Unusual Background
Hello! I have a relatively unusual professional background so I would be curious as to where I might fit in where I to move towards 'Finance'. I've classified this under Hedge Funds as I've heard of hedge funds appreciating some slightly unorthodox individuals. In my case, in addition to experience(Uni internships) in shipbroking(Major firm) and journalism(Major foreign newspaper) once I finished uni I did a short internship in asset management(Small Developing markets focused firm) , followed by a longer more substantive one working as an advisor to a Minister (of government) in west Africa. I thought this a good opportunity given the unusual seniority that I would not be able to get in the UK.
If anyone has any advice or throughts would be very much appreciated.
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Usually people with an unusual background show an earnest and interest in a specific style of trading/investing. And they either put their work, and name out there (the Einstein patent clerk approach), or people discover them serendipitously at the right places (the Justin Bieber approach).
Read about how Byrne Hobart got hired by SAC despite not graduating college (he's clearly Einstein) https://byrnehobart.medium.com/how-i-got-hired-at-sac-capital-without-a…
Thank you for the response , I read the Byrne Hobart article , was quite interesting. Definitely something to take onboard, appreciate this advice because as you can imaging there is little online about how one goes forward from being an advisor to a 3rd world country at 22...
Its all good. This industry has become more standardized, but in the past this industry never had a playbook.
My only advice is to read a lot, and leverage your unique experience by focusing on emerging areas of the industry.
Byrne focused on alternative data/ non-traditional datasets for investing when it was new.
There are several people that have broken into hedge funds by focusing on new asset classes. Crypto being the most recent one.
Your experience focusing on frontier markets makes you a promising candidate for an emerging markets team. You could even focus on landing a role in emerging markets strategy/ research, either on the sellside or advisory firms (example: medley advisors, BCA research) -- this would be a great stepping stone to a hedge fund in 3-5y.
Good luck, you got this!
As mentioned above, you will need a niche.
Have you thought about doing an MBA + IB? If not, can you leverage your current network?
Given your background, as others mentioned, focusing on emerging markets would be the best choice. I’d say your elevator pitch could be either specialty in geopolitics/foreign policy (emphasizing more on your advisor role to a minister) or infrastructure (focusing more on your experience with shipbuilding).
I think the most optimal choice for you is actually to get a masters in international affairs/economic policy/public policy to play upon your strengths. You won’t learn much about finance with the MA but the pathway to finance recruiting does exist (if it’s a top school).
From there, there is multiple paths you could take in finance, depending on your interest. A strong case could be made for recruiting at institutions like the World Bank, IMF, any Sovereign Wealth Funds, endowments, etc. Or you could work within S&T, ER, AM, HF, or Infra PE.
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