Might as well make it official and say I have left the HF business to pursue other interests on good terms and performance numbers. We all go through a period of self-reflection (usually annually around bonus season) and after several cycles I've decided now was a good time for me to exit. I'm not getting any younger.
I probably top ticked the market when I actually decided to walk away and while it's extremely tempting to get back into the game during this volatility I remind myself I have other long-term personal investments & goals to work on. I would not forgive myself if I didn't pursue them no matter how financially lucrative buyside is.
Please feel free to remove my hedge fund status here lol since I will now be a part of the peanut gallery looking in.
It has been a fun journey and love investing. I'll invest again at some point - but under a different investment vehicle vs. a HF structure. I've enjoyed sharing my experiences under this handle over the years and will continue to do so when I have time (as well as myself on other platforms).
----Mod Note (Andy): the following is pulled from a comment inside the thread
"Kenny_Powers_CFA"Some prompts if you feel like it:
a) Best single piece of advice you've received
i) About investing?
ii) About career/work generally?
iii) About life generally?b) Best trade you've ever had and why it was the best/how you knew it was a gonna be a winner?
c) Biggest (investing) mistake you've ever made and what went wrong?
Best Investing Advice:
Understand the value add the customer gets from using the product. Economic moats aren't built by companies. They're built by customers feverishly digging to protect something very important to them. This is how I've found many multi-year compounders (I hate that term btw).
Best Career Advice:
Get really good at recognizing and finding talented people who get shit done. It's just as important as being a great investor. It should be your mission to be the best talent evaluator in the room. It will help you in your recruiting, networking, and investing.
Best Career Politics Advice:
Your first 100 days are a big deal. A lot of positive and negative attributes are cemented during this period as colleagues try to figure out what you're about. Any seemingly small action become a big deal. You'll only be known for a few things so make them count.
Bonus Career Advice:
You'll learn the most in fast growing or failing organization.
Best Life Advice:
Life isn't a neat progression. It's a step function with sudden changes. Stay humble when you're on top (it can go away fast), but never forget things can improve greatly no matter how bad things look.
Best Trade:
Not throwing out names but you can probably get a sense of what they are...Best investments have been in tech sector where I capitalized on the market not properly pricing in extraordinary network effect / scale businesses that customers loved and/or viewed as mission critical. On the flip side, my best shorts came from this space as well. I know I have a winner when a big competitor tries to copy them (hammers the stock) but upon deep due diligence learn customers are not only switching [edit: switching to the upstart from legacy ways or are not embracing the big co. offering] but the company is still taking market/wallet share in key areas. When the noise clears up, you get some massive stock appreciation.
Biggest Mistake:
Plenty to discuss but primary is selling winners way too soon. I don't mind losing money if I understand the drivers and anticipated them as a risk factor when getting into a position. It's the surprises (that I should have known) that are not acceptable. Losing money more often than not comes from not really understanding the business in the first place. Finally, there are occasions when people more senior than you are committed to a certain position and it clouds your objectivity. Huge mistake have come from in-bound pitches able you from 'smart' investors.
What kind of long-term personal & investment goals do you have that you still haven't reach them? Did you make up these goals when you were in college or did they come during the time you were working?
They wouldn't make sense in a vacuum and not knowing my background. You'd either think I'm crazy or want to come along for the ride. Being a career PM running LP money was never a long-term goal.
I'm going to interpret this as you want to spend the next year living in a brothel in Tijuana. And YES, I definitely want to come along for the ride.
Best wishes to you, man. Thank you for all the advice and knowledge you've imparted to us younger monkeys over the last several years.
Best wishes, spent lots of time reviewing your old posts
Good luck.
Best of luck.
Good luck.
I'm guessing you're the anonymous poster from a few days ago. Going to bum it for a few months, travel and relax?
maybe, but mr. pink money, if i recall correctly, focuses on special sit. longs, not macro. don't see why he would have made an anonymous post and also changed his investing focus for the anonymous post.
Actually I'm someone else on here.
I did quit though seems like a bunch of folks are leaving. 3 other HF guys I know all quit this past friday to just go and live life
Not me.
No relaxing for me. Ready to work on the next thing.
Good luck, thanks for all your posts!
Congrats on a successful career. Good luck!
Plan on working on a startup, Pink Monkey?
Some prompts if you feel like it: a) Best single piece of advice you've received i) About investing? ii) About career/work generally? iii) About life generally?
b) Best trade you've ever had and why it was the best/how you knew it was a gonna be a winner?
c) Biggest (investing) mistake you've ever made and what went wrong?
Best Investing Advice: Understand the value add the customer gets from using the product. Economic moats aren't built by companies. They're built by customers feverishly digging to protect something very important to them. This is how I've found many multi-year compounders (I hate that term btw).
Best Career Advice: Get really good at recognizing and finding talented people who get shit done. It's just as important as being a great investor. It should be your mission to be the best talent evaluator in the room. It will help you in your recruiting, networking, and investing.
Best Career Politics Advice: Your first 100 days are a big deal. A lot of positive and negative attributes are cemented during this period as colleagues try to figure out what you're about. Any seemingly small action become a big deal. You'll only be known for a few things so make them count.
Bonus Career Advice: You'll learn the most in fast growing or failing organization.
Best Life Advice: Life isn't a neat progression. It's a step function with sudden changes. Stay humble when you're on top (it can go away fast), but never forget things can improve greatly no matter how bad things look.
Best Trade: Not throwing out names but you can probably get a sense of what they are...Best investments have been in tech sector where I capitalized on the market not properly pricing in extraordinary network effect / scale businesses that customers loved and/or viewed as mission critical. On the flip side, my best shorts came from this space as well. I know I have a winner when a big competitor tries to copy them (hammers the stock) but upon deep due diligence learn customers are not only switching [edit: switching to the upstart from legacy ways or are not embracing the big co. offering] but the company is still taking market/wallet share in key areas. When the noise clears up, you get some massive stock appreciation.
Biggest Mistake: Plenty to discuss but primary is selling winners way too soon. I don't mind losing money if I understand the drivers and anticipated them as a risk factor when getting into a position. It's the surprises (that I should have known) that are not acceptable. Losing money more often than not comes from not really understanding the business in the first place. Finally, there are occasions when people more senior than you are committed to a certain position and it clouds your objectivity. Huge mistake have come from in-bound pitches able you from 'smart' investors.
First, congrats on your success, tremendous value you added to the WSO community, and best of luck in your future endeavors.
Second, I had a question about your best life advice, which I found quite poignant. Do you think this advice applies equally to finance professionals as well? It seems like those who were fortunate enough to get the right name brands on their resumes early on after college (i.e., BB banking, PE, etc.) seem to continue on this smooth trajectory due to the credibility that those earlier firms gave them. In contrast, those who did not get on the right track post-college have a much harder time making it in finance. Have you seen people in the former group implode for various reasons and those from the latter achieve a lot of success in finance despite being late bloomers?
This is very interesting, could you kindly elaborate on this point more, preferably as a theory and provide an example?
Thanks, and I wish you good fortunes in your future endeavors.
Good Luck. Enjoyed all your previous posts on the HF world.
Congrats man - thanks for all of the time you've spent giving advice on here over the years. Really appreciate it. Best of luck.
Congrats - reflect on your triumphs and failures, but don't dwell on them. You're in a good place, which is more than I can say for many of my colleagues.
delete
Best of luck on this next season of life!
Seems that you're a person who's well aware and in control of what he wants. Congrats and have a good one!
Would also appreciate if you had the time to answer at what Kenny_Powers_CFA asked.
Cheers
Thank you for your contribution; best of luck brother. Welcome to the dark side (non buy-side)
Glad to hear you blasted your way out of there and got away with the diamonds. Congrats.
best of luck! I just want to say that we truly appreciate all of the wisdom you've shared over the years. If you ever need anything feel free to reach out to me over LinkedIn or e-mail.
Thank you! Patrick
how long did you hold investments for..? mind if i PM you..?
Range: 6 months to 4+ years. Depended on the catalyst and thesis. Most investments are looked at with 2 to 3 year holding periods in mind.
Best wishes you your move and enjoy it!
As someone trying to figure out my plans, I'm curious as to what you're going to get up to?
Not sure if my plans will help you but I have a simple structure that helped me get where I am. Work on something that:
I'm not concerned about failing as long as I do something that follows the above criteria. For those concerned about not being able to break back into HFs if they leave, your analytical skills don't magically disappear when you leave the profession. Frankly, if you're good, people will try to reel you back in.
Congratulations Mr. Pink, and best of luck and continued success to you.
Good time to get out. Top ticked the market because this year will be BRUTAL.
Good job - Don't rush into anything for the next few months, but don't be idle either. Pursue new experiences with a purpose, especially the ones that make you uncomfortable. Best of luck!
best wishes and good luck with the upcoming endeavours.
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