10 Comments
 

1) Nearly all quality SMs recruit from PE, not IB

2) MMs do recruit after IB, although being market neutral there's less space to ride market beta like SMs do so you have to be actually good to make it to PM. Anyone in PE who's at least somewhat smart can make it to VP/Principal level as long as they navigate office politics and survive the long hours.

 

It isn’t as common for hedge funds to make as much as they used to back in the 90s / 2000s also. 
Edit: yes there are funds that still make very good money, but the market is notably more saturated than it was 20 years ago, and with regulations in the last 15 years they were more profitable before it’s just a fact lol you guys can downvote all you want. 

I think the real reason is 1) kids just assume they want PE because all the other analysts are doing it 2) the head hunters push it and most of their jobs are usually PE and 3) it’s more reliable income in that a PE associate’s pay isn’t wildly subject to the volatility of stocks. Lastly, I think the hedge fund crowd is frankly more “brainy” than IB (having spent 4 years in IB myself). 
 

If it’s a CREDIT (hedge) fund that is something banking analysts go to do after a 2 year stint more frequently, namely after restructuring. I know 5-6 who did. 

 

Very true. IB to PE takes average IQ while being in a hedge fund and excelling actually requires 130+ in order to think outside the box and ahead of what analyst expectations are for the mkts

 

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