Certainly more-so than the average [software] engineer. There's no 6-week bootcamp for hedge funds and there's no "typing JavaScript into a computer" equivalent. We can argue all day about whether hedge funds are good, bad, or useful, and reasonable people will disagree on the answer, but you'd be hard-pressed to make a cogent argument that the average software engineer works even nearly as hard as the average hedge fund analyst.

Speaking as someone who worked in private equity, our Principal had generational wealth- literally he was an Italian count and his family money came from the Crusades.

The people who made the investments and ran the fund came from State University of New York at Buffalo. The count had a team of three assistants and one's entire job was to coordinate shipping cases of wine from his vanity winery to everyone their kids encountered to lubricate the wheels of their success in life. Elite squash trainer might take on the son? Case of wine to the wife. College tour? Case of wine to the tour leader. I was an analyst reporting directly to the CFO and wasn't an assistant but would routinely get asked to do lifestyle chores like help the count's uncle hook up their ipod to their Range Rover's bluetooth.

Hence why I left finance and went into medicine which is more of a meritocracy.

Wow, the wine shipping is an incredible way to influence people. I should try that more often. So far I've only been sending small gifts over to people, or hand written letters. I know in sales this sort of stuff works very well but it also works well in day to day life.

How has the transition been?

The value they claim to unlock is completely made up.

People need logistics to move materials to enable people to do stuff.

Not speculative emotional guidance on ephemeral value stores.

Most of them are, or are funded by, inherited wealth to service fiscal policy memes.