Junior Looking for HF Internship - Advice?
Hi all,
I'm currently a junior with an incoming SA'26 role at a BB Asset Management division working in multi-strats investing. I'm going to be graduating early in first semester (Dec 2026) and will not be returning full time until June 2027. I was hoping to fill in that gap with a meaningful investment analyst internship at a local/smaller hedge fund.
Currently, with it being March 2026, I've been emailing research associates and PMs on these teams for informational chats, and at the end mentioning if they hire interns, where they say they don't have a structured undergrad internship program and that it'll be very difficult. My response rate has been very high, but in my emails I never mention that I'm looking for an internship, but simply that I want to learn more about their role + experience. Then at the end of the call I ask if there's any internship possibilities where they basically say they've never let an ad-hoc intern on and there's no real program. But I know for some of these funds there have been undergrad interns in the past (maybe 1-2 in total firm history) and they're probably through nepo based on a really close relationship.
I'm not sure if my approach is the best since they're caught off guard when I ask that question, and it may seem insincere. I also don't know if I should mention it in the first call, since building the relationship first (maybe having 2-3 calls) before asking about an internship might be a good idea, since I have the time now.
For those who have landed an internship at one of these HFs during college, how did you do it? Cold emailing? Did you attach a stock pitch during the initial email, and did you say you were looking for an internship (e.g. were you direct)? Also, was it paid or unpaid and what should my expectations be (given I'll be working in-person)?
Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks.
a good pitch will never hurt, so include it if you have good work.
If you're confident in your ability to pitch/impress the pm on call, ask the question at the end depending on how much the pm likes you. Otherwise, might be better to ask about unpaid internship opportunities in the email to not come off as too transactional later.
in general its just up to the person you're reaching out to, some prefer to be upfront others not so much. also think it comes down to the level of connection you have with the person
Thanks for the reply. Would you personally recommend mentioning "looking for an internship" in the email, or stick with keeping it informational until end of call, given it's completely a cold outreach.
depends on how good your work is/if it's relevant to the person, if you know they hold a position in said name and you can value-add, get on call first
but at the same time if your work is truly great it won't hurt to say wondering if you might consider an unpaid intern, otherwise would still love to discuss...
Got it, thank you! So I should be looking for unpaid internships and try to eventually get paid if I do well, rather than assuming it'll be paid off-rip
It makes less of a difference than you believe. Truth is, HF internships are extremely rare, particularly at SMs, as you mention. From the perspective of many, it takes more time+effort to train and mentor the intern than you get value from their work.
It's not that you're doing anything wrong, it's just the odds are always very low.
So did you lie about your graduation date? I'm asking because I'm considering doing the same...
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