Sell side equity research---->Hedge fund
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interested as well
I have not yet started at a HF but I do have an offer, so I guess I can get this thread started. I received my MBA last May and started at top firm in ER that summer. So I've been working in sell-side ER for only about 8 months before potentially making the transition to the buy-side. I think in some ways that has helped my story with HFs, as I have learned the basics (modeling, valuation, forming an investment thesis, etc) but I am not so ingrained into the sell-side culture that it will be too difficult for me to change. Basically I have the skills down but am still moldable.
The head of the HF where I have an offer is an alum of my school, so that was my in with him. I cold emailed him, but had done a lot of research on his fund and knew the style he utilized was what I wanted to do (deep value), and I wrote enough about this in my email that he was intrigued and decided to speak with me. After that it just went from there, he said his firm may be interested in hiring a new analyst, and eventually both sides decided it was a good fit. It seems like this is a common story for mid-sized HFs who don't typically advertise openings; you usually need a contact and a right place, right time opportunity.
I went to a target school, two years of sellside then moved to a fixed income hedge fund, after 18 months I landed an analyst position at a long/short fund.
ER is probably going to put you in a different type of fund than doing banking for two years. Usually when funds hire bankers they will still expect them to grind out models all day long and not have much input on the investment decision making for a while. In my experience when funds are looking to hire from sellside ER they are expecting t he person to contribute immediately by generating investment ideas.
That has been my experience from what I've observed from myself and friends but as I'm sure you know most hedge funds are so small that it really just depends on how the head guys run things.
Sell Side Equity Research ---> HF? (Originally Posted: 06/06/2015)
I plan to go into sell side ER after I receive my MBA. I've also passed CFA L1 and L2 and I'm hoping to pass L3 very soon. After a couple years in ER, I want to transition to the buy side, specifically a L/S hedge fund job. If you worked as an ER associate and transitioned to a buy side job, can you please detail your path? What was your education, how long did you work in ER, how did you apply/find your HF job? Any information and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Also, what is the compensation like for a L/S hedge fund job?
Well junior guys at a HF are expected to make low to mid six figures depending on the fund/your performance. It's definitely doable, but you need to be a little proactive in reaching out to headhunters. Investment banking analysts are the more traditional junior L/S HF candidate I would say.
What are the more common exit opps for an ER associate?
best HF recruiter I would say is Dynamics Search Partners FYI
Investor relations, corporate strategy, other sellside roles, risk, asset managers, hedge funds, bschool, startup...really a mix bag with an emphasis on public markets
This seems reasonable by all means. Plenty of people go to funds/long only asset mgr's without the mba. So, I think you're good.
I haven' t done the path you're describing, but it is very common. Lots of people move from the sell side to hedge funds after a few years. As people get more senior, roles get a bit more fluid; people jump around a lot across buy side/sell side jobs and investment/industry jobs.
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