Masters degree for hedge fund?

Hello monkeys,

I am currently a senior at NYU getting my undergrad degree in finance. I want to work at a hedge fund hopefully as a trader, a quant, or a analyst here in NYC. Should I wait two years and get a masters? what would be better, a MBA or a masters in statistics? or neither? My grades are good enough to get into a target if i choose to stay in school. If I don't get a masters will that bite me in the as* later in my career? How much would the difference be in my pay?

Thanks for all responses.

 

Ideal analyst: top tier undergraduate program, CFA (CAIA for HFOF) / or top tier MBA

HF mgrs vary across the spectrum. Depends on the strategy.

Neither of the degrees you provided really prepares you for analyst work at the HF level. Econ gives you a foundation but is just a building block. Terms and overall business functionality of the HF world would not be discussed in either. As far as the MS in Fin goes, again, that's geared more toward the IB / S&T side.

"Cut the burger into thirds, place it on the fries, roll one up homey..." - Epic Meal Time
 
vadremc:
Ideal analyst: top tier undergraduate program, CFA (CAIA for HFOF) / or top tier MBA

HF mgrs vary across the spectrum. Depends on the strategy.

Neither of the degrees you provided really prepares you for analyst work at the HF level. Econ gives you a foundation but is just a building block. Terms and overall business functionality of the HF world would not be discussed in either. As far as the MS in Fin goes, again, that's geared more toward the IB / S&T side.

This seems right. If you look at Princeton master's finance placement, the vast majority end up at S&T role at i-banks. Not too many end up at hedge funds.

I know that at wharton and booth this year, they got on-campus presentations and recruiting from paulson, soros, Citadel, DE Shaw, SAC, Bridgewater, AQR, and many more. That is your best chance of breaking into one of these funds if you don't have prior experience.

 

I would argue that a master's (non-MBA) will do nothing to help you get a job. Either an undergrad from a top school, or top MBA, or a real PhD (like physics from Princeton) - everything else is a waste of time and money

 

I would go with the Masters. Not only for the impressiveness of the extra degree at Cambridge, but because the skills you pick up will be helpful not only in passing the interview process, but for on the job as well. Most people in the quantitative hedge funds seem to have degrees in higher education unless they were absolutely stellar coming out of undergrad

 

i agree with jotah

and why do you want to get into ibanking with your talents? hours are better and pay can be similar or better in trading/structuring/hedge fund, and the MFE have excellent placement records into those type of jobs.

if you are looking down the road at a C-level position [which i think ibanking would give you a better background for], then a MBA might make more sense, in terms of being aligned with your interests and your goals.

 

Lot of acronyms being throw around here.

MSF - Banking or F500 type placements. If you wanted to do an MSF (MIT type program) than your best bet with HF being a goal is to get into banking, do your time, and then try for a hedge fund.

MS Financial Engineering/Computational Finance - Trading, maybe HF. I'd aim for CMU, Princeton, etc etc. Quantnet really knows this space.

 

Hello I am in almost the same situation as you. 26, engineering background, not much finance skills/knowledge, strong desire to be in a hedge fund. From what I have researched so far, CFA seems to be the way for me (instead of a masters in this discipline) as its the mostly recognized qualification. But you surely must be looking for some expert opinion here, so lets welcome any other replies :)

 
hedgie2013:

Hello
I am in almost the same situation as you. 26, engineering background, not much finance skills/knowledge, strong desire to be in a hedge fund.
From what I have researched so far, CFA seems to be the way for me (instead of a masters in this discipline) as its the mostly recognized qualification.
But you surely must be looking for some expert opinion here, so lets welcome any other replies :)

Interesting that someone with no "finance skills/knowledge" has a "strong desire" to work for a hedge fund. Unless you're going to be in a programming role, what makes you think you'd enjoy working in a finance and capital markets-focused job? Not trying to be a dick, just curious. If it's just for the money, fair enough.

 

^ The CFA takes almost 3 years and is an extremely difficult and expensive certification.

I don't think its a real opinion for him at this point. Also only people in Equity Research care about CFA to the point where they'll give you a job over it.

If he does MSF > Banking > HF he'll be at the same place where all the other 22/23 year olds from undergrad going the same route except he's 2/3 years older than them.

 
anybankeratall:

^ The CFA takes almost 3 years and is an extremely difficult and expensive certification.

I don't think its a real opinion for him at this point. Also only people in Equity Research care about CFA to the point where they'll give you a job over it.

If he does MSF > Banking > HF he'll be at the same place where all the other 22/23 year olds from undergrad going the same route except he's 2/3 years older than them.

You are wrong. A CFA is applicable in AM, WM and ER. It is actually more efficient in terms of ROI. Level 1 isn't that hard, its undergrad finance. Level 2 is where it gets real, but even at that Level 2 candidacy should get you a couple interviews. I say, CFA short term to try and get into AM, then go for an MBA when you have the Work Experience in order to try for a HF

 
anybankeratall:

^ The CFA takes almost 3 years and is an extremely difficult and expensive certification.

I don't think its a real opinion for him at this point. Also only people in Equity Research care about CFA to the point where they'll give you a job over it.

If he does MSF > Banking > HF he'll be at the same place where all the other 22/23 year olds from undergrad going the same route except he's 2/3 years older than them.

This is some profoundly terrible advice.

The cost of the CFA over the full 3 years is a fraction of 1 year doing a MSF.

1) Read a lot 2) Do CFA 3) Network hard

 
Best Response

The CFA isn't easy, whatever level you are taking. The real issue is you need the work experience to actually get the charter. So you grind it out for at a minimum 2.5 years (most likely longer if you fail L2 or L3). That puts you at 28 or older. So now you have all three levels passed, almost 30 and no tangible finance experience. Oh, guess what, boat loads of Indian and Chinese tech guys with CFA's are in the same boat as you.

Personally, I would shelve both the MSF and CFA. You have some interesting work experience. Keep doing that, work on the soft part of you application and do an MBA. You'd be looked at as a non finance candidate, which is good since your experience is pretty cool. You try and do finance now and if you want to do an MBA you will be weaker than other finance applicants. Stay in the non finance basket.

You could also go the quant route which would be the easiest way into a HF. Do the MBA if you want to go into banking.

 

Why do you have a "strong desire" if you have little finance knowledge? Is it the compensation that attracts you to working at a hedge fund?

Regards

The difference between successful people and others is largely a habit - a controlled habit of doing every task better, faster and more efficiently.
 

There are quite a few people who are hedge fund managers w/out academic training beyond undergrad. IB (GS/MS/JPM), Trading (BB), PE, or direct HF (Bain Sankaty) internships (all possible at Wharton) are the best way to break in. A second tier internship would be Equity/Credit Research either at a buyside firm like Fidelity/Wellington or a BB.

TK
 

Everyone I have met in the HF world except the PM who's fund I interned at DID NOT have post grads. I'm not the end all be all in HF networking though, just from my short experiences.

There is no defined path into the HF world really. One of the interesting make ups of the HF industry is the fact that it is all value driven, if you can add it then you are paid for it. If not then gtfo.

I'd love to do jump into the HF scene after my undergrad, but it just isn't going to happen for me. I think a lot of people use the IB/ER/grad school because they really can give you the tools that will allow you to add direct value to a firm the day you start.

 

I'm a current student at Penn and am considering jumping straight to a hedge fund. I just got back from my final interviews actually. I interned at a convert arb fund and now I'm looking at either going to IB at BB or going to a hedge fund, so the options are there especially at Wharton (jobs are definitely posted through OCR).

 

You can certainly do it; of the senior people at my firm ~50% have MBAs, 1 has a MS, and the rest have CFAs or nothing. MBA seems much more of a pre-req for PE.

There have been many great comebacks throughout history. Jesus was dead but then came back as an all-powerful God-Zombie.
 

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