What It Does: It examines the entire market with a philosophy of efficiency to deliver top-of-the-chart return on investments.
Mission: To forge a reputation as the most profitable investment team worldwide through an application of discipline, focus, and comprehensively effective strategies.
Size and Presence: Around 3,659 employees in 10 locations.
Best Known For: It is one of the largest and most successful hedge fund managers in the world that supervises funds across five different investment plans.
The good bits: A world-leading investment institution that looks to empower its employees with tools that see them grow and improve while providing engaging and supportive management.
The not-so-good bits: Citadel depends on the efficiency of its employees hence workers need to put in long working hours and consistently adapt their strategies to remain profitable.
Citadel is one of the leading hedge fund investment funds in the United States. The company focuses on integrating a culture of excellence fostered by cutting-edge technology to proffer top-of-the-chart profits. the citadel was founded by Kenneth Griffin in 1987 with a startup capital of $4.6 million in capital and within 8 years, it grew its assets north of $2 billion.
The main goal of this company is to combine investing as an art and the science of finance to achieve worthwhile financial targets.
As of May 2022, citadel currently manages assets worth over $50 billion. It claims to trade “around 26% of equities volume in the United States” and “implements 47% of all U.S-listed retail volume”.
From a market capitalization in millions and growing to one in billions, the citadel has always had to adapt and be good at it too. The culture is collaborative and one that supports innovative ideas while giving a platform for ideas to grow.
The work vibe is generally fast-paced as it requires employees to adapt their strategies to an ever-changing market. While the fast-paced Citadel works may seem challenging, it soon becomes familiar and makes collaboration even more productive.
As a well-known market maker, citadel works meticulously to hire the most talented applicants while keeping an eye out for specific traits.
The recruitment process for graduate and intern hopefuls begins with a phone screener usually performed by a technologist. Successful applicants are then directed to on-site interviews.
There are five interview sessions with each one aimed at testing role-specific traits. Each assessment phase aims to test the mental agility of applicants and their ability to adapt their knowledge to solve complex problems.
The last phase in the selection process is the behavioural interview where applicants get to talk about their career progress and their mindset regarding the potential role.
A position at Citadel is an opportunity for lifelong learning. They actively invest in extraordinary colleagues. They proffer professional freedom to employees to help them choose their path that inspires their vision and sees them remain curious every day. They also provide mentorship programs for interns.
At the citadel, internship opportunities offer applicants an excellent chance to develop professionally and socially. They benefit from valuable experience from mentorship programs and enjoy access to invaluable seminars, classes, and coffee chats. Interns are also attached to full-time employees to apply their classroom knowledge in a real-time world-leading experience.
Beyond excellent professional development, graduates and interns enjoy a satisfying social experience. Citadel claims to offer special access to cultural events and sports.
Definitely, at the upper echelon, Citadel’s salary for a trader is $179,000 per year. The base salary for interns in Citadel is around $63,000.
Citadel LLC has been actively involved in philanthropy helping to mentor youngsters and collaborating with non-profits to offer internship opportunities. This gesture is aimed at supporting excellent students from low-income families. Chosen students will enjoy all resources to help them excel and become a force in the market.
It also worked with Thrive scholars to create career progression opportunities for students of colour in science and finance. This move will in turn improve diversity and enrich diverse communities.
Citadel made the news for infamous reasons in late 2021 in allegations around meme-stock trading. This scandal was tagged the #Citadelscandal in regards to Robinhood's trading restrictions.
Traders alleged that Citadel and Robinhood conspired together. Citadel distanced themselves from such allegations, completely denying communications with Robinhood's top employees. Stating the allegations were developed to promote untrue narratives.