Buyside - What's the hype about?
(Monkey, 32
Points)
on 12/4/06 at 5:24am
Could any1 clarify exactly what buyside is?
And also why it's so favorable among a lot of you guys?
Is it purely a money-thing?





money is only part of the equation
what I like most about the job is that as a post mba associate, i can basically act like a banking md vis-a-vis all external parties, i.e. go home at 11 and dump an all-nighter worth of crap work on my bankers :-)
Money is one factor. Another
Money is one factor. Another is being on the buy-side you act as principal, not just as advisor. It's a mix of i-banking, consulting, and operations (helping the company grow, strategic decision-making, etc).
Buyside rules!! Haha They
Buyside rules!!
Haha
They come to you, less structure, more freedom to make better decisions unobstructed by Bullshit and conflicts of interest.
Re: Buyside - What's the hype about?
Could any1 clarify exactly what buyside is?
And also why it's so favorable among a lot of you guys?
Is it purely a money-thing?
The buyside is simply the fund management side of wall st - in our case, we're usually referring to PE funds specifically. The money CAN be better on the buyside, but that's not the main reason.
IM too. Some of the sweetest
IM too. Some of the sweetest jobs in finance are being a top PM within a large IM company. Everything is taken care of for you and you don't have the day to day stress of deals.
And don't tell you me you don't make as much money. Please.
M & A
So where would you put Mergers & Aquisitions?
Or is that not classed as either
M&A is banking.
M&A is banking.
OK. I get it now. Thanks for
OK. I get it now. Thanks for clarifying.
I'm still trying to learn and take in as much as possible.
Would you say that M&A is an exciting division to be in?
Curious... is there a
Curious... is there a significant difference in salaries between buyside vs. sellside?
I think buy side is more
I think buy side is more "winner take all"
....
...the difference between the buy side and the sell side is that on the sell side you are involved in the process of selling securities (bankers originate them, salesman sell them, and traders execute the trades) whereas on the buy side your job is to buy (or sell) securities for the purpose of making money. For eg a banker goes to a company or government and creates securities to raise financing for that entity. Those securities are sold by the firms' salesman/traders to buy-siders (like a hedge fund or mutual fund) who evaluate the deal and decide whether they have interest. In terms of lifestyle it is generally agreed that people on the sell-side work more hours although that is not always the case. Buy-siders also can make much more money if they are stars. the downsides to buy side are that it is completely results driven, there is no BS or being good at politics...u are judged by your profit or loss on a quarterly/monthly/weekly/daily basis. Because of this it is extremely, gut-wrenchingly stressful. Having risk in the market is different then anything else on wall st., it will keep you up at night and take over your life if you are doing the job with the right level of commitment. You may leave at 5pm or before that but it is no less stressful then banking....in fact i would argue it is much more stressful then pecking away at an excel spreadsheet for 20 hours a day.
Thanks Bondarb
So what makes the buy-siders who are stars different from the rest?
i.e. Are these reasons for success due to the nature of the person or are they skills that they've been able to learn or pick up?
Balls of steel and cat-like
Balls of steel and cat-like reflexes
So you mean...
An unwaivering confidence in all aspects of the job
and an ability to respond in a fitting manner to any unforseen obstacle?
So it's kind of a mixture of intelligence and charisma?
good question!
...we could debate all night about what makes a great trader/money manager or whether great traders are born or made. In fact I think its something that is discussed/debated pretty often on most trading desks and many entire books have been written about the topic. I believe the one trait that is common amongst all great traders is absolute, iron-clad discpline....discpline to stick to their plan, to take losses properly, and to keep their heads in the right place while the market is moving. When risk is in the market and prices are moving many cannot act correctly and undesirable traits of their personality like impulsiveness, greed, or fear take over and their best laid plans are tossed out the window. Obviously other traits like intelligence and commitment are necessary but some very smart people just can't trade...they are great analysts but not good risk takers. Likewise, many people who i would not consider the smartest in the World are great, consistently profitable traders. So I would say a star trader on the buyside is somebody who thinks first, second, and third about discpline and money moanagement/position sizing and then a distant fourth is the ability to come up with great/unique trade ideas. I would say these are all traits that can be learned if a person has the right level of commitment. I can say that charisma has zero to do with it, except that people with a good sense of humor tend to be able handle the stress better (maybe a little bit at least).
How do you answer this question in an interview?
haha...
Buy-side over sell-side
yes...
So Bondarb