6.1 OVERVIEW

Too often when people think of careers in hedge funds, their image is only that of the trader, a person whose mind in a nanosecond moves through world markets noting anomalies, devising and then executing strategies to capture the inherent profit present in these deviations from market efficiencies, all the while waylaying the risk. These traders, however, do not operate in a vacuum their success and the success of their firms is dependent upon numerous other positions that offer careers in hedge funds equally important to the bottom line.

This chapter will explore all those careers in hedge funds, noting educational and previous work experience requirements, necessary skills and personality aptitudes, the types of funds where these careers most frequently occur, and ending with a prediction of likely growth in each of those areas.

Most hedge funds like any other financial institution can be divided into three main employment areas:

1. BACK OFFICE: those occupations that sustain the profit-generating activities of the firm but are not directly involved in the actual performance of those actions. The careers in hedge funds that exist in this category are:

   1. accounting: accountants, Chief Financial Officers, and compliance personnel

   2. customer service: client OR investor relations staff

   3. human resources: benefits, department heads, and recruiters workforce

   4. legal: compliance, and General Counsel employees

   5. systems/information technology (IT): Chief Information Officer ( CIO), developers, network, database and systems...