Hedge Fund - Total comp

I have been at a bulge bracket IB firm for a year now and have an offer for a hedge fund that has only been around for a short while. They are offering between $130K and $150K total comp. (I imagine at my current firm I will get around $200K next year.) Would you take this offer? The upside is the hours is somewhat better and future earning power could be significant.

Thanks for your opinions.

5 Comments
 

i think there are more qualified people to talk to about this than a bunch of people on a board where i would say, less than 1/3rd of the people actually have something to do with banking.

talk to your mentor, or a vp who you feel comfortable with. talk to friends at other banks, or friends that work with hedge funds.

 

Frankly, I feel it's hard to justify taking an offer with a hedge fund that's unknown and has pretty much no track record (since it's new). Would you work for a startup bank nobody's ever heard of?

The career risk in working for a hedge fund that goes under (and there are plenty) is quite high. What would be your next move after such a thing? You want to have this planned out in advance before accepting such an offer. In 2005, 850 hedge funds closed their doors, and I'll bet many of them are much like the one you described.

I'd also add that it's not such a good idea to discuss this with superiors at the bank. It's pretty obvious that they will be biased against your leaving. Keep it between peers you trust (preferably at other banks, of course).

 
Frankly, I feel it's hard to justify taking an offer with a hedge fund that's unknown and has pretty much no track record (since it's new). Would you work for a startup bank nobody's ever heard of?

I'm surprised a "new" fund that can offer someone with 1 year of experience $130-150k. How much money do they manage and what is the background of the founder(s)? This pretty much applies to any start-up, but you always bet on the jockey and not the horse when it comes to new enterprises. Do as much DD you can on the founder(s).

 

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