SAC takes the best of the best. Huge already proven traders, PMs and analysts with serious followings. Try that first and then maybe when you can trade $50million or manage 2-3 billion they may meet with you. I know several people there and they truly are amazing.
Take advantage of what CBS has to offer - go see your career counselors. All of the IB's recruit out of Columbia and I would assume that many hedge funds do as well.
Ok, so Citadel.. Rentech..etc, hire all these amazing people from top schools, firms, etc. My question is this. If these people are so great (i have no doubt most of them are ) why do they choose to work, even for a very large salary, instead of doing it on their own? Do they not have the necessary skills to get connectivity, deploy servers, write software, research, develop models, etc?
the money they get for managing OPM in the billions ... is quite nice based on the HF fee structure that is in place ... which makes me wonder ... what if a HF were to charge less not more for their incentive fees after every highwater mark ... and every 5 B under management ... would people run to them with money ? or run away , thinking something is strange with that fund ?
You've got to be kidding me... you're saying it's only posssible to make money with $15b in capital? Thats news to me.
The premise of the question seemed to turn on why highly talented people, educated at the most elite institutions of higher learning would be focused on employment opportunities at primarily highly capitalized, high profile hedge funds such as Citadel, SAC, etc. The leap you make from the statement I made about a $10-15 billion dollar barrier to entry, to the assumption that I am making a claim that one can't make money trading with anything less than a $10 billion base of capital is a giant leap indeed. My presumption is that most of those that have invested the time, effort and considerable money in an Ivy league education and are considering a career in finance, and more specifically at a hedge fund initially lack the startup financing to launch a major hedge fund operation. This was the case in my own experience. I worked at two large funds before I was in a position to attract substantial institutional funds. To answer the original question more directly: Anyone can connect to the internet and put together a few thousand dollars and test their skills in the markets. The PRIMARY reason that those with top tier educations seek out positions with elite hedge funds is for access to their very large sums of working capital.
You left an industry in decline, but like any industry, there is still opportunity if you are creative and disciplined: these are some of the same traits necessary for being a successful trader, fund manger etc .... Here is a piece of advice: dont chase your tail. You say your 3.4 GPA is not stellar, and I am sure that your CalTech professors somehow convinced you that you are worthless unless you have a 4.0. I worked for Caltech for a time along with some other notable institutions and this is part of the culture: it really means nothing outside of academia. At Columbia, use their resources to leverage your position. With a quality technical education from Caltech and a business degree - which you really can learn by doing rather than going to school - you will have many opportunities, especially in technology. Dont overlook going back to california once you are done.....