The only thing you need for a job in a hedge fund

I read on this site that financial services firms like to hire people from particular backgrounds and with particular personality traits. I disagree. As someone who's been a managing director in various investment banks and who's worked with multiple hedge fund clients, I can say that increasingly, only one thing matters: your ability to generate money.

This is especially the case at hedge funds. Hedge funds do not care where you went to school - except to the extent that it validates your intelligence. They don't care if you play golf. They don't care if you ski. The only thing they care about is your impact on the bottom line.

This is why women can do well in hedge funds. Hedge funds want to see bottom line impacts from research, sales and trading, irrespective of who delivers them.

If you work with hedge fund clients in a bank, this culture will apply to you too. You will succeed not because of your background or ethnicity, but because you can service your clients with great ideas and information at all times.

Times have changed in financial services. The strip clubs, the bar nights, the golf and skiing outings don't work anymore. The boys' club is dead. It's all about hard work and generating big money and alpha for portfolio managers. Today, everyone is focused on making money the clean way.

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available.

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