It’s that time of the year when most students would be starting their new semesters and it’s also the time to start planning your next internship. Large hedge funds don’t do much recruiting at the undergraduate level, and it’s difficult to contact smaller/startup funds. Our word of advise to the ambitious would be to start early if you’re keen to crack a hedge fund. You will need prior internships at either a boutique investment bank, a small PE firm, or Big 4 firm to build foundational knowledge. Hedge funds have slowly opened up some positions in quant trading and quant research roles which are some of the new opportunities that you can target.
Large funds like Jane Street Capital, D.E. Shaw, Millennium Partners, Two Sigma, Point72, AQR, Marshall Wace, and Bridgewater offer internships that are quant-focused while others are discretionary or a mix of both.
There are two types of hedge fund jobs you can take – either work in the most coveted front office or work opt for back office roles. At a quant fund, the tasks would comprise coding, developing statistical models, and back-testing ideas to see how they would have performed in previous markets. The experience tends to be more consistent at the big funds, while it can be completely random at smaller funds, especially at newer single managers who do not typically hire interns.
📌When To Apply:
Ideally as an undergraduate, try to get an internship by your first or second year of school as opposed to applying in the final year. Don't focus on large funds with a structured program- you may have a higher chance with a smaller hedge fund.
As a pre-MBA student, apply when applications open for the MBA students to match the timeline.
📌How To Apply:
Network via cold emailing, calling, and LinkedIn, focusing on small hedge fund with an AUM less than $10 billion. You’ll need to send out at least 100 cold emails.
Apply for the internships offered large funds that can be very competitive. Point 72 Academy offers a 10-week program that can be your track for a year-long internship.
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