Institutional Equity Sales Assistant

Trying to make the transition from retail sales to institutional equity sales. I have been unsuccessful applying for entry level training programs at BB firms...

Is a sales assistant position a good entry point for someone looking to work their way into an instituional sales position, or are these typically dead end positions?

Appreciate the insight...

 

It really depends on the firm and bank. I have seen some where it is straight middle office, a group of sales assistants sit together a support numerous desk. I have also seen it where you would support a senior salesman or sit directly on a specific desk and you have be the only assistant. The latter has the best opportunity to move into a full time sales role.

Which bank if you don't mind me asking?

 

Hopefully you are sitting on the firms trading floor with other sales people and can listen to the morning call everyday (if they don't require you to, still get your ass in every day and learn the product), get the phones, and build relationships w/ all of the brokers clients. In this set up, you're probably set assuming you do well as an assistant.

 

As far as I know, they don't have a traditional analyst program for some specific roles (i.e. private banking analyst), hence, assistants are an important part of talent development for the firm. I'm not sure about the specific role you are referring to, but I would imagine it's a similar situation.

Take the SA role.

 
Bobb:
I think it really depends on the firm. BB type banks, the sales assistants are like trade assistants...middle office roles that do not directly lead to a front office sales/trading role. Smaller firms seem more willing to promote sales assistants to full time salesmen
Yes, I work with someone who did this.
Get busy living
 

thanks for the replies.. Rebelcross, MS does have an analyst program for sales and trading tho, so is this Equity Sales assistant role not related to the "talent development" you spoke of?

"Major in economics; use your economics degree to get an analyst job on Wall Street; use your analyst job to get into Harvard or Stanford Business School; and worry about the rest of your life later"
 
teddy brosevelt:
thanks for the replies.. Rebelcross, MS does have an analyst program for sales and trading tho, so is this Equity Sales assistant role not related to the "talent development" you spoke of?

Of course MS has an analyst program for S&T, and the various roles throughout, just not sure if this specific role takes analysts or not. Is it just vanilla Institutional Equity Sales or something else? Still sounds like a feeder into a full sales role 2-3 years down the line

 

If you only do administrative tasks, you will always be treated as an assistant. No one is gonna hold your hand, it is up to you to produce. If you treat it as a job, you will always be an assistant. However, if you treat it as a partnership, you might have a shot. Just because that is happening to the associate does not mean it has been predetermined to happen to you. But if that is what you focus on, that is what will become. Instead, focus on the positive. Sales is not the place to be if you are so easily influenced by the negatives.

 
Best Response

this will depend 100% on the culture of your office/firm. if managers are keen on growing you into something else, great, but there are brokers out there who want SAs to stay SAs forever.

management in PWM is quite possibly the worst career choice ever. you are underpaid, overworked, and constantly on the chopping block. they make you give up your book once you leave the branch level (so you no longer have clients), and every time the firms cut costs, managers get fired/reassigned with lower pay, and the ones that stay just have a bigger territory with more responsibilities but not for any more money. don't go this route, the days of managers making as much/more than top producers are gone forever.

of course, all of this assumes you want to stay in PWM. if you don't, I'd try for something else, as the best way to get into banking, ER, etc., aside from some luck would be to get into a top MBA.

quick disclaimer: there's a lot of false information about PWM thrown around this site. not so much in this thread (yet), but be aware that PWM is not the focus of WSO, so there's a lot of shitty advice around PWM here, caveat emptor.

 

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