Can anyone share their TC progression as a Quant Researcher in Hedge Funds? I have an offer from a Hedge fund for 350k first year guaranteed comp. The bonus is not guaranteed for subsequent years. Base is 200k I also have other tech offers for 350k TC in ML domain. I want to optimize for long term TC. So, I want to hear from first hand experiences on what kind of TC progression to expect. This fund has low 9-digit AUM with 5 employees, but I want to hear from employees at all fund sizes.
I have seen quants get stuck at around 400k for 5+years and I have also seen quants break 2M by year 3. Presumably, big part of your compensation is going to be a percentage of the profits your models generate. If you hit paydirt early and your models do well, then you will do well. If not, then not.
What about you?
I was on a slow and steady path. Took just under a decade to cross 1M/year, then another half a decade to get to 5.
I should also add that a small fund like you describe is a riskier proposition than joining a larger, more established firm. It may also be more rewarding but you’d have to get even luckier. My biggest worries would be that at a fund this small there is not enough institutional knowledge to properly learn from and also less room for recovery should anything go wrong/underperform.
Can I ask you a question related to DE Shaw in private (DM)?
Sure.
Curious what your education background because I am interested whats the path to get quant offers. Did you get a masters in math or CS with a designation in ML?
CS isn't good enough for a quant role. All you do in a CS degree is google shit and copy others' code for class projects. Usually PhD in stats, physics, or math is the background of quants.
With any 5 person company, your potential upside is huge. Your worst case is the firm collapses and you do another round of interviews.
I worked in tech supporting quants. I think the number of truly innovative and profitable quants is very small. Also signals decay all the time and increasingly faster. I have seen a former Yale professor and a Harvard physicist got laid off. Except for a few, probably tech is better long term comp imo
Question. You went from SWE at Roku to a quant? YOE?
I didn’t go to quant yet. I have an offer. <5 YoE
Oh so you were studying part time or you already had a deep math background? If you go to a place like JS ive had friends go from 400k to 800k TC in 3 years but i think they were good performers. Bonus has a high upper bound if any