Pros and Cons of Working for a Hedge Fund

You think about a career as a hedge fund manager but want to get additional information about job prospects, salaries, educational requirements, working hours and much more before making your final decision in this regard?

Great! This article is exactly for you since I will show you the pros and cons of working for a hedge fund in the following chapters.

Hedge Fund Manager Job Profile

Advantages of Working for a Hedge Fund

1. People working for hedge funds can make pretty good money
2. You can meet many ambitious people during your career
3. You can build a strong business network
4. Working for a hedge fund can be exciting
5. You can work with people from all over the world
6. Excellent exit options for people working for a hedge fund
7. Hedge fund managers can work indoors
8. You don’t have to work in a hard physical manner
9. Hedge fund managers don’t have to worry about old-age poverty
10. You can afford many nice things
11. You have an easy time in the dating market as a hedge fund manager
12. People working for hedge funds have a decent social standing
13. You can get high levels of responsibility at a rather young age
14. People working in hedge funds often climb the ladder rather quickly
15. Decent job security for people working for hedge funds
16. Hedge fund managers can often work remotely

People working for hedge funds can make pretty good money

One advantage of working for a hedge fund is that you can make really good money from your job.

In fact, you will usually start out with a six-figure income and may even be able to make a seven-figure salary at a rather young age while bakers and most other people can just dream about making this kind of money.

You can meet many ambitious people during your career

Since many good people aim to work at hedge funds, you can also meet many pretty smart and ambitious people along the way and learning from those people can be a great experience which can benefit you quite a lot for your future career.

You can build a strong business network

Since you can meet many ambitious people, you can also build a really strong network of influential people can this can help you climb the corporate ladder quickly since many of your hedge fund colleagues will work for big corporations once they get older and your contacts to all those people can really help you get into leading positions.

Working for a hedge fund can be exciting

You should also know that it can be pretty exciting to work for a renowned hedge fund at a rather young age and especially at the beginning of your career, you can learn many important skills and will also be motivated to really get to the next level.

You can work with people from all over the world

Working for a hedge fund is also popular all over the world and you will therefore often work on projects with people from many different countries and this not only helps you improve your language skills but also makes you more flexible and tolerant in the long run.

Excellent exit options for people working for a hedge fund

Another upside to working for a hedge fund is that you will also have excellent exit options.

In fact, if you work for a renowned hedge fund for a few years, you will have almost freedom of choice regarding whom you want to work for afterward and many doors will open for you that will be locked for most other people.

Hedge fund managers can work indoors

While foresters and many other people out there have to work outdoors during times of bad weather, you as a hedge fund manager can just work in a classical office environment and can even enjoy a nice drink during work and can make your time as convenient as possible.

You don’t have to work in a hard physical manner

While working for a hedge fund is mentally demanding, you still don’t have to work in a physical manner and therefore don’t have to stress your body as much as welders or many other people who often suffer from serious health conditions in the long run.

Hedge fund managers don’t have to worry about old-age poverty

Since you will make pretty good money, you will also not have to worry about old-age poverty as a hedge fund manager since you will be able to live a fancy lifestyle while you can still put lots of money aside for retirement.

You can afford many nice things

In general, thanks to your good income, you will also be able to afford a nice home, a nice car and many other nice things most other people out there will not be able to afford and this can make your life just better and you may also feel special and may also be pretty proud about all the nice things you will have.

You have an easy time in the dating market as a hedge fund manager

Since you make pretty good money and will also be admired by many people out there, you will also have a pretty easy time in the dating market as a hedge fund manager and will almost have freedom of choice regarding whom you want to date.

People working for hedge funds have a decent social standing

Since many people will envy and admire you at the same time, you will also have a pretty decent social standing as a hedge fund manager and can also tell many interesting stories about your career.

You can get high levels of responsibility at a rather young age

People working for hedge funds also get high levels of responsibility from a rather young age right after finishing their college degrees and while this can be pretty stressful, it also allows you to grow as a character rather quickly.

People working in hedge funds often climb the ladder rather quickly

Since you will meet many good people and will also learn many skills valuable in the job market, you will also be able to climb the career ladder rather quickly and while many of your friends may be stuck in their jobs, you may get from one high to the next and may finally end up in senior management or in other great positions.

Decent job security for people working for hedge funds

You also have pretty decent job security when you work as a hedge fund.

While you may lose your job from time to time, it is often still not a big deal since you will have many job options and can just go for a job in a different field where you also make pretty good money while you often have to work far fewer hours.

Hedge fund managers can often work remotely

Since you will do classical office work with a computer, you will also be able to work remotely as a hedge fund manager most of the time and this can be pretty convenient since it helps you manage your private and professional life at the same time in a more efficient manner.

As you can see, there are many reasons for working for a hedge fund.

Yet, it is still not all sunshine and we also have to talk about the drawbacks of a hedge fund manager career in the following chapters so you can better decide whether you still want to work for a hedge fund or rather want to get a job in a different industry instead.

Disadvantages of Working for a Hedge Fund

1. Working for a hedge fund can be mentally demanding
2. Hedge fund managers often have to work many extra hours
3. You sometimes even have to work on weekends
4. You may neglect your family life
5. People working for hedge funds often lose many social contacts
6. The hedge fund industry is pretty competitive
7. Hard to make friends at work
8. You need a fancy degree for working for a hedge fund
9. Only the best of the best stay in this field in the long run
10. You are at great risk of burnout as a hedge fund manager
11. You may have to deal with demanding clients
12. Hard to make a positive social impact as a hedge fund manager
13. Hedge fund managers often suffer from sleeping problems
14. You work in a classical office environment
15. Student loan debt may become a problem

Working for a hedge fund can be mentally demanding

One downside to working for a hedge fund is that it can be extremely mentally demanding to do this kind of work.

In fact, you will work with numbers all day long and if you don’t have talent in this regard and are also not interested in this kind of work, chances are that you will lose motivation for what you are doing rather quickly.

Hedge fund managers often have to work many extra hours

You should also know that you will have to work long hours as a hedge fund manager.

Many hedge fund managers work 60 hours or more per week and if you want to have a standard 9 to 5 job, you should rather work as an accountant or go for other careers in the corporate world instead where you usually don’t have to work much overtime.

You sometimes even have to work on weekends

If schedules are tight and you have important client meetings on Monday, you may even have to work on Saturdays and Sundays to get things done in time and this can be really annoying since it will take away the opportunity to make nice weekend trips with your family.

You may neglect your family life

In general, working for a hedge fund is not great at all if you have kids since you will come home from work pretty late in the evening and will therefore not have enough opportunities to see your kids grow up which you might regret later on in your life.

People working for hedge funds often lose many social contacts

Since you will work so many hours, you will also not have time to maintain all of your social contacts and may lose many of your friends sooner or later since your job will just become your main priority and you will just not have enough energy to do many other things.

The hedge fund industry is pretty competitive

Another problem with working for a hedge fund is that this industry is pretty competitive and it is therefore pretty hard to get in there and most people who aspire to a hedge fund career will never make it to this stage since requirements are so high.

Hard to make friends at work

Since people working for hedge funds are pretty career-focused, it is also pretty hard to make good friends at work and you may therefore often feel lonely and not welcome and this can really lower your overall quality of life in the long run if you don’t have the stomach to deal with those things in a proper manner.

You need a fancy degree for working for a hedge fund

You also need a degree in mathematics, finance, economics or a related field from a renowned university to be able to work for a hedge fund and you should also have excellent grades.

Thus, you will have to spend lots of time and money on your studies and you should make sure that becoming a hedge fund manager is really worth it to you before you make this huge commitment.

Only the best of the best stay in this field in the long run

You should also be aware of the fact that many people exit this industry rather soon and only very few people stay in this field for decades and you will therefore always have to work with new people and always have to adapt if you want to stay successful in the hedge fund industry in the long run.

You are at great risk of burnout as a hedge fund manager

Another disadvantage of working for a hedge fund is that you will also be at great risk of suffering from burnout or other mental problems since you will have to deal with high stress levels which can be a huge emotional burden in the long run.

You may have to deal with demanding clients

During your hedge fund career, you will also meet many demanding and difficult clients who will expect excellent performance and if you can’t deliver, you may just lose your clients and may even lose your reputation which can be detrimental in the long run.

Hard to make a positive social impact as a hedge fund manager

Since you will just care about making money, you will also have a really hard time making a positive social impact at work and you may therefore just lose motivation for what you are doing sooner or later.

Hedge fund managers often suffer from sleeping problems

Since hedge fund managers have to work long hours, many people working for hedge funds also suffer from sleeping problems and a lack of sleep can really be detrimental to your health and may lead to all sorts of problems.

You work in a classical office environment

As a hedge fund manager, you will also work in a classical office environment and while fallers and many other people get lots of fresh air, you may really get annoyed with your work and will also often not see any tangible results.

Student loan debt may become a problem

Since you will have to go to college for many years, you will also have to spend lots of money on tuition and other expenses related to college and you may also have to take on student loan debt to finance your degree which may financially constrain you later in your life when you have to pay this money back.

Working for a Hedge Fund Pros & Cons – Summary List

Should You Work For A Hedge Fund?

While working for a hedge fund can be great since you can make really good money and will also have excellent exit options, you should also know that a hedge fund manager career can be pretty stressful and you also need to be really smart to get a job in this field.

In the end, you have to evaluate all the advantages and disadvantages of working for a hedge fund carefully so you will be able to make the best possible decision in this regard.

If you don’t want to work for a hedge fund anymore, you may also want to have a look at the following articles:

Advantages and disadvantages of becoming a financial analyst

Advantages and disadvantages of becoming an investment banker

Advantages and disadvantages of becoming a loan officer

Sources

https://www.statista.com/topics/5064/hedge-funds/

Own research and interviews.

About the author

My name is Andreas and my mission is to educate people about the different career paths that are possible in our current state of the world.

In my opinion, people often make the mistake to choose their profession solely based on how much money they can earn from it instead of doing what makes them really happy.

This is quite sad and I just want to give people a more objective picture of what a fulfilling career could look like. I did the same when I started working in consulting after finishing my Master’s degree in Economics.

However, I’ve quit pretty soon after that since I haven’t found true meaning in my job.

Now I can do what I really love to do and I want to enable as many other people as well to go this exciting path towards happiness instead of money.

I conducted various interviews with employees to give you a good impression of what working in different fields will look like and that you can make the best possible decision regarding your future career choice.

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