AQR Capital and Atticus Capital

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nbkn9xu

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I’m interviewing with AQR and Atticus next week and was hoping to get some insight on these firms’ reputation, culture, comp structure etc.
AQR Capital - $40B Quant Shop in Greenwich, CT
Strategy and Fundraising Analyst
Atticus Capital - $15B Multi-Strategy with an emphasis on event driven and merger arb., NYC
Client Service Analyst
 
AQR is an excellent organization and Cliff Asness is a brilliant guy. They’ve had some serious performance problems recently. Last I checked (a year ago) Atticus was on fire with great performance. I don’t know much about Barakett and I have never seen him anywhere but his reputation is great. The comp structure at hedge funds always depends on the bonus which always depends on perfomance.
 
Thanks Joey, I appreciate it. So how would the bonus be determined for a client analyst or a fundraising analyst? Is it a factor of how much money the team brings in?
 
1) Performance of the fund
2) Everything else.
Remember that bonuses are paid out of revenue which critically depends on incentive fees.
 
The reputation of both of these firms is high.
Atticus’s performance is highly volatile so compensation could be impacted depending on performance. (Disclaimer: usually volatile on the upside - although the fund has experienced some significant drawdowns on a monthly basis in the range of -10 to -15 percent)
 
BTW - If you get job offers from both, a significant part of the decision is living in NYC or living in Greenwich (commuting sucks). Single, < 30 => NYC — married or > 40 => Greenwich. In between…
 
During my phone interview with AQR, the two managers I spoke with said that about 70% of their employees live in NYC and commute everyday and the company covers all commuting expenses. Not that a few hundred dollars a month would make a difference but you’re right, commute could be a pain in the a$$. Also, the comp. range AQR gave me is quite significant compared to Atticus so I would have to take that into consideration too given that I would be doing somewhat similar work at both. Thanks for your help.
 
nbkn9xu,
both good firms with substantial AUM. Best to figure which one has a better cultural fit for you.
is “nbkn9xu” a BA ID? If you don’t know what I am talking about then , then obviously it isn’t.
 
I think Atticus is pretty quality shop, never heard of AQR depsite 4x the AUM.
But at the end of the day, I’m not familiar with the specific roles that you listed, therefore it is hard to definitive say one role is better thant the other.
 
Gecco, that’s precisely what I was trying to ask. Given that the job responsibilities at the two firms are quite similiar and I’m not asking which one is better, do you know anything about the culture at these two firms? e.g. what type of a person would thrive at a say high energy quant shop? I’ve had phone interviews at both firms but I can’t really say anything about the culture until I meet them in person.
 
Can’t give you any specific guidance on either firm. make sure you are comfortable with the style, regardless of what $$ is thrown at you. You cannot put on price on being happy at work and enjoying time (a lot of time) with your colleagues. If you are not, and do not, then it can be a very negative experience, and will likely end badly
 
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