Best Response

I can't speak about the internships, as I never had one, but I can speak about the businesses.

WM or Wealth management is normally headed by a Financial Advisor (FA) Think the guy who manages your rich aunt's money. They convince people to put their money with them, then pick funds, provide broad investment/life/tax advice and collect a fee on that money somehow. Being good at managing the money is good, but being good at attracting it is better. Most FAs are essentially independent businesspeople associated with a big bank in the same way a doctor's office is associated with a hospital. Good sales jobs are plentiful, but good mid/back office jobs are scarce, as most of that is covered by the home office.

Asset Management (AM) is very different. an AM firm runs the investments, mutual funds, ETFs, SMAs etc. that a FA will use. there are a lot more technical positions in AM, and a lot less gritting your teeth and saying "This is a stock, this is a bond, bond less risky, but stock probably make more."

Getting into a good position at an AM firm is TOUGH, but nice once you get in. Getting a WM position is easy, (Just look at shops like Primerica and First Investors, who'll basically hire anyone with a pulse who can pass their 6 and milk their family) but making money is all about what kind of assets you can bring in.

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 

Getting a job at a wealth management firm is a decent internship following sophomore year depending on your level of finance knowledge. It provides a decent introduction into how markets and portfolio management work. An internship at a WM shop was my first finance internship as a sophomore, but at the time I was relatively unsophisticated to where I am now. If you have the ability to get an internship at a BB AM shop as a sophomore definitely do it though, WM is a good start but definitely not your ultimate goal.

 

I was in a Wealth & Investment Management program at a large bank where most of the class was under a Financial Advisor and the others were on AM, Risk, Operations, etc. teams serving the overall bank. Generally, I didn't realize how lucky I was and got under AM on a portfolio construction team under the ultra-high net worth division and learned a ton. I did a ton of fund statistical analysis using R, building exposure models, performance commentary on attribution reports, using Morningstar for research purposes, and taking notes on conference calls; there were a bunch of lectures under a lecture series at my bank as well. I really enjoyed it.

However, most of the interns under FA's in the program didn't do shit and the program for them basically was structured to progress skills as FA's which is generally useless and more of a sales job. Generally, Wealth&Investment Management is a great sophomore internship but be careful about getting stuck under an FA cold calling or doing useless shit if they give you any work at all.

One positive though, no matter what team you're on, to think about is generally WIM programs are easier to get into at bigger banks, and can sometimes help you get a foot in the door if you want to transfer into another division like IB after junior year.

 

yeah, i was in the same position as you -- simply a summer intern for PWM. at first, i wrote "summer analyst" because it sounded so much better, but then, i actually had a recruiter look at my resume from a BB, and he told me not to do that...

 

This is a good post. I am in the same situation. I had an extended internship that lasted for about 18 months. After I had been there a year my boss basically told me its hard to classify me as an intern still. I interned in a branch location doing PWM, but again was unsure what title to put. In general a resume is designed to highlight you as a person, but without lying. This is a very gray area. To "b" what retail branch PWM gives out titles to interns? Thats comical that you even suggested to put down whatever your title was. Personally i have intern for my longer internship and summer intern for the shorter one.

"Oh the ladies ever tell you that you look like a fucking optical illusion" - Frank Slaughtery 25th Hour.
 

Scroll up - I was not the one who suggested it.

Anyway, that's unfortunate, but thanks for the feedback.

What did you originally have as some of your resume bullets for work done in the internship? I marked down that I conducted research and created spreadsheets.

Thanks again, informative as always.

 

I have always had an official title when I was hired, whether is was designated "Summer Analyst" (banking), "Advisory Services Intern" (consulting), "Research Associate" (ER) etc. I'm sure that if you look in your contract, it will have a title in there, or at least, a designation that you are being hired as an intern within a specific division, in which case your official title would be "Intern - PWM". Every contract will stipulate this - what's comical is that you don't read your employment contracts before you sign them.

 

What's more comical is that you think a title should be a determining factor in whether or not one should take the job (i.e., if a contract does not have a title you deem adequate then you shouldn't sign it and take the job).

But thanks for your advice - I really do appreciate it.

 

Ipsam eligendi alias recusandae aperiam voluptas sit. Veritatis quia aspernatur saepe dolorem voluptas. Aut dolores praesentium asperiores magnam.

Dolor eos in quo quia sint dolorem. Est in omnis voluptas et cumque. Nostrum sed voluptas tenetur non. Eligendi assumenda commodi eum provident eos. Ipsum ab odit et amet mollitia enim.

Ut veniam voluptatum delectus accusamus officia. Illo voluptatibus illum aut hic consequatur animi omnis.

 

Accusantium impedit autem praesentium qui. Modi ab aspernatur aliquam. Dolorum in natus ea eos voluptatem aut. Sunt officiis non alias consequatur dolor. Ab temporibus ut modi.

Libero asperiores praesentium ipsa facilis reiciendis tempore voluptas. Illo eaque animi magni provident. Incidunt non aut aperiam soluta. Esse quo nostrum fugit soluta et sit. Dolorem omnis perferendis id magni. Velit minus sed natus explicabo rem. Possimus quasi sunt reprehenderit.

Exercitationem voluptas ab non hic nostrum cum. Rerum sit commodi illum omnis non rerum. Perspiciatis id consequatur rem commodi et. Ducimus consequatur itaque minima beatae a eos ex.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (145) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
9
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”