Path to buyside baller?

I am currently a 1st year at an elite boutique. I would like to preface myself: I completely get it, it's imprudent to be solely motivated/driven by comp; perhaps foolish. Fit, culture, the nature of the work, and prestige are all equally important to comp. HOWEVER, put yourself in the shoes of a young, stressed, and hungry analyst with dreams...inquisitiveness "is strong with this one". In terms of potential future earnings from now until the PM/Partner/MD level, say age 24 to 35-45, how would you rank MF PE, MM HF, and SM HF/Tiger cubs/top activist shops (assuming you stay at one place)? How quickly can you get promoted at each of the three? Of course they all extremely different, but assuming you are successful, average, or below average in each respective option, how do the rankings stack up/change? I do not define success by comp, there's way more to it, but I am curious as to how they stack up. I would be more than happy at a MF PE shop, MM HF, or SM HF, but again I am curious about the different paths to becoming a buyside baller. 

 
Most Helpful

I think the more you stay away from using phrases like “buyside baller” the better your chances will be. Also, this has been answered many times over. 

With that: [insert 20 caveats] in general the closer you are to generating revenues for your firm the more money you’ll make. You’ll get that opportunity the fastest at a HF vs PE, in general MM will give you that opportunity quicker than SM but the failure rate at MM’s is huge. SM’s tend to have the most desirable seats, but the good ones are extremely difficult to land. Upside there will generally be highest. Of course you have to factor failure rate and expected earnings. HFs (SM and MM) are pretty cutthroat. 

 

You remind me of the other post we just had yesterday with the MFPE kid, HFs arent like banking, being a prestige driven a** doesnt fly. You will soon find that having a golden resume can get you in the door, but you will lose your seat as fast as you got it if you have no investing skill to back it up.

The easy answer is wherever you can generate PnL year after year.

 

Not sure who you’re referring to, but I appreciate the comments. I’m still in banking, so I obviously don’t have any pro-investing experience. I’ll find out if I’m good or not on the job in a few years. But I’ll tell u this much, it took a lot to get the analyst spot, and I’m ready to put in even more work at the next level. On a side note, do you think it would be better (or even possible) to jump straight to a sizeable SM from banking, as opposed to 2 years in PE?

 

My bad, I think I just sh*t my pants.

  1. I do work at an “elite” boutique by way of many standards...
  1. The term “put yourself in the shoes...” implies the third person
  1. Yes, I have dreams like everyone else and want to make it one day. Sorry about that!!
  1. I’m young! You got that one right

And fwiw, can’t short IPOs :)

 

Huge overgeneralizations here, but here goes:

Successful: MM HF > SM HF > MF PE

Average: SM HF > MF PE / MM HF (equal ish? Not really sure here)

Below Average: MF PE > SM HF >>>>> MM HF

As I said, these are massive generalizations. Some who are successful at SM HF's will far outearn their MM peers, some average MM HFers will be forced out of the industry, etc. From my naive understanding having never worked in PE, MF PE is generally the 'safest' route, while MM HF is generally the most volatile of the three, to both the upside and downside.

 

I personally don't see anything wrong with the phrase "buyside baller", and I respect the drive and hustle. As long as you never mention that phrase in interviews...

I think the best case scenarios occur disproportionately at the multi manager hedge funds (of course the risk is very high too). I would single out Citadel, as far as I can tell Ken Griffin is the most willing to give juniors crazy amounts of responsibility. There are 25 year old PMs there. One notable alum is Ron Ozer, who launched a (so far successful) fund at the age of 30. 

Of course, being a rockstar at pretty much any big hedge fund can yield tremendous upside. Other notable examples are Jimmy Levin at Och Ziff or Chase Coleman at Tiger. 

In terms of PE, I think the comp is more tied to experience, your network, and the number of good deals you have under your belt. Much harder to make it big before 35, but it is significantly more stable. 

 

MF PE analysts typically go to great hedge funds. MMs do not offer higher upside than the best SM shops, and the best SMs are lower risk. 

Most MF PE analysts can get an offer at a place like Viking or another top fund. Just use LinkedIn to see where MF PE analysts have gone. It’s a good filter for identifying the best hedge funds. $10bn+ single managers offer very compelling risk-adjusted compensation. 
 

There is a high degree of variation between the best hedge funds. Working at Value Act, Darsana, and Viking are quite different in terms of role, compensation, culture, and risk. Speak with older friends or current / former analysts at your MF to learn the differences. 

 

Aperiam rerum voluptate eum sunt voluptatem aut. Et omnis commodi repudiandae est ea dolor. Dolor et quam qui quibusdam. Labore velit quo quo. Officia ut consequuntur ut odio odit adipisci suscipit asperiores. Consequatur unde eum consequatur non velit a soluta.

Sed iure reprehenderit dolores commodi culpa reiciendis. Vel vel maiores quia culpa aspernatur. Tempore ab reprehenderit animi impedit tenetur.

Eum nulla molestias esse qui veniam illum. Deserunt eos et rem enim non. Natus dolorum et et hic. Numquam sunt error facere explicabo tempore. Nisi animi quia aliquid consequatur pariatur voluptatem sapiente.

Eos totam labore dolor non ea deserunt delectus. Doloribus et eum eum amet alias. Eos ut voluptates odit id sed excepturi sint. Id alias voluptatem in molestias adipisci soluta.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.9%
  • Magnetar Capital 96.8%
  • Citadel Investment Group 95.8%
  • AQR Capital Management 94.7%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 98.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.8%
  • Blackstone Group 96.8%
  • Two Sigma Investments 95.7%
  • Citadel Investment Group 94.6%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 97.9%
  • D.E. Shaw 96.9%
  • Citadel Investment Group 95.8%
  • Magnetar Capital 94.8%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (23) $474
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (6) $322
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (24) $287
  • Manager (4) $282
  • Engineer/Quant (71) $274
  • 2nd Year Associate (30) $251
  • 1st Year Associate (73) $190
  • Analysts (225) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (22) $131
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (249) $85
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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
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...”