Seeking Career Advice from Peers
Hey guys, hope everyone is excited for a new year! A little bit about myself, I am a sophomore at an undergraduate business school and am interested in private equity/hedge funds/Asset Management - basically an industry where I am given some creative freedom and can put money behind my ideas (yes you're most likely going to be a model money when you start at any of these places, but these are the most meritocratic industries that I know of). I currently work for a lower middle market private equity firm as an intern, doing due diligence and market research and have worked for an asset management firm in the past (think allocating capital in individual client portfolios). I am also heavily involved with several investment related clubs on campus as well.
I've learned a lot about the investment process from people on here, huge shout out to @BlackHat and @Simple As... and my main goals right now are to work on really understanding different business, along the lines of (how do they make money, what are their biggest drivers, how will they outperform their competitors/industry and so on) and be able to build out solid operating models that reflect well-researched assumptions. I am still unsure whether I want to dabble in public markets or private and am leaving my options as open as possible.
I also read broadly, in finance, psychology, etc and have read a few well known investment books (klarman, graham) and think that although obtaining book knowledge is great, I learn most and quickest by getting my hands dirty and doing - even if that is time consuming. Most of all, I also do this to make sure I like what I am doing. Reading about successful wealth/asset managers sounds amazing, but it wasn't until I did work with investing in mutual funds that I knew it wasn't for me.
If anyone has any thoughts on how I should best proceed, whether it be career advice, investment processes, and anything related, I would greatly appreciate your feedback. I am also happy to hear your experiences going through undergrad and what you have found to work for you and not.
Cheers!
Investment process (and to help with an inevitable interview queston) - come up with a story about why a particular company is so attractive and have your most well-informed friends / connections seriously grill you on it. On the job, particularly when you are junior, defending these decisions will definitely be a major part of success, not too mention it will make you a more effective communicator, litigator, thinking, etc.
At the end of the day, everyone can build an operating model - that is not where the differentiation lays. While it is required, the most buyside guys better understand the levers of a business to several degrees (extreme example how will droughts impact chicken prices). The more focused you are on any particular industry the easier this becomes, but this can be a double edged sword
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