MFPE >> Straight to HF?
Have exploding offers from MFPE SA and a far less reputable, 1-3b HF that surprisingly comps somewhat meaningfully better (~100k more out of undergrad incl. bonus). I am way more interested in public equities and the hedge fund space, but ya know, Blackstone is Blackstone, KKR is KKR. Seems hard to pass up, it also might be nice to meet a lot more people to expand my network, and infinitely more optionality across finance. Again, way more interested in public markets, but on the off chance I don't love it…. Plus, a lot of the top SMHFs only hire out of these PE places, so if I wanted to go to one of these down the road, would be a lot easier from BX/KKR. Overall leaning towards MFPE, but I don't necessarily want to be someone's dog for 2-3 years, and I know at least in the immediate term, I'd love the work at the HF much more. Any advice?
Well, I think there are a few criteria:
- Pay: would ignore, you will be compensated very well regardless and no long-term impact
- Long-term goal: is your end goal at one of the few top sm funds / activist-type places?; if so, have you scrutinized if there is any way to make the jump from your hf offer to such a place down the line; what is the optimal exit that you can achieve in case you start at this hf
- Experience / Network: to what extent do you require a larger network to make the moves you want to make as per above? do you want the larger social network (or want to just crank at work and leave)? do you have any interest in seeing some of the more operational elements that pe offers?
- Optionality: do you have any doubts about staying in public markets very long term? pe start would be better not just for pe but also for vc/growth/start ups etc? definitely want to stay in the US?
Overall, it seems to me that given it is just for SA you should stick to MFPE and keep your eyes open for ft hf positions afterwards given current offer seems quite no name and high risk. Think the key criteria to fulfill that would make me switch to HF route would be going to a place that has a sufficiently strong brand to open up ops at virtually all SMs as well as brand capital for LPs if you want to start your own fund.
Pay — makes total sense, but it is a nice to have I guess (no roommates? lol)
LT goals — I think long term, I’m definitely interested in starting my own fund. Firmly believe you can’t get truly rich working for others, but beyond that, I’d just love to have full responsibility over my own success. It seems exciting. That said, I do think that these top SMs/activist places would be an amazing seat for at the very least a few years, and I guess I would be willing to suck it up in PE for a great shot at one of them. I’m not exactly sure what exits look like at the junior level from this HF (I did not get the offer via a standard SA recruiting process but I’ve been told there is room for me FT) but things are definitely a little murky to that end. The only things I’m concerned about with PE: Not guaranteed to get into one of these tiger cub/pershing square type places, I know it’s intensely competitive, and tbh I would rather stick it out long term at this fund than be a VP at BX/KKR if I’m unable to exit, doing work that I enjoy. Additionally, and please correct me if I’m wrong as someone who has never done PE before, but I feel like late-stage buyout is kind of the place I’d least like to be investing in — no hate on PE, but it seems like you don’t have the interesting cat and mouse nature of publics, but also not the insane upside potential of doing a deal on the next Google with VC, or even GE. Just dealing with a lot of known quantities, and I honestly could not tell if I’d be tapping into any intellectual side of myself in PE. However, again, I think I’m willing to suck it up for a few years to get to better places — I just can’t tell if MFPE will take me there. Lastly, I do believe a lot in skills development being paramount. You can have all the brands on your resume and raise a billion dollars your first time spinning off, but who cares if you go -20% in the first year? You kinda have to be good to make it in the public markets, and I know that 2-3 extra years in an investing seat over the course of a whole career is not the most, but it’s also not nothing, right? And yes, obviously you’re learning a ton at these MFPE places or else why would Lone Pine almost exclusively hire out of them, but at the same time, I just cannot see it being as relevant as a real public mkts investing seat. Sorry that was so long winded lol, I do not expect a response, I guess just venting/thinking out loud….
Network — guess this is more of a nice-to-have, but I am a pretty social person and I like just having people to talk to. Much easier when there’s 20 of them my own age vs 20 total people and they’re at least 5 years older…. Not necessary by any means for what I’m trying to do, I’d think, but again, it would make my work life a little nicer.
Optionality — right now, no doubts publics are what I want to do. Just way more exciting intellectually than anything I’ve seen/heard of. However, that could certainly change — any idea if it’s possible to get into H/S for B-school from a much smaller fund, where I could potentially try to jump to one of the top SMs? Or is that path even less common.
Overall, would say this HF has a decent brand, been in business for 15+ yrs now, but just obviously on a different level vs these MFs.
TLDR: interests/skills (?) from HF vs brand, optionality for PE I guess….
While obviously nothing is guaranteed but I’d put odds that a MF PE analyst being able to exit to a good, not world class HF seat, being > 90% if it’s one of the brands you mention. This is ofc assuming you convert the offer.
The recruiting for a MF PE seat is rigorous enough combined with the brand name / experience of working there for a couple years that I can’t imagine a situation where someone bats a 0% and you will get a ton of at bats with that CV.
It’s hard to gauge the offers here because the hf could be such a hit or miss. We would need to know the type of firm to comp against a MFPE route. I’m currently at MF PE and planning on moving to a HF soon, but the only reason why I decided on this is because of the reputation of the HF. The space is littered with so many sub scale hedge funds that never scales.
I think you should take the MFPE offer. It will give you much more optionality down the line. Since it’s just SA, you can always try to recruit for HF if you really hate your summer. But doing PE will just give you much more options down the line. I know your passionate about public markets but you have never worked in it and might not end up liking it. I was super passionate about trading in college and hated it once I started working in it and it there’s was almost no transferable skillset to go anywhere else which made getting out of it a lot more painful.
There are HFs that only hire from MFPEs? What strategies do such funds use?
Pershing. Check out their analyst roster.
Ackman, altho he likes to brag about hiring cab drivers, also says he prefers the polished IB - MFPE route
Jeez how much is the HF paying you? I thought MF pe analyst programs paid ~150k
Point72/Citadel pay around 250k, Weiss pays 350k apparently
Time to throw in an app to Weiss
Not one of the MMs but yeah 175 base, been told to expect ~100k bonus so around there
easy to go from PE to HF, you see lots of those, but not the reverse. HF people are not a good fit
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