Should I move to the sell side?

Hi all,

I am asking for some advice. I was hired out of undergrad to work at a small buyside shop at a significant salary discount with the promise of a raise after inflows to the fund occurred. It has been two years without any inflows. Should i jump to the sell side as an associate in order to jump back to the buyside? What are your thoughts? Am I blowing up my career?

Thank you

 
Best Response

I was in a similar situation- I moved to a small credit shop at a pretty big discount, but I was told that they would make it up via bonus (young and naive mistake). Two years later, same awful salary. What made it worse is that our performance was solid. I would soon find out from former analysts that they ALWAYS underpaid and NEVER made it up with bonuses.

To answer your question: Going back to a solid bank in an experienced role should not derail your career. In fact, depending on the bank, it could certainly bolster your exposure. But here are the issues:

  • There are limited openings for these 'experienced associate' roles, and they typically are given to the those in-house.
  • You could try entry level positions if you can swallow the pay cut, but this is equally difficult b/c you're not straight from undergrad.

Again, nothing wrong with going to the SS, and I know several who have made the round trip from BS to SS back to BS (at least on the credit side of things). But you to understand that landing a SS gig nowadays isn't a cakewalk.

FYI- I received interest from two lower tiered banks that I passed on, despite a very healthy increase in pay. After 6 months I finally received an offer from an Asset Management firm.

"Sounds to me like you guys a couple of bookies."
 

i'd agree with BillyRay for the most part, though I'd emphasize three key points: 1) the visibility of the analyst you're going to work with, 2) the sector you'd be covering, and 3) the shop's overall reputation - in that order. Number 3 is a distant third if the first two points meet high standards. If you think your experience so far is transferable to another shop and your expertise is in demand, you may want to hold out for another buyside opportunity.

 

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