Breaking Into Activist hedge funds
There was a similar post from 5 years ago but wanted to get some up to date responses
I'm ultimately looking to break into an activist hedge fund, but am unsure how to best position myself.
From your experience, whats the best / most common way to break in? IB then PE? B-School? Go from undergraduate or IBD directly?
Megafund / UMM private equity
There's no real definite way to do it - there are so few that it is a crapshoot. They aren't really hiring every single year. Best way is like the posted above said - you need to be at a brand name MF / UMM to even have a shot, or alternatively, already be an analyst at a HF looking to lateral
I’m currently a PE associate at BX/KKR/Carlyle and I’m interested if anyone who has made the transition from a similar firm can share their perspectives on the activist recruiting process / experience since transitioning.
How does the recruiting process compare to the PE recruiting process? I imagine it is protracted because they are not in a crunch to sign candidates ahead of other firms. Are they focused more on transaction experience/case study (testing your investing acumen) in addition to fit? Definitely understand it is firm dependent, but would appreciate any insights.
Thanks
They hire from IB classes just like a PE firm, and hire from PE firms as well. There’s nothing unique about their process as a result of being activist. Activist funds are just fundamental shops with the added step of pushing management.
How does an activist HF differ from an SM HF like Lone pine ,Viking,in terms of career stability , progression and compensation
why you want to break into activist fund...it's basically PE shops in a HF type of set up, and unless you made it to the PM and can pull the trigger yourself. I would rather stay at mage PE funds...
I have an interview at an activist fund - does anyone know what types of technical questions they ask?
If you’re coming from pe it will mostly be stock pitches...never got asked pure technicals and I’ve done a bunch of these activist interviews
Funnily enough here in Europe the preference is for people with a combination of MBB/consulting and IB backgrounds. I was talking to guys I know who work at Cevian and they have a preference for McKinsey employees.
bump. any other info on activist funds and recruiting for them?
Bump, does networking help here?
Of course it does.
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