Smartest buyside firms?

If we were to exclude the quant funds such as RenTec, DE Shaw, Two Sigma, etc., which buyside firms (hedge funds, private equity, venture capital) do you think have the smartest people?

From my personal experience, I have been insanely impressed by investors at Elliott, Apollo, Coatue, IVP, D1, Dragoneer.

19 Comments
 

Damn lol BURN!! Research analyst in AM - Equities ROASTED An 1 in IB M&A! Apply cold water to the BURNT area, An1!

 
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Yeah not sure how Coatue / D1 snuck into this list.. super subjective question too tbh. 

There's a difference between intelligence and success in the HF world and the latter matters far more than the former. Often times people mix the two but given the recent environment we've been able to (more or less) separate smart vs. fortunate. If D1 is your barometer of intelligence because they hire a swath of analysts from Ivy League schools yet incinerate institutional capital for their investors while investing in shit-co's then I'm not sure we can really answer who the "smartest buyside firms" even are.

The smartest buyside firms are guys who think critically, work hard, and generate strong returns. Plenty of those that exist that aren't the sexy D1 / Tiger cohort.

 

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