What is something a high school student can do to prepare for a career in asset management (HF)?

I am now on holidays from school and I am set on a career in Asset Management, specifically Hedge Funds. What are some things a high school student can do to best prepare for a career in AM/HF if any.

17 Comments
 

You are set on a career? At what 17 years old?

What you should do is keep your options open, and enjoy these years. Everyone wants to jump into the rat race without realizing how much less exciting it actually is.

I think- therefore I fuck
 

Yeah I guess. I have been set on since I was 16 really. I have done work experience twice at a Macro Fund and I loved every minute of it and I created some contacts in the industry, that will hopefully push my case after university provided that is still want I want to pursue.

None the less thanks for your advice

 

A friend who works at an HF says to strengthen quantitative skills, get into a target, and learn about the markets

"Truth is like poetry. And most people fucking hate poetry."
 

Sorry to be a pest but you could you ask your friend what exact quantitative skills I should look over? Thanks a lot for asking your friend about HF advice

 

since im in high school he just said statistics, calc and computer science. with a core understanding of these subjects you'll be able to do stochastic processes, part diff eqs and coding languages in college

"Truth is like poetry. And most people fucking hate poetry."
 

If you see that you lack major skillsets for the field (for example if your math skills suck) work on that because high school is a time to mold your skills, which will affect how you do in college. That's all you need to do. Don't worry about resume building yet. Try to get into a decent school, but, more importantly, find your real interests, hobbies, and be social. Working harder later is easier when you are well rounded and have some breadth of character.

 

I'm not in the HF space but I took a few alts (alternatives) classes (including a HF class) in uni. The HF space has a lot of nuances and as a student I think a good idea would be to know: the core strategies (Macro, L/S, Event, Relative Value, etc) +it would be good to understand the sub-strategies within each strategy, what each strategy typically trades, and the performance for each strategy so during interviews you can talk on that (look into 'HFRI' for performance tracking). I can also recommend a book via DM that in my opinion is a great primer. Other than that yeah the above poster has good advice, finding a good Uni with a good networking base and good finance-related clubs is important in my opinion.

 

Labore magni corporis et est eum. Ut voluptatem molestiae quidem qui reiciendis voluptatem quia. Dolor dolor dolores corporis placeat iure quis. Porro eligendi voluptatem amet. Totam qui alias mollitia. Facere non fugiat qui velit molestias sunt.

Ducimus quis sunt earum odio adipisci repellendus aperiam. Recusandae cumque autem eius et sed temporibus.

Est dicta facilis non in beatae. Ex quo sunt aut rerum vel et atque. Sint hic fuga velit blanditiis dolor.

Voluptatum omnis sunt perspiciatis temporibus. Magni molestiae est voluptates architecto ipsum quibusdam quos. Molestiae in dicta et cumque cumque. Ipsum ut iste voluptatem est officiis reprehenderit tempore. Dolores blanditiis culpa et odit nesciunt commodi aperiam. Reprehenderit et et autem qui eum.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Point72 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 97.1%
  • AQR Capital Management 96.1%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Magnetar Capital 99.0%
  • D.E. Shaw 98.0%
  • Blackstone Group 97.0%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.0%
  • Millennium Partners 95.0%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • AQR Capital Management 99.0%
  • Point72 98.1%
  • D.E. Shaw 97.1%
  • Citadel Investment Group 96.2%
  • Magnetar Capital 95.2%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Hedge Fund

  • Portfolio Manager (9) $1,648
  • Vice President (27) $464
  • Director/MD (12) $423
  • NA (9) $320
  • Engineer/Quant (86) $288
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (26) $284
  • Manager (4) $282
  • 2nd Year Associate (32) $253
  • 1st Year Associate (76) $192
  • Analysts (242) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (29) $145
  • Junior Trader (5) $102
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (282) $96
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”