How long does GPA matter in finance, asset management, or in the HF world? Does uni GPA still matter after your first job? After your second job out of school? At one point does it not matter at all if ever?
15 Mar 2021
I am deleting my intro thread because I got a response that was not really what I was looking for. I don't think I joined the right forum. It was actually scary to read that many folks on this thread are hardcore racists (KKK types). No wonder you get negative responses. I really wish I could simply delete my account and vanish which WSO does not allow.
31 May 2021
Curious to hear where you guys went after your experience on the trading floor. This would be incredibly helpful for us younger folks in the industry! Undergrad Major: Years on Trading Floor: S&T Desk Role & Position: Where you are now: Salary/Comp: Any Advice?:
27 Nov 2020
I'm a nontraditional student newly out of active duty military. I've been admitted to a few good schools. Though, my school choice will ultimately depend on the job opportunities post-undergrad. My school choices are Yale, UChicago, and Dartmouth. Dartmouth and UChicago have a large focus on the financial district more so than Yale. Though I cannot disregard Yale's network opportunity through name power alone. Chicago is a financial hub for hedge funds so it makes sense to attend UChicago. At the end of the day, if three students graduated with the same extracurricular activities, GPA, and
17 May 2021
Currently an analyst with approx 6 months left on OPT. What happens to international students who don't get the h1-b visa? Are firms generally good with transferring people to other offices (assuming it's an EB/BB)? Also interested to hear if internationals in the US have been able to exit into PE/HF roles? Haven't seen this at my EB even though most Americans exit. Any insights would be much appreciated.
28 Apr 2020
Open to questions of any nature from students/recent grads/current professionals interested in hedge fund-of-fund platforms/portfolio analytics/product strategy. Background I am involved in constructing hedge FoF portfolios across the risk/return spectrum (focus mostly on broadly diversified portfolios but have also helped with opportunistic/strategy-focused mandates). My role is a portfolio analytics-heavy role and consists of creating these pro forma portfolios that fit client objectives. I also help write portfolio commentary for a couple of mandates. Happy to take any questions, especially
20 Aug 2020
Figured many people are on the same boat, so wanted to start a thread. Has anyone received the HireVue yet?
17 Mar 2021
I've been accepted to the above schools. Some of the discussions have a consensus that Yale through connection opportunities outweigh the other schools for HF/VC opportunities out of undergrad even though UChicago and Dartmouth have a large finance placement. Brown has a large consulting placement but not in HF as UChicago or Dartmouth. I've even heard Dartmouth is heavy in IB(which is not what I want to do even if it's the conventional route to HF). I'm having difficulty deciding which school to attend. More consideration: Yale did not offer very good financial aid. Dartmouth 100% aid
20 May 2021
I've just been taken off the Princeton undergrad waitlist, I've already committed to UChicago but it is not too late to switch. Out of Princeton and UChicago, which school is stronger for HF out of undergrad? Considering many things such as education, network, alumni connection, job placement, and more.
01 Jun 2021
Mod note (Andy): Throwback Thursday, this post originally went up on 4/23/12. Hey guys, so after some encouragement from a few of you guys I'm gonna go ahead and start a bit of a series of posts on my experience in the hedge fund industry, particularly in how one goes from the start of an investment idea, to taking a position, to monitoring the position, and finally what happens when it's time to close it out. I'll explain all of that and will also try and do Q&A in this thread also to help anyone with specific questions. Before I get into that, here is a bit about my background that will help you guys understand what my investment approach is like.
02 Apr 2015
It's been a while since I posted (sorry AndyLouis) so I decided to come back with something a little different from my previous posts. I'll continue the E&F posts at some point, but given recent market conditions I thought this was more appropriate. The below is a compilation of thoughts I've been having on markets and the hedge fund industry as a whole. The hedge fund industry isn't going away Bloomberg and the Financial Times have written quite a few articles recently that highlight "major" hedge fund closings. Whether it be an old, established firm closing its doors due to bad market
13 Mar 2016
Hey monkeys. This is my first post on here, would like to get some genuine advice, maybe from older people in the industry. I'm doing my junior summer in S&T at a GS/MS/JPM. I like the people at the firm, I like the S&T lifestyle, and I know I find the content of the job interesting. However, I'm not sure if I'm cut out for a career of fast-paced, instant gratification for the rest of my life. If I go into S&T for FT, I'll probably be in Sales, which I worry won't give me any hard skills. I prefer long-term, strategic thinking, and I enjoy qualitative stuff like writing, though I can code and
30 Apr 2021
Would someone with actual work experience at a MM platform (Millennium/Citadel/P72/BAM or similar) be kind enough to offer a high-level overview of common techniques that are used to contain (a) portfolio volatility and (b) draw downs, to the platform's required parameters for a pod? I am thinking L/S equity but feedback from any strategy (e.g. macro) would be great. Thank you!
24 Aug 2020
I have a quick question for any one on the forum who could help. I previously worked as an junior level investment analyst. I could not get promoted, so I left in 2017 to start my own shop. I ran a multi-strategy convex portfolio designed to create asymmetric returns with a strong focus on systematically maintaining long volatility. My main strategy, synthetic futures, is based on a straight forward points system, trading either long or short on the major indexes (DOW, S&P, & Nasdaq). The goal was to create portfolios that were positively skewed, had relatively little correlation to the market
26 May 2019
Prior reading: Hedge Fund: The Investment Life Cycle. Quick background: Penn undergrad - 2 years at AM firm - 2 years at large HF - currently in 1st year at 2-3b long/short HF with heavy emphasis on value. I still had some questions floating around my inbox that I may have missed and some questions from the comments from my last thread, so I figured if anyone still has questions from the last post, or new questions, I'd be happy to answer them here. I can field questions related to breaking in, recruiting, the investing process itself, lifestyle, etc. I've just recently been getting a bit more
07 May 2012
Could someone who has experience working at a L/S fund clearly explain how hedge funds observe the following risk limits: - What is the difference between market-neutral, beta-neutral, and having some X% of "net exposure"? - What is the difference between being factor-neutral and factor-aware? - Why do the large MMs target only a few % points of alpha with "highly levered money"? - What does being paid on drawdown mean? Would greatly appreciate any insight anyone can share.
20 Feb 2021
Monkeys, As year 1 closes in, I've begun struggling with what I suppose is some sort of quarter life crisis. For many of us in banking, life to this point has been a constant series of "successes"--do well in high school, go to a top college, break into a top group on Wall Street--with the next target being a coveted buyside gig.
18 Apr 2011
Anyone know anything about the roles below? https://www.citadelsecurities.com/careers/details… https://www.citadelsecurities.com/careers/details… Also does anyone have any insight with Citadel's culture? Doesn't seem like the environment where they try to build you up (from a junior perspective).
09 Dec 2020
Mod Note (Andy): Best of Eddie, this was originally posted in 2010. To see all of our top content from the past, click here. "The meek shall inherit the earth, but not its mineral rights." - John Paul Getty After a particularly brutal day at the office, you might go home feeling like you're nothing more than a tiny cog in a vast investment banking machine. Hours of mundane labor leave you feeling like your contribution will never be recognized. You wonder if you've made the right career decision, and you wonder how much longer you can stand being just a cog in the machine. You need to take a
05 Dec 2015
Keeping up with the news is (of course) a huge part of the work being done as an analyst or associate, but how often is that just listening in and taking notes on an earnings call? They present essential information but I wonder about the difference in getting that information updated in models and consolidated immediately in real time vs. a few hours or days later based on research reports. How often do you listen to earnings calls and what exactly are you listening for? What desk you sit on and role would be helpful.
24 Oct 2020
Which of the two best prepares you for a career in distressed debt investing at a hedge fund? I'm aware both backgrounds usually end up in DD HFs but if you had a choice between the two coming out of college, which would you prefer?
08 May 2020
Hedge Fund Structure Over the last few months I've realized just how diverse hedge funds are, and how little people (both in/out of the industry) understand about the different structures. This is my attempt to distill some of the bigger differences in 'team structure and compensation'. It's a detailed answer to a question I asked two years ago: .Tiger cubs vs. hedge fund gaints. This isn't really about investing strategy (credit vs. l/s equity vs. activist), though certain strategies lend themselves better to certain structures. Hopefully others can chime in with additional insights. Hedge
03 Aug 2014
Mod Note: Each day we'll be posting the top WSO forum posts of 2014. This one was originally posted on 5/28/14 and ranks #24 for the year by total silver banana count. You can see all our top ranked content here. My background is posted in my Q&A ("Q&A: Credit Analyst at +$5B Distressed Shop") - just wanted to pass along a few thoughts as I think about my own career. 1. You are never the smartest guy in the room. Conviction is one of the most important things you can have in investing, but it's alter-ego, arrogance, can devastate your career. Knowing from day one that you will never understand
16 Dec 2014
Hi, 1. What are the top 10 Mathematical Finance programs (or other Masters programs) in the UK, which are target schools for quant hedge funds and prop trading firms? 2. Is it true that the UK doesn't have a significant number of quantitative hedge funds or prop trading firms? Are there any issues that you would want to warn me about, if I plan on pursuing an MSc in Mathematical Finance to get into quant funds/prop shops in the UK? I am not applying to the US because of the H1B lottery uncertainty and applying to the UK bcs of its upcoming 2 year post study work visa.
16 Nov 2020
So Martin Shkreli showed up on the radio show "The Breakfast Club" with Charlemagne Tha God. Interviewed pharma-bro and they brought up the secret society "Bridger Capital", the Illuminati of Hedge Funds. Shkreli was shocked that Charlemagne Tha God knew of this group and that he had been invited to meet them (he posted pictures of the conference room on instagram--now deleted) What do you guys know about it? - bazaar rituals - secret society of upper echelons of finance - who is in it
13 Feb 2016
Full disclosure, I'm biased to the HF path, but have friends at top PE shops. First things first, PE and HF are two fundamentally different career paths. Yes, they're both buyside gigs and both pay extremely well. However, it's the differences you'll have to pay attention to. Hedge fund modeling and analysis I would say HF is less modeling intensive than PE just BC at the top PE funds you're only going to be modeling as a pre-MBA associate, whereas at a top HF (fundamental value / long-short equity) you'll be doing some modeling to support an investment thesis but you'll also be screening for
10 Apr 2013
So, the age old question...what is more useful for a long term career in finance, the CFA, the MBA, or the CAIA? Wait, a minute, what even is the CAIA? This article will go through the pros and cons of pursuing each of these three certifications. The upfront economic costs and opportunity costs of the MBA may be significantly higher than CFA requirements, but an MBA does certainly have many intangible benefits such as networking and develops a broader base of professional problem solving and professional skills. The CFA is very targeted towards finance and investment management careers, and is now being sought out more and more by professional firms for the recruitment process.
31 Oct 2010
Mod Note (Andy) - as the year comes to an end we're reposting the top discussions from 2015, this one ranks #44. This one was originally posted 10/19/2015. If you've seen some of my other posts you know that I'm not a stock picker, deal maker, or quant - I'm an institutional investor. Every day our goal is to find the people who are the best investors across asset classes and give them money to invest. At some of the larger institutions like pension funds the due diligence process is pretty weak and they'll give money to anyone who is decent and has capacity. Luckily for me and our
21 Dec 2015
I know a bunch of hedge funds that invest in real estate, but does anyone know of hedge funds that primarily invest in publicly traded REITs and RE related companies? LDR Capital Management is the only I found that is somewhat close to what I'm looking for. I'm going to use a pretty broad definition for RE related stocks. RE services, home builders, hotels, casinos, infrastructure, and any other non-real estate companies where real estate holdings are the main value driver (SHLD) are all fair game.
03 Aug 2018
Widely considered the creme de la creme of financial institutions, hedge funds are a source of fascination among investors and others alike. Individuals aspiring to make exorbitant amounts of money look up to top managers with dreams of one day running their own fund. Getting to that point is a topic for another thread - right now it's time to discuss hedge fund compensation. Hedge Fund Manager Salary The first thing to understand is that there are two driving factors that stand above all others in determining compensation: fund size and, more importantly, performance. This applies across the
31 May 2010
So I wanted to give some people hope. I will keep my firm names anonymous, but I want to give people help. I am just going to have some random points, and want people to ask anything or even state if you disagree so we can get a nice discussion going. My Profile: I graduated in 2011 with a technology degree and economics degree from a non-target school (NYC area). I graduated with less than a 3.0. My Career Progression: 1st Year Operations BB Bank - Automated my job -> Promoted to group of my choice (Couldn't land IB, and glad I never did it (hours insane and pay is better on buy-side - if your good) - but IB is still a good place to start though if you can break in. I chose the internal hedge fund - which was disbanded in 2013 from Dodd-Frank)
26 Apr 2014
I'm a 1st year analyst in a MM in lev fin and am looking into taking the CFA this year. I've read a lot though that for banking and PE it's not really beneficial. I would be doing it against my banking hours too. The views of any experienced bankers and PE guys would be really helpful here in deciding if it's worth the 200-300 hours just to have it in terms of future career prospects and its value.
16 Jan 2016
I did one of these before a couple years back when i was on the sellside, and figured why not do another one since these threads seem to get a lot of traction and provide a lot of useful info for kids. My background: -Discretionary trader at a large hedge fund, focusing on credit and convertibles -Previously traded equity derivatives on the sell side Feel free to ask anything outside of compensation.
01 Jun 2015
Many people here on WSO are obsessed with hedge funds and look upon the mutual fund industry with disdain. However, I have seen a lot of misinformation out there on what mutual funds even do, so I wanted to layout the basics of both hedge funds and mutual funds and what makes them similar and what makes them different. Also, I want to layout what some of the incentives are for some of the managers of these funds and how those incentives either align or don't with the investors. I'm not a lawyer, so don't take this as legal advice. This is just a general outline.
12 Jan 2013
Perhaps one of the coolest guys from the pocket protector posse, James Simons has become an absolute legend in our world of finance, with his army of physicists and mathematicians at the Quant juggernaut Ren Tech, he has beaten and wowed the street year in and year out, showing the world the future of hedge funds and perhaps, changed the game forever. Now retired and back to his great love of mathematical research, the notorious recluse has given a rare, hour long speech at MIT, and he spoke about work, math, the markets, and life in general. No, you won't become a quant god watching this and
25 Jan 2011
Hello, From what I've read it seems like the big knock on L/S single manager funds is that they're just capturing beta/market cycles (e.g. tech growth funds that did really well this year are just benefiting from a risk-on environment) and the argument for MM funds is that the market neutral model removes those distortions in favor of actual alpha from getting earnings/catalysts right. I'm wondering whether there are concentrated single manager funds that put on a few high conviction long and short positions but target very low net exposure as well - seems like that kind of model would exhibit
09 Dec 2020
Hey Everyone, Recently read a great article on Morning Brew about Goal Setting. It sparked an idea to crowd source this forum not specifically for goal setting frameworks but for the best in class day-to-day organizational framework. I'm sure everyone who has done IB, PE, VC, HF, etc. has had days where you have a MILLION PLATES SPINNING. What frameworks have you guys used to keep them from falling (i.e. pen / paper, OneNote, Excel, Sticky Notes, etc.) Hopefully this is helpful for all the younger monkeys out there, including myself!
14 Jan 2021
I have noticed a number of hedge funds presenting themselves as "best idea" hedge funds lately. While the name seem pretty obvious, I'm just wondering if anyone has worked at such a hedge fund and can shed light on how it actually differs from all other hedge funds (since presumably, they too only invest in what they believe to be their "best ideas" since why would they invest in their "less than best ideas?"). Is the idea that they basically have no self-imposed restrictions on what they can invest in, whereas a "distressed debt" hedge fund or long/short equity are restricted to investing
06 Jun 2019
Hello, A friend of mine goes ludicrous on weekends... His behavior is typical (meaning it happens every weekend)... For example, he took a corona from a woman and chugged it in front of her. Shortly after, he threw down a $100 bill and said thanks. Obviously, this was before he got kicked out of the bar we were in. This was a nice place, in TriBeCa, and I feel that he gets too drunk. I want to know if this is how an IB should be? He claims he works crazy hours and it results in this. He seems to be focused on materialism and pop-culture rather than social concern. Any takers?
08 May 2011
Hat Tip to International Pymp for sending this to me. Very insightful interview with BlueMountain, a great long/short credit fund: BlueMountain Capital Management was one of just nine managers on the receiving end of 38% of all new money put into hedge funds this year, according to a report earlier this month from Bloomberg News. The multi-strategy, long-short credit house launched by Stephen Siderow and Andrew Feldstein in 2003 with $300 million now manages about $7 billion-about $5.3 billion in hedge funds and $1.7 billion in collateralized loan obligations. FINalternatives Senior Reporter Mary Campbell spoke to Siderow recently about credit market opportunities, ratings-constrained investors and how a version of "the Paulson trade" saw BlueMountain through the financial crisis.
06 Dec 2011
Have an offer to work as an operations analyst at a hedge fund administration firm. "The position will expose the Junior Operations Analyst to all financial markets and products traded globally, including highly complex derivative instruments." During the interview the directors said I will be learning about the most complex new derivatives being created and traded by large investment banks and hedge funds and learning how to price them. As opposed to just being a typical boring operations role booking trades and that everyday is different. Will this give me an opportunity to make the move
15 Jun 2018
Hi guys, I'm an average undergrad student(20 yo) from an average uni in Bangalore, India. GPA - 7.5, 2 internships in wealth management ( not well-known firms), 1 on-going internship in quantitative finance( not a well-known frim). I'll be writing CFA L1, feb 2021. yet to take the GMAT, I'll probably get around 680-700. I've completed a bunch of Insidesherpa virtual experience modules and I'm doing 2 courses on coursera ( python and investment management). I've recently started to trade penny stocks with a small sum, I'd like to take this forward too. I want to make big money in the comings
23 Aug 2020
If there is one common link between all of us on this site it is the hunger of ambition and the thirst for success. Today, the most successful investor alive, answers WSO's most frequently asked questions . Whether it's "how to break in from a non-target?" or "what would Mr. Buffett do?", this story answers both and so much more. For all of you guys worried about breaking in and getting a job, this story should be the ultimate answer to all of your career related questions. Today, we are once again reminded that hard, work, faith and dedication are the ultimate resume builders and boosters. That no man can be stopped, when that man does not stop himself.
27 Oct 2010
Anyone see this ? https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/08/27/pau… Good read in my opinion. Funny how they tried to paint bush so sympathetic and as if he didn't deserve what he got etc (I guess that's the NewYorker for ya) . Thoughts on Elliot and his strategy? I think we need more hedge funds doin work like him. Props to Cohn as well. Met him once without knowing who he was when he was with Mr. Singer. Seemed very intelligent and just like described, Mr. Singer's "protege".
21 Aug 2018
Have any of you guys heard from your funds about potential return timelines for coming back into the office? My office was originally supposed to have some traders return back next week but now that's been pushed back indefinitely. Originally the plan was to have everyone back by September but it doesn't seem like that will happen without a vaccine or some form of herd immunity. It would be great to get some insight from people at other funds as i'm sure they are all following similar plans.
07 Jul 2020
hi peps, apologies if this topic has already been covered in previous posts. I am familiar with the PE landscape in London however if I was to name L/S equity funds beyond the large American platforms (i.e. Citadel, P72, DE Shaw) I would not know where to start. I did hear some great things about a fund called NAYA, run by an ex partner of The Childrens Investment Fund.
16 Jun 2020
Stanford GSB vs Wharton to transition to HFs after graduation? Thank you all for the responses.
31 Mar 2017
What exactly does the term "earnings print" refer to? Could anyone provide a precise conceptual definition?
12 Jan 2021
I've been in the L/S fundamental equity hedge fund world for the last 7 years. I'm a senior analyst with a small team under me at a large, well-known hedge fund. I am often recruited by other funds and/or headhunters to either run a book at a platform shop or lateral over as a senior analyst / sector head at other funds, so I'm aware of plenty of other opportunities out there. However, I'm looking to get out of hedge funds and move into a less stressful and time-consuming role. Also, I'd like something a bit more stable (likely higher base salary, lower ceiling on total comp). My first thought
09 May 2016
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