SS ER to L/S ER MM comp expectations
Hi all,
Not sure 100% sure if I'm going to make the move to buy-side yet, but I believe I'm close to an offer at a L/S equity at a MM/pod fund, therefore I wanted to gather some thoughts on what I could expect compensation wise given my background.
I have 4+ YOE in sell-side equity research covering tech. Compensation is currently around $200K. Role is with a new PM (new to firm, but not to being a PM), NYC area, not sure book size but plan on asking soon.
TLDR: First question, any thoughts on what to expect on base + bonus for someone with 4+ YOE in sell-side ER?
Now, I understand the big contrast/change for people who are entering the l/s equity world from i-banking, as the work itself is much different.
Without having first-hand knowledge, my sense is the change is less dramatic for someone in sell-side research. If your coverage universe is the same, you already know the bull/bear, drivers, etc. for a large majority of the companies (granted you usually have a more expansive list, so maybe you have to get a bit deeper on 10-20 names). You might spend more time on "real" work and less on repetitive, clerical-type work, but spend more time (+ stress) mulling over having to deal with putting real dollars to work and being right/wrong.
But in the end, this all does not seem to much of a drastic change... Or am I grossly misunderstanding how much of a different beast being at a l/s equity market-neutral fund is vs. sell-side?
TLDR: Second question, in terms of the work, how much of a change is it from sell-side?
It IS a drastic change cuz your opinion can mean real $$$ put to work, so now you need to have real views (not reactive upgrade / downgrades) with real stress.
I believe your coverage universe will grow to 40-50 names over time and you need to know them inside out and will even need to model more deeply than you have done on the sell-side.
Thanks, this is what I'm looking for. FWIW, I cover about ~30 right now, so 40-50 was kind of in-line with my expectations.
I guess more broadly speaking, would you say your hours/flexibility on sell-side < buy-side and stress sell-side > buy-side, or are both worse on the buy-side?
To be honest, I want to eventually explore buy-side, even if not now, but I'm trying to gauge whether it is worth waiting until I can land a good SM L/S role (perhaps LO too, but I assume changes are slimmer there) or just take the MM L/S role now, then see where it goes from there.
Everything regarding this profession needs to be said with a disclaimer: it depends - depends on how poor your WLB is now at sell-side, how chill / intense your future pod PM is, how they run the team, what's their process, etc.
Compared to sell-side
Made this transition myself a while ago (SS ER to SM HF, though now at a MM). A few thoughts:
Best of luck.
Great reply, appreciate all this, super helpful. Curious… what influenced your move from a SM to MM?
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