US vs UK hedge fund industry

Hello fellow primates, 

So I'm currently writing up my physics doctoral thesis at Oxford in UK and am keen on doing quant research or quant trading upon graduation. The obvious choice is applying to London hedge funds such as G-Research, SquarePoint, and the UK branches of American funds such as Citadel, DE Shaw, etc. However, I have right now an opportunity to do a short and easy stint as a postdoc in Pittsburgh, USA immideatly following graduation (the prof there is a great mentor of mine and would give me lots of time to prepare for the quant interviews). This move would permit me to apply to funds based in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York.

So, do you guys think I should go to the US and try to break into the US hedge fund industry, or rather try to get a job right out of my PhD in London? Where do you guys think it's better for finance overall?


PS: Hedge fund recruiters don't care whether I do a postdoc or not, right? I assume there's no advantage to applying for jobs straight out of a PhD program vs from a postdoc?

6 Comments
 

The UK hedge fund market doesn't exist it's just a few boomers in Mayfair who try to be like the big boys in NYC

 

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