As an equity analyst, most of David’s day is taken up generating investment ideas and trading. This involves researching companies about to engage in M&A or restructuring activity and coming up with investment ideas. It also involves having discussions with company management, bankers and analysts. David has a BA Economics from Cambridge and an MSc Economics from LSE.
Q: How did you come to work for a hedge fund
I’ve taken an unusual route into the hedge fund industry. After taking my MSc in Economics at the London School of Economics, SISU, (an event driven hedge fund with $700m under management) were looking for a junior analyst, so I applied to them and was lucky. Most funds recruit analysts with several years’ experience in an investment bank, or somewhere similar.
Q: Why the hedge fund sector?
Hedge funds are one of the most exciting and dynamic areas of the finance industry. You get more independence in a hedge fund than an investment bank, where you join the three-year training scheme and stay on it until you’ve finished; here you can almost construct the role around you. There’s also more freedom in terms of the products you can invest in, and the positions you can take. And it’s a much flatter hierarchy: there are 20 people in this office and I sit next to the two partners.
Q: What’s the most exciting thing you’ve got coming up?
A trip to Turkey to undertake due diligence on a potential investment opportunity.
Q: And what’s the least exciting thing on the horizon?
That would probably be number crunching company accounts to create comparable company valuations.
Q: What’s been the most challenging aspect of your career so far?
I’d studied plenty of economics, but not much pure finance or accounting. It was a bit of a struggle to start with: I spent the first month working all hours of the day.
David’s tips
- Get a good understanding of what different hedge funds actually do, not just the generalisations written about the industry in the press.
- Study hard - it’s a competitive environment out there, and a post-graduate qualification or relevant work experience will help you stand out.
- Think about joining an investment bank – they have well-structured graduate programmes, and act as a feeder into the more specialist hedge fund sector.
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