Switching to S&T from Brokerage
Hello,
I’m in my 2nd year working as a broker at a bulge bracket firm but on the wealth management side. I’m looking to move into a trading role under the traditional S&T umbrella and would appreciate any input/guidance.
Further context, I went to a very high ranked US university and studied math with a very solid GPA. Cold applications have proven to be not particularly effective. Does anyone have experience in a switch like this? I’ve done a good amount of networking at my current bank but there’s no openings.
Is my only option really to just sit around waiting for the environment to become more favorable to hiring?
Thanks in advance for any input
Couple of thoughts
1. Expand your outreach beyond your current bank, if you went to high ranking school and studied math I would imagine you have a lot of people with something in common that you could reach out to. Its a numbers game, you need to talk to and meet with as many people as possible. Make the effort to meet people in person, it goes a long way.
2. Have you considered sales at all? You are a pretty low risk junior hire for sales. You have your securities licenses and experience in a client facing role. If I'm hiring for a junior sales role your resume moves to the top of the pile.
3. Consider smaller firms, you just need to get your foot in the door and you can work your way to larger firm if you desire.
Some questions that may help you focus your search and your pitch more
1. What exactly are you doing in wealth management?
2. Are you part of one of the private bank analyst programs? Those tend to be pretty respected and people know those are not easy seats to get.
3. Is there a particular asset class you work with a lot in your current role?
Thank you for the response, I appreciate the insight.
I’ll make sure to continue expanding my network at other banks (not exclusive to the largest ones). I completely agree in regard to making the effort to meet in person.
I have considered sales, and while undoubtedly a great seat, I do think trading is the right seat for me. To elaborate further on my current role, our group services VC and PE clients (funds, LPs, and GPs) exclusively. I sit on the trading and markets teams within our group. I handle orders directly from institutional clients, it mostly is just talking trading strategy/providing market color and then routing the order to an execution trader based on what the client decides. The only real discretion I have is in regard to price and volume if/when working orders in dark pools. This is not part of one of the analyst programs and I work almost exclusively with equities and broker deals in the private secondary market.
Let me know if I can provide any other details and thanks again for the response.
I don't know much about the institutional equities side of the business (have done FI my entire career) but the part about brokering deals in the private secondary market sounds interesting. As companies stay private longer I could see this area growing a good bit, I'm not sure if any banks have traditional sales and trading desks set up for this but I could see it in the future. I would check out forge global, they seem to be focused on this.
I started in WM at a BB for 2yrs in a sales/advisory role and transition to S&T for a regional dealer. I work in sales covering various credit/rates products. Been at the regional dealer for 2 years now, was a great way to break in from WM to S&T. I myself am looking to join a BB as well, but as the other poster mentioned, breaking in to S&T and getting experience under you belt is the most important. This helps with networking and shows you want to be in the industry. I have learned so much being in the seat for 2 years and have actually opened up some solid accounts, I hope to leverage and possibly bring over with me as a selling point to break into a BB in Fixed Income sales.
The institutional side is extremely different from WM. Its a whole different beast, but in a good way! The institutional side is vast, so narrow down what products you find most interesting and try and network with people in those seats or find people who have a similar background and made a switch you are looking to make. Happy to answer any questions you have.
Cheers!
Thanks for the input! Glad to hear about someone who’s executed a successful move and best of luck continuing to find the best role for you.
What would you say helped you the most to get your role, was it through effective networking? Luckily my current role is market facing and does involve some aspect of trading so it’s not completely new! Obviously making a market vs. execution is very different but a gauge/focus on the market is obviously a must.
In terms of product specification, I think everyone I have spoken with thus far agrees it’s much more important landing a trading role period. Don’t get hung up on what product. Obviously, don’t work on an MBS desk if you literally only care and want to work with stock equities but do you think there is validity to their sentiment? Similar to entering at a smaller bank and working your way toward a larger bank, entering on a less interesting product and working your way toward the end goal seems comparable.
It sounds like you have some skills/background that you can leverage to get initial talks going with traders. Networking plays a major part, but so does luck. I had to be creative and come up with ideas that would make me standout, instead of the general cold email. TBH, I called the head of the desk and was pretty direct and we chatted a few times and then he eventually told me to come in to the office and the rest is history. For traders, this might be tougher to do! I believe reaching out internally is a great way to start to get your name out there and have it in the back of their mind. Given the current market environment, I would keep your options open though and considered internally but also MM firms. If you have a chance to land a sales role at a BB in a product you would like to trade, might not be a bad idea to start there and internally network with traders in hopes to move down the road.
I'm currently going into a sales role as a SA at a large fixed income brokerage. Wondering what your experience was like and any pros/cons and also why you are considering the move? I am definitely looking to be more market facing as time goes on and would certainly consider moving into a more traditional sales and trading position. Thanks for your help.
Hey Badger, ultimately my learning and challenges I face in my current role have stagnated. My role has been roughly the same for the past year or so and just is not the type of challenge I’m looking for in a career. It’s not to say it’s a bad role by any means, I have just realized it’s not what I want. (Not to mention there are tons of issues I have with our management team about compensation etc etc but that’s very specific to my team and not true of every role in this space. Regardless of that I would move anyway)
Feel free to shoot me a private message and I can get more specific/answer more specific questions you may have
It's possible. I did it years back, Internally transfered from a WM role to a sales role. Took awhile with a combination of networking and applying to every role I saw pop up.
Also from a small non target so less alumni (though there are some) on the street
Et quam dolores modi eos repudiandae nesciunt. Voluptas culpa ratione quis eos non eos et ratione. Amet quos autem eius id. Quia provident laborum laborum cumque dignissimos et labore.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...