Where do pod shop ‘churns’ go to?

Some of the multi managers seem to have a reputation for churning through employees, evident by their heavy emphasis on recruiting lots.

question is, where do these ‘churns’ go to? Surely they aren’t moving funds - do they normally leave the industry entirely, or go back to their ‘original’ area if not an analyst hedgie (e.g. back to M&A, ER, S&T)

25 Comments
 
Most Helpful

A pretty typical outcome for a failed MMHF PM is someone who made like +1% one year and -1% the next year on gross. Here's some ways you can spin the mediocre performance

1. some parts of your book did well some did poorly and it took you 2 years to learn what you were good at. at the next shop you promise to stick to my area of expertise.

2. you take a lower ranked job (as senior analyst or sub-PM). You still have lots of relevant experience for these kinds of roles

3. in some spectacular blowups, you can argue it was bad luck. I personally don't buy these excuses, but bdev often does.

4. lack of support from the management (no data, slow execution, conflicts with other PMs over limits, no budget to hire analysts) made it impossible to implement your vision

 

Could be a decent move to migrate your LinkedIn over to OnlyFans once you begin running your own book at one of the more prominent shops. Can get headhunters to pay a $50/mo retainer plus $150/min (double for full-nude) for customized responses to vacancy inquiries

 

(Ignore tag, am doing SS ER, friends in MMHF. Was headhunted but decided against it due to me simply not being that good and job security issues). Many of my friends know of people (some of themselves are applicable in the following context) who are seemingly at MMHFs on LinkedIn, but are actually no longer with the firm. Sometimes it’s other MMHFs, others who aren’t as lucky/good go to much smaller shops/family offices/change career tracks entirely, but they stop using LinkedIn. Not exactly sure why that’s the case, but some of my friends admitted some of it is due to shame. Imagine going from Citadel to some no-name shop or just not wanting to be harassed by people on LI too. So not exactly a very dumb question per se. Now to add some answers, investor relations for corporate (those you spoke to management before/have relations with/covered them in depth), certain corporate strategy roles (not that much I know of, an anecdotal one or two), smaller funds (single manager or whatever) or they just leave the industry entirely if they earned enough before getting kicked.

Edit: And yes like someone else mentioned, SWFs and LOs are definitely open too. I personally think SWFs is a bit more chill and more open to less senior MMHF hires (the ones I remember is like 2/3 YOE at most?)

 

God bless you if you’re struggling to use LinkedIn.

and the standard “path” for churns would look something like: MMHF 1 -> MMHF 2 -> MMHF 3 -> sellside ER/IR/out of industry 

generally if/when you churn and never quite make it to pm my understanding is you get a couple shots at competitors 

 

You guys are overestimating how common blow-ups are, especially at big4 pod shops. That don’t happen nearly as often as you think. Anyway…exits I’ve seen:

- other pods
- PM or sr analyst at LO or FO or SWF (these tend to be really awesome exits because pay is excellent/stress free)
- SMs
- sellside / research firm
- CFO at a startup or larger co
- coach / more managerial role at MMHF

 

Quibusdam ut qui laudantium vero consectetur rerum. Exercitationem ex ut et autem eum voluptatum. In quod ratione id.

Ratione nisi ducimus numquam reiciendis est. Ab accusantium et cumque a deserunt sunt cum ducimus. Et veniam dolor optio vero voluptate.

Enim dolorem sint qui molestiae voluptates est incidunt. Reprehenderit quia veniam et facere nobis corrupti. Nihil omnis explicabo occaecati qui quo. Provident nostrum quidem amet porro sed fugit. Cum autem consectetur sint fugiat. Reprehenderit alias et reprehenderit.

Repudiandae possimus doloremque recusandae dolor veritatis iure et. Ut facilis incidunt illo quo libero odio illo omnis. Sint eius animi libero magni mollitia fuga. Quo ut illo ex aut qui nemo. Est sed amet alias debitis. Tempore recusandae eius adipisci nihil eum dicta.

 

Est voluptas aut vero eos possimus enim. Cum provident eaque ratione quidem ipsum quia molestiae. Sunt earum voluptatibus modi dolorum eum. Voluptas qui et omnis dicta.

Neque ducimus quam voluptas ipsum tempora beatae. Earum aut illum tempora optio sapiente ut amet quibusdam. Aperiam reiciendis magnam eligendi consequatur esse.

Sed ea dignissimos velit repellendus provident corporis sit. Sequi distinctio id perferendis ea eos repudiandae iure. Consequatur ut aspernatur ratione tempora quas. Nemo perferendis reprehenderit nam consequatur delectus. Recusandae eligendi ut asperiores voluptatem. Accusamus ex quidem et iusto nam eos recusandae. Eos nobis eos ab.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • AQR Capital Management 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Two Sigma Investments 95.0%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Hedge Fund

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

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $355
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (83) $287
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (77) $193
  • Analysts (235) $177
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (277) $95
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

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...”