Bridgewater Associates Investment Associate SA Position?

I have an offer for Sales and Trading at a Bulge Bracket and ultimately want to be my own hedge fund manager/ enter into a hedge Fund.

If I were to also get a Bridgewater Associates Investment Associate Hedge Fund position, is it best to go with Bridgewater = directly to a hedge fund. Or should I stay on the sell-side trader/sales to start my career?

Does anyone know much about Bridgewater Associates in addition to what is out there? What are exit opps?

6 Comments
 

Bridgewater is good if you are planning to stay in it for the long haul. Many leave before the first two years because of the very stressful work environment - the 'transparency' can be toxic.

 

Just to be really clear, BW is the largest hedge fund, and one of the most successful in terms of risk adjusted returns, of all time. This is elite, elite territory. Yes, the environment is 'different' and perhaps stressful, but working on the buy side is no walk in the park. If you have ambitions to invest at a HF, and you have an investment associate offer from BW, then I'd urge you to strongly consider it and find out some more about the role etc.

 

I'm going to give you the best piece of advice you will ever receive. If you want to be a professional investor the best place to start you career is in a distressed/restructuring group, failing that M&A. If not they you must start as a research analyst on either the buy-side or sell-side. If you start in S&T it will be a real uphill struggle to land in an investment role, if that is what you want to do, do not go into S&T.

 

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