According to an article published by FINalternitives, graduating from a top school with a concentration in finance does not always mean that you will be offered a job, especially in the specialized world of hedge funds. A study conducted by SumZero, an investment social network dedicated to professional investors (and more commonly referred to as the “buyside”), proved that gaining a job in hedge funds takes a lot more than just graduating from a top school.
The head of data science at SumZero, Luke Schiefelbein, told CNBC that in the study, a “top fund” category was created by using a combination of rankings. He notes:
“‘The most highly represented schools on SumZero are similar in order to those you might find on a U.S. News ranking, but the schools with alumni that are most successful at getting jobs at top hedge funds show a much different order… This suggests that top funds might be much more comprehensive in their selection process above and beyond simply identifying those that went to the top schools’” (FINalternatives, 10 Best Schools If You Want to Work at a Top Hedge Fund).
The study was based on a survey of 11,000 members that SumZero considered to be an appropriate size to represent the 100,000 – person buy side community. The list includes universities that have the highest number of graduates who work at top hedge funds. Here are the top five schools on the list, as stated by FINalternatives:
- Colgate, Percentage of graduates who work in top hedge funds: 17.65
- MIT, Percentage of graduates who work in top hedge funds: 15.12
- Johns Hopkins, Percentage of graduates who work in top hedge funds: 14.89
- Brigham Young, Percentage of graduates who work in top hedge funds: 14.71
- University of Pennsylvania, Percentage of graduates who work in top hedge funds: 12.23
Does your school make the cut? Find out if it’s in the top 10 here.