Hedgefund salaries
I'm a junior in the Wharton School at uPenn, trying to figure out which hedgefund I would make the most money at. I have an extensive background in computer science/math and thus have interest in working at quantitative hedgefunds (D.E. shaw, two sigma, renaissance), in addition to fundamental-focused hedgefunds such as Bridgewater.
Assuming my goal is to make the most money as possible, which hedgefunds should I be looking at primarily? I know many of you will think this is a shallow question but I don't have any other means by which I can ask this question, so I was hoping to get straight answers here.
well he didn't major in accounting so he's got a decent shot
You probably won't get hired by any so the question is almost definitely irrelevant. Long-term earnings are better in fundamental. Short-term quant.
I am in the M&T program at Penn, if that makes any difference. Some of my older friends in M&T have interned at firms like Bridgewater / AQR / D.E. shaw and secured full-time positions afterwards, so I don't think the question is irrelevant.
Putting that aside, what specific compensation structures would I be looking at along each of these paths?
You're late to the game and very few people go directly to hedge funds from wharton regardless.
D.E. only takes fundamental analysts from Penn, and they only take from their intern class. Bridgewater, I have no idea. They're weird. If it's the right fit then it seems awesome, but it silos you and I would never consider it. AQR, that's the most realistic option. It pays very well, but is boring and hard to advance. TwoSigma, similar to above, but harder to get from what I know. P72, meh pay. Meh reputation at Wharton. SPC, probably impossible to get if you aren't already on a very strong fundamental finance route. Best long-term option if you can crush it. Others, one-off and very hard to get.
Yeah, RenTech is out of the question. And normally chances are slim at the quant funds that do recruit if you're not SA-ing there already. I do know some friends who got FT offers at quant funds who didn't SA, but I'd imagine they're in the minority and not the majority. Also wouldn't exactly call Bwater fundamental, it depends on the role (Investment Associate v. Investment Engineer).
PhD seems like a requisite, and most hires I believe are through employee referral. The level of intelligence they're looking for is insane, like Putnam top scorer-level. My understanding is they have a very secretive culture, and a non-compete that either binds employees for life or strongly deters them from going off and starting something, or going elsewhere.
My question doesn't concern the difficulty of landing a position at these firms.
Let's assume I could land an entry level position at any of these firms - which positions would be optimal for accumulating the most money after, say, 10 years.
You are already naming the top firms. At any of these firms how much you get paid will depend on your performance (especially early on) and fund performance (matters more the more senior you are). There isn’t “one” place to go to that will pay more over time, I say over time because different firms will have slightly different strategies and comp structures, but the high performers willl get paid at all the places you named.
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