From a Top 10 Business School to PWM to Trading? Is it possible?

Hey guys, just wanted to gauge everyone on this.

I went to IU's Kelley School of Business (undergrad) and graduated May 2010 (finance major). I've always been doing sales so after getting rejected by a few banks (I definitely didn't work as hard as I should have to land a IB job), I decided Wealth Management was the best route for me.

Since joining this team, my target client is either a guy in banking, a trader, or someone on the buyside, and the more of these people that I meet, the more I believe that I am in the wrong industry.

Ideally, I want to do trading. Do I have all the knowledge and training to hop in there and do well? Probably not. -- So my question to you guys is: Is it possible for me to jump into an entry level trading job from where I'm at, and if so, whats the best route for me to do it?

 
Best Response

Ok, so the next jump would be to a bank- shoot for Institutional Sales at half the firms; PWM at the other half.

Getting to the career you want is a game of Manhattan Paths. Sometimes you get a huge win and get a green light to cross an avenue. Otherwise, you just cross the next street in the direction you're going. Either way, you're going to have more opportunities to move towards institutional S&T at an investment bank.

Just for the record, your background- MBA and PWM- doesn't make you a strong candidate for trading. Of the 70 traders I work with, I think only one has an MBA- and that was "by accident". It makes you a strong candidate for Sales and perhaps portfolio management at a mutual fund, but not necessarily trading.

You understand there's a huge difference between the mutual fund manager on one side of the phone deciding whether he wants to buy shares at $75.50- and probably hold them for a year or two- and the trader on the other side quoting a price and then trying to go out and line up a seller. I just have to ask- with your background- PWM and an MBA- why are you so interested in heading over to trading? Why not stay at AXA and try to get into portfolio management instead- where you can manage a $500 million portfolio?

Most folks with a strict MBA/finance background who want to be traders really want to be portfolio managers.

 

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