Renege on BB IB for MMHF?

Interned at a lower bulge (DB / Barclays) and have an offer to go to a top MMHF (C, M, P) as a pod equity analyst. I already accepted my return offer, is it worth it to renege for HF? I want to end up working in public markets long term. How would you go about reneging? Email HR?

Better Option?

IB
18% (23 votes)
HF
82% (102 votes)
Total votes: 125
16 Comments
 

Depends on what seat it is. Is it one of the grad programs (specifically P72 Academy/CAP)? Would take it in a heartbeat IF you want to do publics LT. If you're joining a pod directly out of undergrad, I would try to diligence it to get a sense of the quality of the PM/seat. Feels like it's tough to ramp up for a role like this directly out of college, and you want to make sure you're given some rope to learn

 

Also, if you're not sure you want to do publics LT, I wouldn't take the seat. I was in a similar situation, but given I'm also interested in private markets, I chose IB. If you're confident you want publics, think there's no better training ground than the grad programs

 
Most Helpful

Have been at a pretty sizeable LO for a few years now, and as someone who has more post-college years under their belt than college years, I would actually suggest IB

People saying "pick MM if you want to do publics LT" aren't actually telling you that there is absolutely no way to know that you want to do publics. Working in public equities is one of the most unique jobs out there. It's quite literally, very hard to describe all the nuances until you do it. You enjoying trading your PA offers little in regards of knowing if you actually want to do this job or will excel at it. 

I would suggest focusing on getting a general corporate skillset locked down before you move, i.e., presentation skills/executive presence, attention to detail, collaboration, and a proper network with your analyst class– IB will provide great training for all of these things. These traits are career intangibles and invaluable. It's not the easiest to move away from a HF to do other things. HFs in general, teaches you little of value for roles excluding other HF/LOs, unlike IB/consulting/PE etc. I started off at a GS/JPM/MS and it was really good at teaching me professional skills, which are missing from most who have been pod/buyside only.    

You're young and the world is changing a lot and as such I think it's more important than ever to be flexible and remain attractive to the plethora of, depending on your perspective, expanding/contracting opportunities. I also think that people, myself included at your age, heavily discount the fact that you win this game we all play, by staying in the game. I know a lot of people who left my BB bank at the same time as me who did the pod route and are washed out 2-3yrs later. You absolutely don't hear about it on this site as much as it is a reality and it informs my take in this post.  

Great opportunities all around. Congrats– you should make sure to celebrate!

 

Don’t listen to this guy. Many juniors are churned out of HFs, but it’s also true that many sharp analysts hate banking and burn out. I have several friends who burned out of banking and had to downgrade jobs. Also just like in many other industries, AI will disproportionately shrink roles for juniors in hedge funds rather than for mid and senior level. Take the grad program seat and don’t look back. Assuming you don’t have a ton of loans, you should bet on yourself here 

 

I can't really offer tangible advice without knowing your specific circumstances, career goals, personality, etc. But I'll offer some points to help make a decision.

  1. Banking is bootcamp for finance. You learn modeling, presentation, communication, and meet a bunch of people who will end up doing different things than you. Besides the long hours, banking is actually fun and sort of a frat house while being in a big city making some money. But you will not learn to think like an investor, you will be churning-and-burning work and after 1 year, your Analyst learn curve will flat line. You might have already gotten a good foundation after the summer analyst program
  2. MMs may offer a similar experience from what I've heard. It's long hours, lots of modeling, and could end up working with micro-managey people, and at a pod, there should be a pretty wide group of associates to network with as well
  3. IB is useful if you want to do PE or SM. Many SMs recruit from IB / PE and like fresh talent who have no hedge fund biases and can train them on their process
  4. On that note, SMs are a dying class and a worse career than it was 10 yrs ago. Pods have taken a lot of share, offer economics, and is very team dependent. But, it is a certain style of investing. I would caveat that the successful SMs today have adopted some pod habits and have become shorter-term focused. If you want Buffett-style investing, honestly PE would be a better fit in today's world
  5. You are also at a lower tier BB. I'm not saying MF PE or top SM is impossible, it will be a little harder if that is something you were interested in
  6. Also is the group at the bank your preferred industry? Does it historically have good exit opps?  
  7. Lastly, your personality. The biggest thing is do you think you need a few years of professional training with no career risk (banking) or do you think you'll success no matter what?
 

Temporibus laborum ipsam laborum dolores eveniet amet fuga. Facere quis asperiores incidunt aut accusamus praesentium. Repudiandae officia non ut voluptas.

Totam iste magnam rem rem. Debitis odio rerum libero iure inventore sapiente. Vel facilis vitae minus et. Assumenda enim velit error. Itaque molestiae sed rerum. Dicta molestiae est aut sed voluptate.

Consequatur quia occaecati et. Dolorem veritatis et impedit ut nisi est facere. Eius est nemo a id modi modi consectetur fugiat. Quo odit officia est totam aut unde recusandae sapiente. Doloribus harum voluptatem quo. Porro possimus adipisci qui. Voluptas voluptas tempore temporibus.

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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
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...”