A decade ago, it would have been doubtful that many students – if any – from top universities around the world would have been contemplating a career in the hedge fund industry when they graduated. Back then, hedge funds would have been regarded by most as a pretty small and insignificant cottage industry – very much a sideshow to the main action in the financial world, and on the wilder fringes too. Most students contemplating a career in finance would have been looking for opportunities at the big institutional firms in banking, broking or asset management – if they were keen to avoid other mainstream professions such as accountancy or law – and would hardly have given a second thought to the idea of a career in the "cowboy" world of hedge funds.
A decade later, how things have changed. Indeed, just how much...
