Move from HF to Prop Shop?

Do you guys think this is generally a bad idea?

Currently working @ Platform (millennium, citadel, p72, schonfeld type)

Payout is ok, and I dont mind taking stress + working long hours, but I dont see much forward here - I dont find much learning opportunities. The opportunity is there, but I need to dig things out by myself without help from any colleague/teammate due to the culture of the firm.

I hear prop shops are more collaborative and there are more learning opportunities (and I am aware that there is no payout here; more of shared p&l).

Do you think moving from HF to prop shop is a bad choice? I value learning opportunities and collaborative environment more. I want to be in an environment where I feel like i'm the dumbest guy in the room. 


 
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When I talked to CEO of one of the best prop shops nowadays, he told me that they have a collaborative structure, so the bonus is highly regularized. It means, that if you had a bad year and was not very successful with your "alphas" you still get paid out of other people's pockets. The same works the other way: if someone else had a bad year, you indirectly subsidise his underperformance. So, the turnover in his firm is almost zero, everyone gets paid a good amount of money, but no one is paid jackpot. On the other hand, CEO of one "platform" hedge fund told me that I can make any amount of money here; no one subsidises my underperformance, nor participates in upside.

That being said, it is a personal choice. Almost like joining FAANG vs hot startup. FAANG = high Sharpe, hot startup = opportunity to make jackpot. If you have a strategy and would like to build a business, go MM. Otherwise, for more academic quant, prop is the place to be for sure. 

 

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