Career Advice Investing

[YianniM3]

hey guys,

So i am 25 graduated with a management and marketing degree currently i work in a bank doing sales and customer service something i certainly dont want to do for the rest of my life. Growing up i assumed i would own my own business wether its a restaurant or some sort of store mom and pop sort of thing. my parents own a restaurant and some real estate.

I was on vacation and while playing some blackjack at a casino i meet a hedge fund manager from boston (thats where i live) so we talked alittle bit when i came back i found him and go in contact with him long story short i met up with him at his office we talked and he mentioned he would hire me as a intern for about 6-9 months so he can train me and i can learn the ropes he said if "i bring in enough money" he will hire me...

Here is my dilemma
1) i know nothing about investing nothing about stocks
2) working for free for that long is alittle scary especially with no guaranty of work afterwards
3) im not going to lie i am alittle nervous about learning something new

clearly i believe it would be a great experience i know there is alot of money to be made especially in hedge funds

does anyone on this board do that type of work i wouldnt mind some constructive criticism any advice would be great...

Another thought i had is i could intern 3 days a week and work for my parents a few days a week just to have some sort of income coming in.

Thanks for the help
John

[ddk632]

You will learn more if you can intern full time, and work nights and/or weekends for your parents to make money. I am not in that industry but it sounds like a good, genuine opportunity.

If someone in that position is willing to train you for free for 6-9 months, it would be proper to give it your all during that time. Just my $0.02.

Surely someone with experience will chime in.

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by ddk632

You will learn more if you can intern full time, and work nights and/or weekends for your parents to make money. I am not in that industry but it sounds like a good, genuine opportunity.

If someone in that position is willing to train you for free for 6-9 months, it would be proper to give it your all during that time. Just my $0.02.

Surely someone with experience will chime in.

good points and it's true they will want your life if you work for them. at first I would say it is going to be hard especially since you have no finance history. you're starting from scratch so without a doubt you will struggle. having said that I don't know what type of person you are so you may pick things up quick, be a hard worker, and not mind the endless hours, but like I said I don't know you. It's a great opportunity for sure, but in my honest opinion stay away. not to sound like a dick, but you'll probably not be there for long

[YianniM3]

Originally Posted by rjd598

good points and it's true they will want your life if you work for them. at first I would say it is going to be hard especially since you have no finance history. you're starting from scratch so without a doubt you will struggle. having said that I don't know what type of person you are so you may pick things up quick, be a hard worker, and not mind the endless hours, but like I said I don't know you. It's a great opportunity for sure, but in my honest opinion stay away. not to sound like a dick, but you'll probably not be there for long

thanks for the response. do you have experience in this field? i know it could be a good opportunity for me but at the same time i dont know if its something i will do forever because i know nothing about it so its difficult for me to be 100% sure i want to commit all the time to it

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by nixta325

thanks for the response. do you have experience in this field? i know it could be a good opportunity for me but at the same time i dont know if its something i will do forever because i know nothing about it so its difficult for me to be 100% sure i want to commit all the time to it

Not in the field but I'm a finance major graduating this May. Just briefly knowig what they do is why I gave you my recommendation. You usually don't or don't want to get into hedge funds unless you like it or have a knack for it. Just my opinion. Good opportunity though since you are beating out all the other guys who have a more tailored resume but then again you are starting from scratch. It's doable but probably an extreme amount of hard work

[PSUSMU]

Hedge funds have extremely high turnover rate

[YianniM3]

Originally Posted by PSUSMU

Hedge funds have extremely high turnover rate

why is that?

[Myrder]

If you think the bank is a dead end, then take this opportunity to expand skill-sets. You are young and can take these chances. Might lead into something worth while.

[druu]

Originally Posted by nixta325

hey guys,

So i am 25 graduated with a management and marketing degree currently i work in a bank doing sales and customer service something i certainly dont want to do for the rest of my life. Growing up i assumed i would own my own business wether its a restaurant or some sort of store mom and pop sort of thing. my parents own a restaurant and some real estate.

I was on vacation and while playing some blackjack at a casino i meet a hedge fund manager from boston (thats where i live) so we talked alittle bit when i came back i found him and go in contact with him long story short i met up with him at his office we talked and he mentioned he would hire me as a intern for about 6-9 months so he can train me and i can learn the ropes he said if "i bring in enough money" he will hire me...

Here is my dilemma
1) i know nothing about investing nothing about stocks
2) working for free for that long is alittle scary especially with no guaranty of work afterwards
3) im not going to lie i am alittle nervous about learning something new

clearly i believe it would be a great experience i know there is alot of money to be made especially in hedge funds

does anyone on this board do that type of work i wouldnt mind some constructive criticism any advice would be great...

Another thought i had is i could intern 3 days a week and work for my parents a few days a week just to have some sort of income coming in.

Thanks for the help
John

I work in the hedge fund industry and this sounds shady. Why? Because working for a HFM or PM, you don't bring in money to the fund (investors bring in money and those investors usually have a large minimum investment and need to already have a high net value), unless he's hiring you to be a marketing/sales guy (which i also doubt, since most people pitching funds have a lot of fund experience as it is). If he means that you make him money by trading P&L (profit and loss), that also sounds weird, most hedge funds do not hire a guy out of nowhere and have him start trading or even touching the money(no offense to you just saying he just met you etc etc).

Originally Posted by ddk632

You will learn more if you can intern full time, and work nights and/or weekends for your parents to make money. I am not in that industry but it sounds like a good, genuine opportunity.

If someone in that position is willing to train you for free for 6-9 months, it would be proper to give it your all during that time. Just my $0.02.

Surely someone with experience will chime in.

Good advice on life in general, if this is indeed a true opportunity to be under the tutelage of a real PM then you truly lucked out.

Originally Posted by PSUSMU

Hedge funds have extremely high turnover rate

Originally Posted by nixta325

why is that?

False, Many Hedge funds have a short life span. Much like restaurants the early years are make or break, once they break the ~3 year mark and aren't floundering they have a tendency to last. High turnover in our space is generally because its a small world, and everyone knows everyone. People bring friends to new shops and funds all the time.

[Maestro]

I do not want to scare you off on this, however, the investment and brokerage world hires young people and brings them in at low to non existent pay and makes them prospect clients. They will set goals and target for you to hit, as long as you hit them, you continue forward. as soon as you miss your out the door. What they hope is you know or have access to people who have money and you convince them to bring their money to the company you are working for. Since you are not licensed you can not provide any investment advise or ideas and you are not even allow to make a transaction. You turn it all over to a more senior license broker and he does all the deals and make all the commission and fees from all the prospect you bring in.

I have been investing for over 25 yrs and I know the rat race these people work in. The first person I invested with was a family friend who was just getting started in business. He kept bouncing from firm to firm which I did not understand at first, then I began asking question since I was tired of doing all the paper work to move my accounts. As it turns out he work for more senior people who did everything they could to make him leave so they could keep the accounts, as soon as he left I would get a call and they would talk about how much of a better job they could do for me, when in fact they were the one behind the friend all along. It was all BS, it is part of the game they play, since most people just quit and do not go to another firm, in the case of the family friend he eventually got his license and could do his own transactions without having someone else involved. I am not with him today since he went to firm which he could only invest in things which the company "covered" so they pushed you into things which they got the best returns for themselves.

In a long winded way, I am saying he is going to use you to get access to people you know with money. Reason why, you are not allow to do any investment and make commission and such without being a license broker once he has them he most likely can keep them.

Today I invest with a private broker who works for himself not any of the big or boutique firms, and he himself hires young people to work the phone and desks but in the end he does all the transaction and makes all the money.

The question you have to ask is will this company allow you to get licensed and will they pay to make that happen if you doing a good job. Just keep in mind if you can not keep bringing in high weather investors you will be out the door.

[druu]

Originally Posted by Maestro

I do not want to scare you off on this, however, the investment and brokerage world hires young people and beings them in at low to non existent pay and makes them prospect clients. They will set goal and target for you to hit, as long as you hit them, you continue forward. as soon as you miss your out the door. What they hope you do is you know or have access to people who have money and you convince them to bring their money to the company you are working for. Since you not license you can not provide any investment advise or idea and your not even allow to make a transaction. You turn it all over to a more senior license broker and he does all the deal and make all the commission and feed from all the prospect you bring in.

I have been investing for over 25 yrs and I know the rat race these people work in. The first person I invested with was a family friend who was just getting started in business. He kept bouncing from firm to firm which I did not understand at first, then I began asking question since I was tired of doing all the paper work to move my accounts. As it turns out he work for more senior people who did everything they could to make his leave so they could keep the accounts, as soon as they left I would get a call and they would talk about how much of a better job they could do for me. It was all BS, it part of the game they play, since most people just quit and do not go to another firm, in the case of the family friend he eventually got his license and could do his own transactions without having someone else involved. I am not with him today since it went to firm which he could only invest in things which the company "covered" so they pushed you into things which they got the best returns for themselves.

In a long winded way, I am saying he is going to most likely use you to get access to people you know with money. Reason why, you are not allow to do any investment and make commission and such without being a license broker.

Today I invest with a private broker who works for himself not any of the big firms or boutique firms, and he himself hires young people to work the phone and desks but in the end he does all the transaction and makes all the money.

The question you have to ask is will this company allow you to get licensed and will they pay to make that happen if you doing a good job. Just keep in mind if you can not keep bringing in high weather investors you will be out the door.

Hedge funds (as the OP said the guy was from) do not operate this way, there is no cold calling, or any kind of marketing, in fact, most HFs are picky with who they let invest. No series 7/66/69 etc are required here for most positions. They trade, not broker. But the way the guy made it sound was almost like he was not from a fund.

[ddk632]

Wow you guys bring up some very good industry specific points that now makes me question the general validity of the opportunity as well as the true prospects of making a lot of money down the line and/or transferring the skills. Still possible but I'd say at this point proceed with caution before committing.

It goes with the old adage, if it looks like it's too good to be true, it probably is.

[YianniM3]

i defiantly have many questions i want to ask the hedge fund manager before i consider doing this.

[YianniM3]

Originally Posted by druu

Hedge funds (as the OP said the guy was from) do not operate this way, there is no cold calling, or any kind of marketing, in fact, most HFs are picky with who they let invest. No series 7/66/69 etc are required here for most positions. They trade, not broker. But the way the guy made it sound was almost like he was not from a fund.

ok so what exactly would an entry level hedge fund position be/do?

[druu]

Case in point, i've never solicited a prospective client in the way Maestro described, that is more the stock broker (not to be mistaken for brokerage firms/ investment banks), financial advisor etc kind of job where you are basically fighting for your own food. I would also do some research and look up the firm/google it's size, length of time in existence, it's strategy etc.

For reference small = 0-7 Billion
Mid sized = 7-13 Billion
and Large is everything really north of the teens (in billions).

This is my own personal scale, though you find most people in the field will have a similar scale. If they are <250mm then they are either really small, just starting out (and there is nothing wrong with that), they are paid on P&L and their Assets under management, or on their way out and unwinding. Usually small funds are great places to learn and grow, and many small funds prefer to stay small.

[druu]

Originally Posted by nixta325

ok so what exactly would an entry level hedge fund position be/do?

Funds have many positions, there is no one job anywhere. Actually you will likely do a combination of positions, since many funds act like a family office with only a few employees.

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/02/111302.asp

Read up on what it is and do some research before pursuing any further (there is quite a bit of reading out there).

Rarely (unless you are top tier talent with previous pedigree or know someone personally at the fund) will they take a fresh grad out of school to trade, or be a trader's assistant (sounds like a low level position, it isn't)

In fact most Funds will not hire entry level unless its a friend or a favor, because of their size and pay structures they are able to cherry pick. But the most junior positions are generally the operations positions (great place to start and learn).