Job vacancy: Credit analyst, hedge funds
Hedge funds have been growing in importance throughout the economic downturn of the last few years. The assets they manage rose from $480bn in 1999 to 650bn last year, while their numbers expanded by 30% to more than 8,000.
Investment banks have increased their dealings with hedge funds accordingly. It is a risky business, however; 400 funds closed down last year and a lot of fingers were burnt in the process. The banks therefore have a keen appetite for hedge fund analysts.
A European investment bank is currently advertising for an analyst with three to four years experience of covering the sector, through the recruitment firm Huxley Finance. The job is London-based and the funds covered will be based all over Europe.
"The bank deals with a growing number of hedge funds in several countries," says Morgan Kavanagh, a consultant at Huxley. "It has to make sure it knows about each of them individually and what the risks are in individual trades."
The position involves supervising three junior analysts and working with the trading desk on trade approvals. All sorts of deals might be involved, from complex derivatives to vanilla products.
The pool of people able to do such a job is small, according to Kavanagh. The hedge fund sector is unique and it is hard to cross over to it from analysing another industry.
A strong academic background is required, say the advert; Kavanagh says this typically means a good first degree in maths or physics and perhaps an M.A. "A Phd is not normally necessary for this kind of work; it is not like a quant position."
The successful applicant will be expected to develop credit analysis methodology, however.
Hedge fund credit analysts are more in demand than those analysing less dynamic industries such as the media. Even so Kavanagh says pay expectations should be conservative in the current economic climate.
The advertised job has a salary of 75,000, impying a bonus of 45,000 to reach the package total of 120,000.
Job Vacancy looks at advertisements from both eFinancialCareers.com and other sources.
