Wharton MBA or Top Hedge Fund directly? (overseas office, no US background)

I recently get Wharton's MBA offer. At the same time I got an offer from a top US hedge fund in their Asia office, but not doing public market but mostly private market, distressed assets, high yield secured credit, a bit of pure equity.

I am from Asia with no US education or US working experience. Previously working in a top US PE.

Assuming my long term goal is to be the owner of my own fund, which option would be a better one?

Fund - first hand exp with a large house, but seems difficult to get own track record in a private role
MBA - waste 2 years (probably having fun drinking), but likely getting into HF in US and hopefully a public market role, not sure if US exp. would help me tap into US LP base in the future.

Scratching my head right now...any folks with insights?

 

Can you defer the MBA? A Wharton MBA is not a shoo-in to a reputable HF if you don't already have some relevant work experience. The PE experience + MBA would probably help you with US-based funds of the type you got into in Asia though.

 

I think its tough to defer these days unless I made up some family issue stuff. US top HF certainly is not easy to get in but i feel downside is relatively small unless another financial crisis. I'm really keen to test the hypothesis that MBA is helpful long-term considering my background, esp. when it comps to raising my own fund. Any thoughts on that? Much appreciated!

 

MBA is irrelevant. More pertinent issue here is that it sounds like the hedge fund you have an offer at doesn't pursue your desired strategy. I would gun for starting at a public equities fund now. If not doable accept the job offer and start recruiting for another fund in a year or two. Skills gained will still be more relevant than MBA

 

There's no guarantee that you would get the same (or better) offer out of Wharton - in addition to how good you are and the school name, a lot of it is timing and luck (if you're graduating in a shitty market, it's tough, and you could get fucked). Since this is already a top US HF, why not take the offer, build up the relevant experience and your resume, and move on from there? Like some of the others have said, you can always go back for your MBA later, if you think it makes a difference (and you can even get a gauge of its importance after working at said hedge fund and seeing what its alumnus have done). And given it's a legit HF name, you should have the credible resume for b-school down the line.

 

Take the top HF - your track record matters the most, unless you really have an urgent need to expand your network. Otherwise you are wasting money and time. If you are really good, you can definitely switch to the US after 2 years. If you are worried about raising capital or need a brand-name for client, just go do an executive program at HBS, or any good school.

 

MBA likely wont help you get into a HF without relevant investing experience anyway. Work at a $6-10bn fund and not a single person has an MBA on the research team and frankly nobody on the junior level intends to go get an MBA if they dont have to. This is the same case for my friends at other HFs as well.

You want to start a fund? It will have nothing to do with whatever degree you get. It has everything to do with your track record / performance at your fund. It's ultra competitive so nobody is going to give you money because you're both HBS / Wharton grads and you want to sing Kum Ba Yah and hold hands around the camp fire. Everyone is in it for one reason - to make money.

 

I see how an MBA might add little to no value to a hedge fund analyst, but what if you want to start your own fund 10 years down the line? Assume you have two people, both with a solid track record but one of them has a Wharton / HBS / Stanford GSB MBA while the other one does not--would the former person have an easier time fundraising?

I guess my question is if it is common to heavily leverage your MBA network for fundraising or if you already have 10 years of experience in a given geography (e.g. New York) combined with a solid track record, then you will have a different (non-MBA) network which you can tap for your fund?

 

I think it's just amazing how everybody here is so loosely giving advice to OP to not attend Wharton, THE #1 Finance MBA in the world, W-I-T-H-O-U-T knowing his academic and professional background. Everything OP as ever said about his background is "previously working at a top US PE" ---> How long have you been there? What do you mean by "top US PE"? (every one working at some no name PE with good returns can claim to be working at a "top US PE") What's your undergrad? What have you done since undergrad? How many years of work experience in total? etc. etc. ---> I mean, attending Wharton or not can be a life- and career-transforming step, and OP, if you have even the slightest tendency to let opinions influence your decision, from people who even don't know about your background, then you're a F****** I**** And depending on your answers to all the above question, a Wharton MBA can be a game changer or less so, but based on the information you provided, it's (to my mind at least) impossible to make a proper assessment. Just look at how many finance giants have H/S/W MBAs, carelessly deciding not to attend Wharton at the RIGHT time could be a decision you will regret your entire life.

So, please do yourself a favor and tell us about your detailed background so that your situation can be better assessed by experienced people here.

I'm not experienced at all, nor can I give any advice towards MBA programs; but seeing how you let people tell you not to attend Wharton without providing any transparency about your background just hurts... it just hurts...

 

A few things...

SpaceMarine:
I think it's just amazing how everybody here is so loosely giving advice to OP to not attend Wharton, THE #1 Finance MBA in the world, W-I-T-H-O-U-T knowing his academic and professional background. Everything OP as ever said about his background is "previously working at a top US PE" ---> How long have you been there? What do you mean by "top US PE"? (every one working at some no name PE with good returns can claim to be working at a "top US PE") What's your undergrad? What have you done since undergrad? How many years of work experience in total? etc. etc. ---> I mean, attending Wharton or not can be a life- and career-transforming step, and OP, if you have even the slightest tendency to let opinions influence your decision, from people who even don't know about your background, then you're a F****** I**** And depending on your answers to all the above question, a Wharton MBA can be a game changer or less so, but based on the information you provided, it's (to my mind at least) impossible to make a proper assessment. Just look at how many finance giants have H/S/W MBAs, carelessly deciding not to attend Wharton at the RIGHT time could be a decision you will regret your entire life.

OP got into Wharton, clearly he is not retarded. While we don't know his background, it is safe to assume that he knows what 'top US PE' means. We can assume he also has a good pedigree by default (from the Wharton acceptance). Attending b-school can be career changing, but you make it sound like the guy is getting married. B-school will ALWAYS be there, which is why most people are telling him not to go at this given moment. I'm inclined to say the same: go for the HF. Experience > MBA in the HF universe. 2 years down the line a HF offer may not be in the cards, but you can begin to build a track record in that time. I'm not saying that he's on a PM track and will be a junior PM in 2 years, but he can actually point to something whereas most Wharton people can't. And when it comes to starting a fund all that really matters is track record. Personally I think the Ivy MBA stamp is 'meh' at best when you go fundraising. The point of going to b-school is to find a job more in line with long term goals, but OP has that without having to drop 200k + waste 2 years. Choice seems simple to me.

 

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