19 Hedge Fund Perks That Pity You

From Julia La Roche at BI http://www.businessinsider.com/coolest-hedge-fund-perks-2013-9

If you're looking to start off your Friday morning with an ugly puffy sob, well hey, you came to the right place.

We already know working at a Hedge Fund, and hell, really anywhere on the buyside is the dreamland of Finance (discounting financial political positions of course). But here's 19 Hedge Fund perks to kick the sellside.

1) - These days you have Daniel Loeb, the founder of Third Point LLC, leading a team of his analysts and traders in half Ironman triathlons. Talk about real teamwork and bonding.

2) - According to JetNet, Perry Capital owns a private Gulfstream Aerospace G-IV jet that seats 22 people.

3) - Perry also uses a suite at Metlife stadium. This fund will be hard to beat, but there are others with cool perks, too.

4) - Ray Dalio's Bridgewater Associates has a luxury bus that picks up its traders and analysts in the city every morning.

5) - Marc Lasry's Avenue Capital has free ordered-in breakfast. Not a bad way to start the day.

6) - Bill Ackman's Pershing Square has a state-of-the-art gym at its 888 Seventh Avenue headquarters. We hear that there's also a personal trainer who comes in.

7) - Blackstone, a private equity/investment banking/hedge fund firm, has an in-house shoe shine person.

8) - Perry Capital, the hedge fund run by Richard Perry, has a barber shop on site in its GM Building headquarters. The stylists come in two times a week.

9) - Perry Capital employees also get a discount at Barneys. Richard Perry is the chairman of Barneys and his fund owns a controlling interest in the retailer.

10) - Some funds, including Perry, have a chef on site. The one at Perry makes customized salads.

11) - Barry Rosenstein's JANA Partners has a pool table in the office.

12) - We hear that JANA Partners also has a well-stocked bar in the office, too. That definitely beats a Keurig and a fridge full of Diet Cokes.

13) - The Bridgewater bus has an individual TV on the back of every seat. There are also drinks and snacks onboard and booze for the evening ride home.

14) - Bridgewater also feeds its employees three meals a day for free. We're told that you can even get a meal to go for your commute home.

15) - Steve Cohen's SAC Capital has kept an in-house psychiatrist/trading coach for its traders.

16) - You don't always have to work in the Connecticut or NYC office. One mystery hedge fund set up Bloomberg terminals at the Hamptons home of a fund manager identified only as "Mr. C."

17) - Back in the day, Julian Robertson would fly his analysts out west for hiking and camping trips as part of a team-building exercise.

18) - Paul Tudor Jones orders his traders fried chicken on Fridays when they've had a good week. If they had a down week, they get sushi. Apparently PTJ loves Kentucky Fried Chicken.

19) - At a lot of funds, when you move into a senior position you get an assistant or potentially two assistants. Louis Bacon, who runs Moore Capital, has his assistants frequently serve him sushi and a green juice.

via Business Insider

Any Perks You Have Worth Noting?

 
RSLA:
7) - Some funds, including Perry, have a chef on site. The one at Perry makes customized salads.

Most of the bulge brackets have a whole cafeteria with multiple chefs... what now?!?!

Frank Sinatra - "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."
 
Going Concern:

Yeah, honestly I'll just take the cash. Most of these perks sound pretty pedestrian anyway.

Now if they were giving me free passes to film festivals to see highly anticipated films months before they come out, that would be another story. Also if they let you wander around the office sloshed throughout the week.

Could I walk around carrying my bottle of Yellowtail Carbernet or are they going to force me to drink something more highbrow?
 
IlliniProgrammer:
Going Concern:

Yeah, honestly I'll just take the cash. Most of these perks sound pretty pedestrian anyway.

Now if they were giving me free passes to film festivals to see highly anticipated films months before they come out, that would be another story. Also if they let you wander around the office sloshed throughout the week.

Could I walk around carrying my bottle of Yellowtail Carbernet or are they going to force me to drink something more highbrow?

If they're aiming to succeed on the perks front, they should give you a full menu of choices to get sloshed in the office with. Personally I'm a pinot noir guy myself and don't need anything too fancy, but I wouldn't force it down someone's throat, and would expect hedge funds to extend me the same courtesy.

 
Going Concern:

Yeah, honestly I'll just take the cash. Most of these perks sound pretty pedestrian anyway.

Now if they were giving me free passes to film festivals to see highly anticipated films months before they come out, that would be another story. Also if they let you wander around the office sloshed throughout the week.

Could I walk around carrying my bottle of Yellowtail Carbernet or are they going to force me to drink something more highbrow?
 
IlliniProgrammer:

Also, if you have to shop at Barneys (or Macy's for that matter) for work clothing, isn't that a negative rather than a positive? Why wouldn't you want to show up in a t-shirt and jeans (or at least deck shoes, khakis, and a collared shirt)

Unless you have to shop at Savile row and have to wear a 3 piece suit, pocket square, cufflinks and tie bar, the place isn't worth working for. You should also be forced to keep your jacket on even at your desk.

This is High Fuhnance, not some peasant bofa branch in some peasant suburb.

 

Friend from college works at Perry right now, and he confirmed that all those perks are true. There are some other perks not mentioned in the article, but he doesn't want me to divulge since he wasn't supposed to tell me in the first place.

 

Most/all of these are really:

1) Not that big of a deal to the standard high-finance firm 2) Not uncommon 3) Only a novelty for the first few months of working there 4) Actually more annoying to use than to ignore 5) Used to pull in stupid junior hires at market rates

They're fun to talk/brag about I guess, but they're pretty useless otherwise.

I hate victims who respect their executioners
 
Best Response
BlackHat:

Most/all of these are really:

1) Not that big of a deal to the standard high-finance firm
2) Not uncommon
3) Only a novelty for the first few months of working there
4) Actually more annoying to use than to ignore
5) Used to pull in stupid junior hires at market rates

They're fun to talk/brag about I guess, but they're pretty useless otherwise.

Ok, but did you see that at Perry Capital, their on-site chef would make 'customized salads' for you? Customized salads???? How can you get better than that?

Normally, when I go to a nice restaurant (like TGI Friday's) and I say, "Hey, can you give me my house salad without croutons?". They never customize it for me and force feed me the croutons.

 

I laughed so hard, hahaha, thanks Fuld. +1 SB

"If you have enough assets plus passive income to cover your personal lifestyle expenses for the rest of your life, and that money allows you to work at something you love, without concern for the amount of compensation, then you are wealthy."
 
DickFuld:
BlackHat:

Most/all of these are really:

1) Not that big of a deal to the standard high-finance firm
2) Not uncommon
3) Only a novelty for the first few months of working there
4) Actually more annoying to use than to ignore
5) Used to pull in stupid junior hires at market rates

They're fun to talk/brag about I guess, but they're pretty useless otherwise.

Ok, but did you see that at Perry Capital, their on-site chef would make 'customized salads' for you? Customized salads???? How can you get better than that?

Normally, when I go to a nice restaurant (like TGI Friday's) and I say, "Hey, can you give me my house salad without croutons?". They never customize it for me and force feed me the croutons.

I can already tell I'm going to like you.

I hate victims who respect their executioners
 

Sound like pretty cool perks, but some of them you can find at BBs/EBs, as well.

I know that Blackstone in London has a button, which orders Cookies from the Kitchen. I don't know if it's on every floor, but GSO has it for sure.

I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. See my Blog & AMA
 

There really is nothing special about most of these. The free food is nice, but really not a huge deal.

Most fortune 500s have these perks as well, only difference is you have to pay $5-7 for your customized salad in the cafeteria.

The one plus about being at a HF that has a box at sporting events is that if there are much less employees so you can likely use it more often. I've been at a F500 for a little while now and between mine and a buddy's company I've only gotten to use the boxes 3 times. I'm not high enough on the food chain to just reserve my spot whenever I want (same goes for the Corporate jets - although I have a lot further to climb for those).

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 

The shoe shine guy at Blackstone must get some fat tips from time to time.

I hope this is better than the last batch of shit you gave me. Produced more wood than Ron Jeremy. I don't want you to yell, "Reco!" anymore. Know what you should yell? "Timber!" Yeah, Mr. Fuckin' wood.
 

Agreed this list is below mediocre.

Lets hear some unique perks we've experienced first-hand; my boss' wife rented a F430 Spider for his birthday and he let all of us drive it - being a car enthusiast myself, this was like Christmas.

Array
 

Here are the best legitimate perks of a job: good pay; a good boss; a job where you learn a lot and are always developing new skills; a job that has a career path with advancement; interesting and challenging work; and the ability to work from home on a regular basis (once a week, twice a month, whenever traffic really sucks, etc.). The rest is just window dressing. You could offer nothing else in terms of perks if you had the other items.

 
DCDepository:

Here are the best legitimate perks of a job: good pay; a good boss; a job where you learn a lot and are always developing new skills; a job that has a career path with advancement; interesting and challenging work; and the ability to work from home on a regular basis (once a week, twice a month, whenever traffic really sucks, etc.). The rest is just window dressing. You could offer nothing else in terms of perks if you had the other items.

Shut up. BlackHat's hedge fund serves fresh African pygmies in the cafeteria.
 

In perspective though, any perks at all (even one as simple as "customizable salads") is a 'wow' to normal hob-nob jobs guys. I think we can all agree the perks F500's and BB's have are not the norm for general America.

"If you have enough assets plus passive income to cover your personal lifestyle expenses for the rest of your life, and that money allows you to work at something you love, without concern for the amount of compensation, then you are wealthy."
 
RSLA:

In perspective though, any perks at all (even one as simple as "customizable salads") is a 'wow' to normal hob-nob jobs guys. I think we can all agree the perks F500's and BB's have are not the norm for general America.

Yah but its a bit silly posting it in this forum. Imagine going on a doctors forum and saying OMGAWD GUYS DOCTORS GET TO MAKE PEOPLE HEALHTY. Most of America doesn't do hat either
 

Kinda lame. I mean there are managers out there that own sports teams outright or as part of a group, and the guys on the floor probably get to go hang out in the owners box every so often. Same with clubs/restaurants etc. Realistically if the management company pays for it, it will be tame for PR reasons.

Also did you see the Jets last night? Who wouldn't hate?

 
Silicon Economist:

The bus thing is laughable. Pretty much ever F200 company in the SF Bay Area does this. Even some start ups do this. Drive on any freeway in the Bay Area during rush hour, you'll see hordes of luxury buses.

Yeah, that's common in SF because the cost of real estate is prohibitive for many people and the bus concept has caught on culturally. It's very uncommon in places outside of San Francisco.

 
DCDepository:
Silicon Economist:

The bus thing is laughable. Pretty much ever F200 company in the SF Bay Area does this. Even some start ups do this. Drive on any freeway in the Bay Area during rush hour, you'll see hordes of luxury buses.

Yeah, that's common in SF because the cost of real estate is prohibitive for many people and the bus concept has caught on culturally. It's very uncommon in places outside of San Francisco.

Exactly, and don't forget you're talking about F200 companies here.

"If you have enough assets plus passive income to cover your personal lifestyle expenses for the rest of your life, and that money allows you to work at something you love, without concern for the amount of compensation, then you are wealthy."
 
DCDepository:
Silicon Economist:

The bus thing is laughable. Pretty much ever F200 company in the SF Bay Area does this. Even some start ups do this. Drive on any freeway in the Bay Area during rush hour, you'll see hordes of luxury buses.

Yeah, that's common in SF because the cost of real estate is prohibitive for many people and the bus concept has caught on culturally. It's very uncommon in places outside of San Francisco.

I can think of a few hedge funds not listed that do it...
 
LTV:

This really impresses people? I used to work at one of the funds in OP, and it was cool for maybe a week at most. I also worked at a tech startup while in college, and those perks blew any of the finance "perks" out of the water.

What were some of those tech startup perks?

Array
 

Am I the only one that thinks 15 is actually really creepy? Maybe not as bad as Ping Jiang's motivational methods, but still pretty bad.

Also, add me to the I'd rather be paid more camp. To be fair, usually places that do this stuff pay pretty well, but it's not like the listed perks are that great after the novelty wears off.

The only perk I wish I had is the ability to bill private jets to an operating company without anyone caring about it. I believe that's pretty common in PE, but not so common for hedge funds. To be fair, I think many people in hedge funds don't have to travel as much, so it's less of an issue.

Anyone know a hedge fund with a very liberal private jet policy? That would be a cool perk.

 
Marked to Market:

Anyone know a hedge fund with a very liberal private jet policy? That would be a cool perk.

I doubt this happens literally anywhere. You'd be surprised how Jewish most funds, HF or PE, really are. The perks listed in OP really don't cost much outside of that... jet hours are really expensive.

I hate victims who respect their executioners
 
BlackHat:
I doubt this happens literally anywhere. You'd be surprised how Jewish most funds, HF or PE, really are. The perks listed in OP really don't cost much outside of that... jet hours are really expensive.

I agree with that to a great extent.

But, I have heard stories that mega cap PE funds are/were cool with junior associates billing private jet travel to portfolio companies even for minor stuff. That made some sense to me because private jet travel isn't that expensive relative to Dell's EBITDA (for example) and at the end of the day it comes out of LPs pockets more than the fund per se.

I have never worked at a mega cap PE fund, so I wouldn't know and I'm not sure I believe the stories. I may have sounded more credulous than I should have in my post, for which I apologize.

So, maybe it's better to phrase this as a question: does anyone know if the huge PE funds let junior guys bill jet travel to portfolio companies? I have heard rumors.

 

Goin' up to bitches and saying, hey, i work at a hedge fund. bitches love hedge fund guys. seriously...no joke (slightly joking...)

in seriousness, the perks mentioned are only afforded to the mega funds. the other perks would be client entertainment from your prime broker etc.. but these are decreasing in extravagance

"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

Everyone gets a hot assistant. Btw they put the ASS in assistant. ;)

Robert Clayton Dean: What is happening? Brill: I blew up the building. Robert Clayton Dean: Why? Brill: Because you made a phone call.
 
BlackHat:
We don't have many... only one I can think of is a chef, but his food sucks and I end up ordering in anyway.

I think I can do that, can you please write article how to break into cooking at mm hf from non-target?

If the glove don't fit, you must acquit!
 

perks? no not really. most hedge funds dont go crazy on the perks because unlike banks with faceless shareholders they have an investor base that is very serious about the organization running lean. No investor wants to walk in for a visit and see an atmosphere that looks like its centered around the employees. The employees are supposed to get rich making money, not mooching perks off of the investors. We get 12 bucks a day for lunch (provided it is delivered to the office and you dont leave) and we have a bare bones gym.

That said you can mooch alot off freebies from the street if you want.

 

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"After you work on Wall Street it’s a choice, would you rather work at McDonalds or on the sell-side? I would choose McDonalds over the sell-side.” - David Tepper
 

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I hate victims who respect their executioners
 

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