As someone currently considering making the jump from sell-side research to L/S equity at a MM, I’m interested in how the top long only asset managers view candidates with a MM background. I understand that the style of investing and time horizons are very different, but there is also a lot of overlap in skills.
How hard is it to move from a MM HF to a long only manager? Is there a point after which the move becomes an uphill battle? If anyone has made the move (in either direction), what has the experience been like for you in terms of interviewing, adjusting to a different investment style, comp and general job satisfaction? Any insights at all would be of great help - thanks.
curious as well!
It happens, but it's very rare as they are different animals. I find that once you land in one camp, either HF or AM, ppl tend to stay there. Lifestyles are fairly different and they attract a different type of person.
On the HF side, a lot of the alpha is short term focused (1-2 yrs to idea fruition), managing your factor risk and draw downs is key (esp on the MM side). HF PMs rarely give long only analysts s a look for recruiting as they're viewed as working in a sleepy slower asset turnover environment (true to a certain extent at some places).
On the flip side, long only PMs tend to think HF analysts are all fast money high turnover traders and doesn't fit well given long onlys are more long term focused (3yrs+ hold) and can't short.
Some of this is true, I have long only friends that spend weeks on one name and don't care as much about qtrs or near term vol.
As for a better job....everyone thinks the grass is always greener......
Thanks so much for your insights - sounds like I should probably make my mind up about what I want to do and stick to it.
Wondering if you can shed some light on moving from a MM platform to a generalist role in a single manager HF with a relatively longer term investment horizon?
MM to single manager HF is definitely doable as there's a large commonality in roles. If you're at a MM TMT pod, you can def move to a single manager TMT fund.
If you're at a MM you'll automatically get looks from other MMs and most single mgr funds (within the same industry focus). Would suggest making the move after the first MM and not skip around the MM universe too much. I've run into ppl who went from MM to MM to MM and then are branded as MM only types. Eventually they run out of MMs to work at.....
Great question and helpful answer from @Telemachus. Curious if anyone else has another perspective to share.
I think it depends on skills right? If one covers a lot of names and not being an industry focused researcher. Then the skills should be still transferable. An industry focused analyst covering dozens of names is rare in long only AM. A general type of analyst is usual in long only AM
It really depends on the firm. Many firms have industry-specific analysts. I’ve only come across one or two firms that use a generalist approach.
Just an intern, but spoke to a guy who went from LO MF to L/S MM. Regretted the MM switch but going back was nearly impossible, said the mutual funds thought he was tainted somehow by being at a MM. Eventually finagled his way back across into a great gig but was way harder than expected in his words.
Out of curiosity, what was the role he ended up in?
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