What made you wanna go into the HF arena?

Hey guys, I'm in my first year in S&T in a sales role, and ultimately my goal one day is to join a HF down the line. I've always wanted to test my theses out and find public markets very humbling. Learning about the dynamics of the markets, modeling out companies, understanding their true value, and learning the complete ins and out of the company is very stimulating work to me. Not to mention, knowing why I was wrong if I am, figuring out where I went wrong, and looking for the imperfections of where I might be missing a key point is something I feel like you're always digging for in public markets vs private markets because there are so many market participants and the information is all available. I am not really drawn to money to the point where I care about prestige and honestly, I wouldn't mind taking a pay cut to join a HF or AM if I ever had the opportunity. From what you've read, do you think I'm infatuating the idea of wanting to go the buyside at some point later on in my career and oversimplifying the process and the work that goes into each investment? Also, is this something you would want to hear from a candidate wanting to go on the buyside, specifically the hedge fund arena? What was your reason for joining the HF industry?

 

Only an intern but chose a HF summer over BB IBD and S&T offers. Ultimately wanted a gig which was intellectually challenging and promoted creativity as opposed to mindless sludge. Being able to analyse a business and it’s practices juxtaposed to the rest of the sector and being able to bet on your ideas gives you skin in the game and the opportunity to see if you’re actually correct in a reasonable time frame.

Also like the idea of no ceiling for potential upside; the ability to make a lot of money while relatively young (although unlikely) makes the hours and grind worth it. Personally it’s the only gig in finance which does make it worth it for me personally.

 
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