TCI Process and work experience?
hi fellow monkeys,
Does anyone have any experience with TCI process or work/culture? I could be part of the process. There is no info online!
thanks in advance,
Pickles
This for jr analyst position?
Yes, entry level
Is this entry level from undergrad? Or post 2yrs at IB/PE
bumpy bump
First off congrats. TCI is probably the one true place in London that can rival the best US HF shops in both comp, opportunity, etc. launching your own badass fund.
So I went through the process a while ago, or at least part of it - I don't know how far I got, but I met a senior analyst and then basically did 3 successive case studies, one of an equity they gave me and then 2 I had to come up with on my own. And then it stopped there after the 3rd one. No idea how much else was needed to make it to the end of the process.
Sorry probably not super helpful but hopefully helps a tiny bit.
This is interesting as not many people talk about TCI on this forum (probably because of the US slant). Seems like a privilege to have a shot to interview with them so hope you enjoyed the process.
If I could ask, how long were you given to prepare each case study and was it a 20 page presentation per case type of thing? Also curious if there was any time-pressured modelling tests similar to the platforms where they grill your assumptions and stress test your model thereafter.
Thank you both for responding. By being part of the process, I meant I was invited to do the 20 page type case study. Stupid question, but how deep do you go in your case studies? Mine has many angles and it is difficult to decide when to stop going down the rabbit hole!
Could you give a short overview of ur profile so one can know what kind of profile is required?
helpful color - i am in process with them right now and would very much be interested in hearing about what your case process was like. i sent over a few longs and shorts I thought were interesting, they picked one, and now I'm going to report back in 2-3 weeks with a full case. curious what feedback you received +/-, and thanks in advance
first off how was the process. Did they contact you again? Also, how did you get the opportunity to get to the process. Which recruiter did you use?
Did they not provide any feedback?
Investing in high quality businesses seems like it should be quite easy in terms of picking a stock to pitch...
Is TCI a good fund? Would it be as good as tiger Cubs or platforms?
It is a superb fund. AUM c.$39bn at last count. Big and concentrated positions. Chris is a superb presenter (saw him at Sohn). There are plenty TCI slide shows on the internet to view.
I'd say on par with the top Tiger funds and far superior to platforms.
Would any other EU funds fall under the same classification in terms of being on par with top Tiger funds and being far superior to platforms (e.g. Egerton, AKO or Lansdowne)?
Hi guys - does anyone know who looks after FIG in TCI? Thanks!
Abit of a strange question as my impression was that there wasn’t anyone who managed FIG specifically, though they are pretty active in it. Don’t think anyone here will know. There are like 10 analysts there. Is this for a FIG-specific role?
Bump
Not sure if true but have heard they interview loads of candidates all the time, their case studies are tough, and the process is long.
Do they use a recruiter or you just gotta hustle to get on their radar through networking?
They work with multiple recruiters. When you mentioned the process tends to be long, how many months are we talking about?
Associate 3 in ER is correct....First rounds with TCI is like a revolving door of every person on the buyside in Mayfair as they gladly take free work and ideas off your hands. Barriers to second rounds are a bit higher. Need to be good enough to meet with Alex, but not too good that you'll make the person sending you through thinking he might be marginalized by you. It's safe to say it's a political place and your positioning towards Chris matters.
Also, if Chris is moving house again be prepared to clear your weekend to help loading boxes in to the truck as he doesn't trust movers (true story...)
The person handling FIG there left after Chris failed to pay him. He took a bunch the better performing Analysts with him... One of them ultimately became Prime Minister of England. One of the others, known for being difficult and criticizing everyone else's work, striked out on his own and launched single manager that failed.
On the positive side you'll be made Partner quickly. Looks good on Linkedin, even if the actual payout from your partner stake might be on the small end.
The real hurdle is getting ideas in the book and to get risk exposure.
Can I PM you?
This sounds like TCI not as great a seat as sounds? (Political, pay not what you think?)
That was a 1-off incident on the pay side for someone at the partner level, not a junior, and all the top funds have their own political climate so that should be barely be a consideration when interviewing for the seat if you have the shot . It is definitively one of the top SM seats in the world, no ifs ands or buts.
Tiger Global or TCI?
Just do your work man
On a related note, how do people feel about doing 2-3 case studies and not getting the job? Doesn't it feel like they're getting free work from some of you guys at that point? I know it's a competitive process for a great fund, but how do you justify doing some much "free" work on top of your day-to-day job?
Pretty straight forward…you have no leverage and if you want a shot you do it. If you think you’re too good for it, then go interview somewhere else or stay in your seat. Everyone complains about bad actors but reality is supply is greater than demand and you’re not interviewing for some big brand name firm that employs a hundred thousand people and has reputational downside. Also the second reality is any good firm doesn’t give a crap about some candidates case study. Everytime I read people write that on WSO I laugh. Sure if you’re interviewing for a 200m 2 man HF then maybe. No real fund cares about what you think. They only do multiple case studies because they can and they want to see if your work product is consistently good, and again, the onus is on the candidate.
Agree with most except the case bit. Yea sure they don’t give a shit about your product but that doesn’t change the fact you have to put 110% into each case study still. So sure they can laugh about it but whether they give a crap about my product has no impact on how much effort I put into it.
But that’s the point. If you don’t even care about the case study that you’re submitting for an actual interview, why would they think you’ll care when you’re actually on the job. You’re applying for a job that pays six-seven figure salaries and you think multiple case studies is overkill? What world do you live in
This salary thing at TCI being 6-figs / akin to Tiger Cub pay from 3-5y ago is a hoax - I don't know why you're all thinking "high aum / IP -> low IPs + good returns = you get to have some portion of that..." - in reality it's a relatively low paying place. There's no market pressure like the US of Viking or LP being in the other building to pay you up and that much, and you will be shocked if you had the seat, you'll get low six figures as standard and rest is dependent on you. Economics aren't shared the way this website thinks... the UK is very different. Numerous points who've gotten to later stages have verified this at least at the An level
You could very well be right. It’s probably the upside that people chase given everything else is optimized (returns + size / IP + stability), but I would wonder if initial comp is as low as you mentioned. There are people from US-based PE firms that moved to TCI and I know for a fact that they pay Associates $400-500K in London (no pay disparity between NYC). So you’re telling me they are taking a 25-50% haircut on comp to work at TCI in exchange for potential upside?
Regardless of all the comp noise, my point still stands. The fact that you need to do multiple case studies to work at one of the most well known and largest hedge funds in the world shouldn’t be surprising. There are a thousand people that want to work there so why not test you to the extent they can?
Agreed - and I wasn't in disagreeing with anyone or you - just stating that yes, comp is lower
Upside optionality is really a thing, because whoever played the Google trade got paid for that. You generate ideas and you get paid, but there's no "guarantee" of a good pay i.e., base comp isn't what it's made out to be vs (i hate to use this example but) some of the tiger cubs that have or had 1m+ pay packages to 2+2+2 guys (from the recent threads). Again, (ignore title) I know the UK space very well and have multiple friends at TCI spinoffs, a friend who turned TCI down (left industry), and several others who've gone onto some of the most best performing funds incl the ones ppl cherish on this website
As British, second this, absolutely spot on. The same for AKO (base is GBP 80k for analyst - no matter what level, and this is public knowledge as they've recently posted hiring ad)
Why and how can they attract talent with such low salary? a few reasons:
1). alignment of investment philosophy, and high conviction, high quality research, long term orientation. This is actually very rare in the UK. It's just supply and demand, just like in the US, Vail and Epic can charge anything you'd still go because no much other choices...
2). upside of potentially becoming a partner long term. In case of AKO, this is actually possible within reasonable timeframe, and the firm culture is very good. TCI not quite the case, there're many horror stories of Chris and the truck moving is one example. Partner payout also isn't as good as people think at TCI and he has a mechanism to lock you there.
3). a lot of people join for prestige or "perceived" prestige
4). the truth is, as an outsider, it's hard to know what it is really like until you're actually in. It's much easier to be sold into the positive / prestige story, than actually finding out the truth, esp for people based in the US. Analogy in the US, is Tiger Global really as good as perceived to be? oh my god, read Carrier Sun's book Private Equity. Does Lone Pine really generate good return in recent years? Ask LP or insiders in NYC, they'll know but ppl outside of the US may still anchor to the old view - this is the best place as in old days.
I think multiple full-blown case studies are a complete waste of a candidate's time.. 2 case studies? Fine -- you get to see if the first one wasn't a fluke. Three case studies (and, from the sound of it, potentially more..)? That's a complete waste of time and an arbitrary number to stop on at that point. What's stopping them from saying we want 4-5 case studies before they are satisfied with "judging" your quality of work? Inversely, what's stopping someone from judging that 3 good case studies might be a fluke...
From the sounds of the comments above, it's even ridiculous to the point where you have to be lucky that the person sending you through shouldn't feel like you'll marginalize them. So you're saying it's perfectly fine to put in 100% in a case study not once, not twice, but three times and leave it up to luck that someone at TCI shouldn't feel marginalized by your quality of work? And on top of it, they "supposedly" might not even give a crap about the work someone spends so much time on?
It's not about young people wanting to work less than old people at that point and whatever crap someone else is saying up here. This sounds like a completely broken recruiting process. Unfortunately, TCI is in a place to do that, and I guess that's accepted because people are willing to do it. I've interviewed at several well-regarded funds, and no process was as ridiculous as this one sounds.
There is nothing stopping them from wanting 4-5 b/c employment is a market driven process. We can complain about it all we want but a lot of people want to work there so what’s the point in saying what should vs. what is?
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