The Greatest Dilemma

Monkeys, let's talk about it, the greatest dilemma in the capital management space. Let's create a hypothetical scenario here, assume for a moment that you have two offers. One from a big LO firm (Causeway, Sands, Polen) and the other from a big L/S firm (Point72, Citadel, Millennium) which one would you pick. 

I think most people here, for their personal wealth at least, believe in the LO modus operandi, or 'value' based approach. But as an employee, at most LOs you make what? like a $100k base and then 30%-40% of that as bonus? in your first year. On the flipside, these L/S firms pay you a lot more, twice what LO pays in some cases.

But what is the end game here? While I share philosophy with LOs my material greed for money pushes me toward L/S. What are the exit opps?

We know a lot of people who start at HFs and then go on to set up their own HFs and buy mansions in Palm Beach. Rarely have I heard someone from LO going on to make such wealth, or maybe are they secretive?

Once one breaks into L/S, there is a lot of possibilities to end up with a 7 figure and in cases 8 figure net worth in 10 years assuming you played all your cards right and were wise with what you earned. In LO? do you have to spend 10 years to make half of what your L/S counterparts make?

Given that as an 'Investor' purely from a philosophical perspective LO guys could be superior, but at what cost? I would rather be rich and mediocre than poor and exceptional.

What do you guys think? how do you approach this problem and what would you choose? Calling all the wise old lurkers in the forum who have been around the space for a while.

6 Comments
 

In aut quam rem illo. Rerum aspernatur unde quia cum laboriosam quia et.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Millennium Partners 95.0%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (77) $191
  • Analysts (242) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”