods first sure, but younger hires not so much
Just do a LinkedIn search bro, should answer your question
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