I am having an interview soon with their office, understand they are being implicated in the insider trading scandal recently however even after converting to a family office they still have a reputable AUM (8-9bn) and with one of the best track record in the industry(arguably the best in long/short equity) , would you take an offer from them if given?
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Not unless I had nothing else to choose from
My honest advice would be to first get the offer from SAC Capital before thinking about whether or not you will accept.
With that said, however, despite the insider trading scandal, I believe SAC Capital is still a good name to have on one's resume (as long as you are in the right role and are able to get good experience from it). There may be a stigma attached when you interact with people who are not in the industry, but most people in the industry will still respect the name and will be more interested in your role and the experience you bring to the table (e.g. if you were to apply for a job at another hedge fund in the future). If extended an offer, your decision whether or not to accept should be based on other factors such as cultural fit, etc.
I forgot to mention this is role is based in their Asia office, as an Equity Analyst (Intern) for their long/short equity strategy, thank you so much for your honest advice, appreciate it. You clear my doubt about whether they will still be respected in the industry, will go for the interview first and see how it goes.
Then yes, take it... unless you think Stevo has been using his interns as scapegoats for the inside info debacle.
Probably yes but there's unpredictable career risk in joining a place like that. You would get great experience and pay (~$300k for jr equity analyst) but very little job stability. It's sink or swim like many big name L/S shops. You'll most likely be looking for another job in 1-4 years and some employers (other HFs, AMs) may be hesitant to hire someone with SAC on their CV. But it's a calculated risk and if you work for a PM with a clean reputation, you should be fine.
Don't think their salary will be that high for this role as it is based in Asia office, generally they don't pay so well in Asia office, especially not for junior roles. I am mainly worried about how people in the industry will perceive them after the recent insider trading scandal.
What job in finance doesn't have little job stability? And what risk taking position isn't sink or swim?
Yeah, having SAC on your resume may make some shops nervous, but the likelihood of it seriously effecting the career mobility of a kid who started after the bulk of the issues is negligible at best. Plenty of guys from Drexel had long, successful careers after it was shut down.
Thought they were closing all but the office in Stamford?
they closed london not sure about asia, must still be running I guess?
Whether you should take it or not depends on your alternatives, so cant evaluate without knowing those.
To ppl discussing risk, I mean in PE/Banking you have zero actual risk or revenue generation pressure until you are MD so that is very very different on the hf side, makes the former fucking boring in my mind but depends how boring/risk-averse/competent you are.
I will be interviewed by their HR from Asia office, so pretty sure they are still running their operation there, currently this is my best opportunities so far, as this is off-cycle it doesn't clash with summer analyst position.
I've always wanted to get into buyside as investing is truly my passion, so all the things about career risk in buyside are irrelevant for me, I am more worried which buyside firm that I managed to got into compare to choosing between banking and buyside.
Besides, for the turnover that SAC is notorious for (at least for PMs, don't know about lower levels), I say go for it, unless you have very good similar offers. Honestly, the legal issues imo are way overblown. SAC had a few bad apples. From what I hear they've cleaned up quite a bit and all of their problems are referencing trades 4-5 years ago.
Lots of the guys at Enron (even some who were criminally convicted) were fine after. At least at the top level, Enron was a company way dirtier than SAC.
The only thing I would do is check to make sure you won't be doing anything that could come across as unethical or illegal to future employers (i.e. Ask them about channel check policies, expert network policies, etc.) Make sure you get answers that are office specific since the HK and SG offices (you said it was an Asian based job) may have different policies because the securities laws are different in those countries. If you really wanna be safe, find people on linkedin and ask them about their experiences in those two offices. they have ndls, so be vague and don't expect lots of replies.
Actually personally I think SAC is still a great firm, not many hedge fund have this level of track record and it will be immense learning opportunities for me.
I did a search on linkedin already, couldn't find any of their employee on it, darn they are so secretive. Will update you guys after my interview.
Btw, anyone have idea about their compensation for junior equity analyst in Asia office? I know in US they pay up to $200k, but usually hedge funds don't pay so much in Asia especially for junior level roles, one of my friends working in quite an established local hedge fund in Asia (>1B Aum, considered big for Asia)but he is only getting paid less than 100k (exl bonus) after 2 years of working there.
Hey, how did your interview go with the Asia HR? Did you get any further impressions of the firm from it?
Looking at comp excluding bonus is pretty silly and SACs track record is irrelevant given their rampant insider trading lol.
If it's the best offer you have, take it. SAC will still be amongst the living for the time being, and the issues seem to have passed. I also haven't heard of too many PMs leaving for any reason…sure there has been some turnover, but not much more than is typical at SAC (which, I'd say has higher than average…based on a few friends that work(ed) there).
All that said, if you're worried enough about it to ask others on here, you might want to look elsewhere…get an offer, see what else you have to consider, and do what you're comfortable with doing.
I presume this is before the Martoma verdict
Edit
Interning as an equity analyst at a $5B+ family office run by an infamous former Hedge Funder hardly seems like a bad opportunity.
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