Want my own team. Am I think too much or am I on track?

[Phil]

Hi ya'll,

I've got a decision on my hands. So I thought of coming here for some quick opinions. Background is top 5 ivy league school, bachelors in math and 3 years quant developer at 250m hedge fund, quant equity, London. Work is mixture of implementation and strategy.

So ideally, in six years time, I want to be a portfolio manager with my team of analysts. Yeah, call me ambitious, too greedy, whatever. It's good to have goals right.

Right now, I have an offer to a 800m hedge fund, also quant equity, back at New York. AUM is an upgrade and company is one of those reputable and branded funds housed in a larger fund of funds. Issue is that my role is still quant dev / analyst, and pretty much start off implementation with sprinkles of strategy involvement.

I know that for one to reach PM, he should 1) have MSc or PhD and / or 2) stay away from the development implementation track.

Questions:
1. Should I take up the NY offer? Barring my ambitions for a PM, it's a natural yes. It is an upgrade from where I am. Can learn more, earn more, more experience. But I've heard chances to go from dev to PM is slim, though much higher compared when someone not even in a quant fund.
2. Would sticking with my current gig and attempt for a Masters in Finance (MIT/Princeton/Stanford) be a better choice if I want to go PM? I eventually need to upgrade education wise so maybe do it now?

Thoughts?

Phil

 

[pingu]

Congratulations on the offer.

You have a job offer that probably pays you more doing similar thing. I guess people are your current place value you and consider you somewhat important. Go to them and tell them fair and square you want to be on the business side and that you have an offer but rather stay in the same pace with a role change more involved in the business. See what they have to say and make sure you get it in writing.

You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain. good luck!!

 

[financeguy]

I agree with pingu here, except something to consider is the ability of your current shop to have you be a PM. They've got 250m AUM; that's not enough of a pie to be splitting up between various PMs. Even if they do let you into the investment side, it will probably only be worth it in that it will be a stepping stone to the investment side of another fund. Anyhow, just something to consider. Barring some kind of big offer from them, I'd say the bigger NY fund is an easy decision.

 

[Phil]

Yeah. I'm really a split on this. Currently, my current company values me, have stick out for me during various retrenchment cycles (HF industry so yes, we had AUM highs and lows) but still has me at the fringes of investing. My day to day is essentially run tests over tests in Excel but never a time of managing a euro of risk.

At least for the NY offer, I'll be doing pretty much the same thing but in an environment that is better in all fronts. Interview with new HF definitely didn't explicitly say you'll be investing in 3 years. But hey, at least I'm upgrading while waiting. My current company is still a fabulous place. But when you want something bigger you gotta get something bigger.

I'm leaning towards new offer. It's really a non structured approach to get to the PM role. Hopefully the NY offer brings me an inch closer to PM.

 

[pingu]

At least for the NY offer, I'll be doing pretty much the same thing but in an environment that is better in all fronts. Interview with new HF definitely didn't explicitly say you'll be investing in 3 years. But hey, at least I'm upgrading while waiting.

Psssst. That's what you think. Your new place is just feeding you and you might swallow hook, line and sinker. Be really careful. You might be doing 5 steps backwards.

Talk to your current place. You have nothing to lose.

 

[Phil]

Hi Guys,

Quick update. While they finalize the visa, it's confirmed that I'm move to the larger HF in NY. The environment is better and I just know that their background, it'll be the next step for me in my HF career.

Yes, I acknowledge pingu's of the risk. I'm betting on myself and there are just too many pluses to give up for a chance at a small piece of the pie, which I can argue could also not be happening.

I'll be moving over in two months time! Thanks for the support. And I love being on the buyside.

 

[manojv]

My advice to young people -- Always go for more money. The value the company places in you is reflected in your compensation. Pure and simple. The only time you can negotiate your salary is during the job offer, so if you're not happy with your compensation, get a new job. Don't accept any counter offer, they already regard you as disloyal and are just trying to buy time to replace you.