dfall

1.)Can anyone shed some light on these two career paths? What are some pros/cons and similarities / differences for each? I looked at Goldman, UBS, and Morgan Stanley's website but couldnt really find anything in-depth.

2.)My dream job would be to manage a large pool of money, like a hedge fund, but within a firm. So for example, instead of joining some isolated hedge fund competing against thousands of other firms, i'd like to join an established, secure, and very talented fund at a large financial firm like GS, UBS, ect.

3.)What would the title of such a job be? I've heard of like GS's alpha fund blow up earlier this year, but was that a hedge fund?

4.)Also, from what i've read, i have discovered a ton of these funds are big on quants and quantitative anaylsis. IF i were to go into a "fund-managing-type" field, would i even get the job without a degree in quant. analysis? Are there funds in these financial firms that aren't quant-focused?

I know there's a lot of questions and I did do a lot of research before asking them, but i'd like to hear what some of the CC'ers have to say. Thanks

Majayiduke09

I'll answer a few questions.

Yes Goldman Sachs Alpha Fund is an internal quant hedge fund that is under GS's Asset Management Division; I believe the fund's technique of choice is a quantiative global macro strategy.

Its very secretive, so I can't really tell you much else about it.

In regards to the various fund strategies, many internal and stand-alone hedge funds are heavy on the quant so they recruit people with degrees in mathematics, computer science, physics, etc....

Others not so much (i.e. event-driven), which is why you many lawyers or bankers at these funds instead of just traders/structurers

So, yes there are hedge funds that employ strategies that do not require you to focus very heavily on quants, but you still need to be comfortable with numbers. Having said that, I will say many of these internal HFs are quantitative (relying heavily on models)...so I'm not sure whether you will find these opportunities I speak of inside an investment bank.

I will say being a quant guru gives you more options.

CesareBorgia

1) You want to do AM, not PWM. PWM is mostly sales/marketing (comforting rich people, and convincing them that you are a good manager of their money, more by minimizing beta than maximizing alpha). AI (alternative investments) under AM would be what you would be looking for.

3) Probably MD at GSAM, or a similar title.

4) Being a quant is helpful, though not necessary

dfall

ahh perfect. AI under AM, just what i was looking for. thanks

last question - if i were to double major, would it be more beneficial to go finance/some type of math or finance/economics.

also, if i were to double major in math/finance, what math field would i be majoring in, assuming i want a job in an AI group?

futurenyustudent

I think the distinction depends on what kind of clients you have (corporations, pension funds, etc. vs. private individuals).

dfall

bumppppppp

indigo_b

You'll hear most people tell you: Major in what interests you. There's really no "magic formula" major combination that will get you a job.

Although I'd add that if you're not all that great in math/econ, I wouldn't pick it as a major because it'd only bring your GPA down. Also, the quality of the respective departments may be something you might want to look at.