Career Advice - AM to trading/macro?

Ever since I started my undergrad, my recruiting mandate has always been S&T or HF - basically the jobs that are more connected to the market and would offer me a chance to run my own risk/manage a book down the road. Now I'm in interning at a niche shop with a pretty broad investment mandate that doesn't warehouse any meaningful amount of risk(more like an allocator).

Maybe it's not so grateful of me to say this given that I'm just starting my career and I can practically learn a lot from any job. (I guess also I should feel lucky to even have somewhere to intern in this economy)  But honestly, my current job doesn't excite me much. Because 1) my seat is a bit research focused, 2) the product we invest in is not very marked to market and no meaningful amount of risk is taken. Therefore, my initial mandate of recruiting is further confirmed by the feeling I'm having rn in terms of what do I really want.

Now I'm about to start my next cycle for 2024 SA. It appears that there are more seats/opportunities in the AM arena. This lead to my 2 questions  - 1) what kind of risk do people usually take in AM? I know it's probably product dependent - but are there many AM seats that do rates/fx? 2) For someone who ultimately wants to end up in a macro hf, is there a viable path out of starting my career at an AM (in a relevant team/product ideally I guess but Idk if that's in my control)? Or should I just stick with s&t given that its a more traditional path towards what I want? 

I would greatly appreciate any insights or advice you can provide.

1 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Ipsam soluta culpa consequatur qui. Quibusdam earum earum tempore velit ut eaque voluptates. Qui quasi fuga dignissimos quis.

Eum enim aliquid nihil quia vel voluptatibus nesciunt sit. Voluptas facere nulla nesciunt esse. Omnis perspiciatis rem non vel. Voluptas assumenda rerum nemo.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.1%
  • Millennium Partners 95.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (77) $191
  • Analysts (242) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
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

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
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...”