Should I interview for a top HF?
I joined a large LO fund for less than 6 months as a full-time junior analyst with 2+ years of sellside/buyside internship experiences - meaning I know the business but the sector I am covering is new to me. I have just finished ramping-up and have not come to officially cover companies yet.
As is well-known, junior to senior analyst promotion takes forever at LO and I think my boss is okay with me developing my capabilities as an equity analyst but limit the responsibility I will be taking (i.e. want to let me assist a senior analyst for longer before I can take coverage). I could certainly use several more months to grow my knowledge but I can feel my boss is also trying to give me some work in assisting PM (sector allocation) and trying to delay my hope of taking coverage.
Honestly I would love to see fast growth and comps growth related to it which I know would happen at HF if I do it right. I am concerned that 6 months is too short and I'm not ready enough for a top HF job and random interview could ruin my reputation at that fund.
I would not hire someone with only 6 months experience at a LO. You haven't even seen a true investment thesis play out from cradle to grave, not to mention fulsome development of technicals, both quantitative and qualitative. Keep your head down and focus on learning. Worrying about comp at your stage is just short term thinking. Lending a hand to the assisting another PM is just another opportunity to learn from an experienced professional and learn an additional POV for things.
Do associates/junior analysts even get serious looks from HFs? I was under the impression you had to cover a handful of names on your own to have the ability to recruit for a good fund, meaning 2-3+ years at most large LOs
To your question I know several fresh grads who moved from sellside ER to top HF with less than 1 year experience
What top HF? You can't use that term if it's just a pod shop.
MLP/Baly?
Thanks. I think that helps a lot. I do need a period of getting my head down and learning. But I do have questions.
The skills I'm developing including knowledge in industry/single stock, quant analysis, and others.I'm wondering how I could maximize my learning curve given it's currently a combination of industry-specific equity research + sector allocation.
Honestly my industry is not that sexy and even structurally downwardly trending with fewer investable ideas and it would take decades to grow new opportunities in the area. Should I only view this as a good practice?
I'm already trying to read investment books/get CFA credentials/meet as many management and sell-side analyst and write as much in depth as I could.
On the seniority side, my firm has previously hired people with no ER experiences as well - sector IB+PE analyst and they took coverage pretty fast. I'm wondering how I could build trust in that front and not be viewed as a fresh graduate given I have also invested in my PA for >3 years and am catching up on the industry knowledge
Honestly, sector experience is not that important for now. Sector experience can be learned by just about anyone, and I don't consider that a priority over basic investing acumen. If you strip an investment thesis from all of the sector/company specific minutia, you will find that same scenario popping up more often across industries than you would imagine.
I honestly don't think you would have much luck at "top HFs" in terms of even securing an interview at this point, but more importantly, you are in a good seat and learning a lot.
If you want to move up, it is the basic advice of completing work error free, consistently internalizing any advice/criticism/guidance you get along the way, and going out of the way to make your boss' job easier (I hate that advice, but in the early days, it is tue). Being a buyside ER analyst is a tough job because it is not really output/volume driven, and the quality of your work is judged both by 1) accuracy + how comprehensive, thoughtful, and "logical" (if you nailed the "process") and 2) how successful your investment calls are. The problem is that succeeding in #1 does not always equate to #2, and vice-versa, which is why most places don't judge a junior analyst on the outcome of the investment, but if their process and work was sound.
I think you are quite early on, and a PA almost never translates to true professional investing experience. The early years are all about pattern recognition and getting your reps in across names. You then begin to see how the cycle ebbs and flows across quarters (even in a bull market, you get mini-cycles), how stocks trade, how theses play out (or don't play out), etc. You will be guided by your boss' and firm's investment philosophy, and at the same start picking off elements that resonate more with you from a host of other sources. You most likely don't have a guiding light yet to what your own investment philosophy is, or enough true reps to avoid the common pitfalls / recognize situations that are advantageous.
To the other comment, since you probably have not seen a full thesis play out from start to finish yet, I would stay focused on building your toolkit while also learning more about what other HFs do and how they do it. You are in a great position, but I wouldn't fast forward too quickly to being a partner at tiger and bringing down 10mn next year.
Thanks. I think it's helpful.
The question is about getting trained where. I have friends who only worked in sellside research for less than a year and moved to top hedge funds to be juniors and I have seen junior people entering into HF and grew in-house to be a PM. I wonder if I could mimic their experience.
I'm just wondering if one could grow faster in a more market-oriented setting amd staffed with more responsibilities. I'm sure part of their job includes high frequency data monitoring and maintaining financial models as well but HF seems to be more willing to give juniors a try, v.s. LO. If they get a good boss/team they also learn a ton on the market front v.s. LO where it's limited to fundamental research
3 years of PA trading is not comparable to IB+PE experience in an industry. Maybe it'll help you if you start looking at the companies within your sector not through the lens of the industry, but by their business models and how they are reacting to the secular headwinds you mentioned. You should have at least 3 different business models within your sector, and learning that is transferable.
Just relax and focus on not screwing anything up. Its good to be ambitious but no one is expecting much of you, I don't think you're falling behind or anything.
Thanks. The question is also about I feel I need visible milestones/ P&L to know where I am instead of being evaluated based on very low expectations.
I would assume the challenge my junior peers take on at HF would give a clearer picture given they already have their own P&L.
It's also really hard to evaluate a LO ER analyst in general...
Also sometimes I feel my peers working at HF have more responsibilities and seem to grow faster..
I find it amusing you're quite mistaken in what's expected of a 22-year old and seem to suffer from undue anxiety (or simply a case of overeagerness)...
Yet at the same time you're so sharp you seem to be figuring out just how sleepy and NOT driven by performance the culture at LOs tends to be. I've seen guys retire at 60 after 30+ years at a LO and they're still delusional about the value they add to their investors (cue: not much). You're calling BS on the entire construct just 6 months into it, so maybe you're on to something. Congrats!
Thanks lol.
As a senior in the industry, what would you say?
Should I leave LO early and find a HF team that trains juniors better?
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