Who makes more on avg ib/pe vs QT/QR

Mega fund pe/ bulge bracket ib vs high tier quant firms or maybe even mid-market vs small shops All I want to know is which makes more Please do not make a 5 paragraph answer not answering it saying “It’s for different people don’t do it for the money” I’m begging you that’s all I see and hey maybe this is a little skewed since I’m pretty sure being quant pay is more performance and volatile so it maybe would pay less than even middle market ib and pe just because of the differences on how you get paid and consistency so maybe if you aren't a math genius high finance is better but I don’t know if that’s true and supposedly quants work a lot less a week and make more money still just what I’ve heard P&L gives more potential upside but you usually will still make less than MDS or partners with normal bonuses and or carry

8 Comments
 

So megafund private equity? Just wanted to clarify sense everyone always says quants make the most on avg

 

You want to either go to a top IB for 2 years or get into the MFPE analyst program. Then, after 2 years, go to a recently founded but rapidly growing MM PE fund. Get to principle or partner as fast as possible, then raise your own PE fund and scale it into being a MF.

 

MUCH HARDER is only slightly riskier. Their honestly isn't that much risk in doing it the formula for starting your own fund is out there for all its just you will be crawling over broken class for 20 to 25 years instead of the 10 to 15 to normally reach partner at a firm. If you have the stamina and ability, it is 1000% worth it... the only question is, do you???

 
Most Helpful

Short Answer: If you're on this forum asking this question, the answer is PE without a doubt. 

Long Answer: The people who make the outsized money in quant are not the hardworking 100-hour-a-week types, they are the ones who win math olympiads and get recruited heavily into quant roles having gone to top math undergrad + grad programs. If you're on this forum and not one of those types, you are much better off going down IB/PE. I know a few people who went into quant; the ones who survive for a while and perform best are simply those innately talented at math not the will work super hard types.

The idea of creating a MFPE is laughably hard and not worth engaging with neither is the idea that you will suddenly stumble into creating the next Citadel. The type of people who do either are not the type of people on this forum; Steven Schwartzman made partner at Lehman at 31 when the industry of PE was basically non-existent and exploited a unique opportunity. Ken Griffen made a hedge fund out of his college dorm and exploited a unique opportunity riding the tailwind of trends in the HF space into more quantitative work. Jim Simmons was a famous and noted math professor who again rode the tailwinds of trends. These are not realistic outcomes to strive for and are not just top 1% outcomes but rather 1 of 1 outcomes. The richest people in the world are and will always be entrepreneurs. 

 

Yeah my first thought was that pe/in gives more reward to hard work than talent more than high paying prop firms and hedge funds but I just needed some confirmation on which is right sense quant forums always say talent isn’t needed getting into top firms and ib forums saying only math geniuses can get in

 

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