You are better off starting in banking, then doing hedge funds when you have ramped up your finance/modeling skills and might have specialized in an industry during your 2 year analyst stint.

 

can't be picky from a non-target, take anything you can get


Disclaimer: The post above has been made by someone who is not currently employed in IBD...follow the advice at your own risk

 

if you attend a non-target the road to a hedge fund is going to be even harder than banking. top funds typically want 1400 min SAT's and Ivy or Ivy equivalent undergrad (Stanford, Duke etc). I know a firm in my building that wont look at an analyst or junior trader unless they scored 750 on the math section of the SAT. you are going to have to work hard to secure some type of banking job and try and leverage that into a role at a fund imo.

 

^^ What??? How the hell did SAT's come into Banking application... I mean I am applying to some banks this year and none of the applications ask for the SAT score

 
Best Response

Judging by your screen name, HF's will view you as an average applicant(GPA; work exp) from a non-target school with very little exposure (I-Bank; PE)- on a side note, what is your background? Anyway, b/c of this they will probably pass over you. I work in ops at a major HF in Greenwich and I did my year in IB at a MM just to get to the ground level of where I'm at now.

If you can find an obscure firm with very little AUM (>500MM; sites such as vault.com & www.hfforum.com are helpful to locate firms; also order the guide to HF's from vault if you are a newbie; contact sites are in there as well.)

I'm not going to tell you to give up, but you should probably be more focused in getting on the street in IB or PE. At the risk of sounding pompous, it's easier. (by only a very slight margin) Good Luck

"Cut the burger into thirds, place it on the fries, roll one up homey..." - Epic Meal Time
 

I'm not actually convinced that going to an investment bank first is the best path to a hedge fund. I was once under the impression that this was how it was done (put in your 2-3 years as an analyst at a bank and then move over to a fund) but an MD at my fund told me that it was very difficult for them to hire people out of investment banks because there is always the looming question of why this person is trying to leave their investment bank. That is, they feel obligated to assume that anyone leaving a bank must have had trouble getting along with his superiors or otherwise was not a success (there probably aren't a lot of people trying to get out of their bank if they think they're going to make partner in a few years).

I think economists call it adverse selection.

 

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