Should I be content with ER if my goal is MM HF?

So recently I secured a summer analyst in ER at a large BB, under a top analyst in London. The bank where I'm working has a solid reputation in ER. Prior to that I also had experience in an obscure ER team.

I was a bit desperate for banking but had no luck unfortunately. My university is a target for London, but certainly not one of the top. If my long-term goal is MM HF, should I just be content with the ER offer & work hard to convert to ft?

I was thinking I could do a double degree at a bigger university after the internship, and then try to get into IB/ST for a clearer exist. Just not sure if it's worth it, could be wrong though.

4 Comments
 

If you go to a target, it wasn't the university that stopped you getting into IBD...

It depends what type of discretionary strategy you're looking for, L/S equity is going to mainly hire out of BB ER, EB/BB IBD, PE etc whereas Macros are almost exclusively going to go for s&t guys with a quantitative edge. Figure out what type of investing role you're into and decide based on that. ER kids going into hfs isn't uncommon at all.

 

Ouch, bruh...

Nonetheless, yeah my aim is L/s equity. There's no preference for IB over ER then? Doing that double degree would almost certainly place me in IB (cost + 1year gone tho). I just want to have the full picture, if you don't mind.

Also i left this out because I know CFA is worthless in the HF universe, but I did 2 levels and am studying for the 3rd right now, because I know it's more trash when incomplete lol.

 
Most Helpful

I didn't intend for my comment to slight you, I was just trying to illustrate that at the target level the small increments in prestige have 0 effects on overall IBD recruiting. I wouldn't firm the double degree and assume it would get you into IBD due to its pedigree. Oxbridge/whatever are great schools, but remember that most people recruiting there will get nothing or something pretty not great instead of top gigs.

Hard to say for the first part, but unless you have an IBD offer is it something to even consider? Bird in hand and all that. I've heard people mention that IBD (+ investing ex) is generally preferred but people in ER are still landing good gigs. Tbh you can go down the ladder and illustrate preferences for other roles. L/S funds might prefer to hire MFPE assocs who have experience in IBD and MFPE. Point is, ER will get you where you need to go; if you're interested in the role, take it up.

 

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