6 Free Financial Modeling Lessons...and More.

Enter your e-mail below to get our new Free Modeling Tutorials ($200+ Value).

< previous | next >

Starting on the buy side (PM)
 

Falcon's picture
CF
(Gorilla, 512
 
Points)
 on 6/8/12 at 9:15pm

I'm currently interning in the PM sector of my firm, working under three PM's. The work I've been doing has been pretty interesting and this seems like something I can really see myself doing.

How likely/often does an individual start on the buy side at a PM shop?
What are the positions available coming out of undergrad?
What are salaries like for these positions?

All responses are appreciated.

Thanks.

Just a sophomore looking for an opportunity to start up this dream of mine.
Tags:
energyanalyst's picture

if u use search on top left,

O
(Orangutan, 307
 
Points)
 on 6/8/12 at 10:48pm

if u use search on top left, u will find most of ur answers

CJayB's picture

I work at a pretty small

AM
(Monkey, 40
 
Points)
 on 6/13/12 at 9:06am

I work at a pretty small buy-side firm. (65 employees, 6B AUM) and all of the PMs here come from pretty prestigious schools. (I think we have 2-3 from Wharton, 1 from HBS, etc. I think the lowest "tier" school one of our PMs came from was BU, but he also has like 20 years of PM experience.)

Out of undergrad you would be aiming to grab a Jr. Analyst position, and then go for your Masters/CFA to move up to Analyst, Associate PM, Co-PM, etc.

I don't know what it's like in the bigger firms, because I only have experience with my smallish firm, and I don't work in portfolio management or research.

Hope that helps!

Falcon's picture

CJayB: I work at a pretty

CF
(Gorilla, 512
 
Points)
 on 6/13/12 at 10:11pm
CJayB:

I work at a pretty small buy-side firm. (65 employees, 6B AUM) and all of the PMs here come from pretty prestigious schools. (I think we have 2-3 from Wharton, 1 from HBS, etc. I think the lowest "tier" school one of our PMs came from was BU, but he also has like 20 years of PM experience.)

Out of undergrad you would be aiming to grab a Jr. Analyst position, and then go for your Masters/CFA to move up to Analyst, Associate PM, Co-PM, etc.

I don't know what it's like in the bigger firms, because I only have experience with my smallish firm, and I don't work in portfolio management or research.

Hope that helps!

Thanks

at the shop I'm interning in now, it's pretty big with almost $200B AUM. I did not know about the Jr. Analyst position for PM but that sounds like a good path.

Just a sophomore looking for an opportunity to start up this dream of mine.

Behavioral's picture

CJayB: I work at a pretty

 
Points)
 on 6/14/12 at 7:38pm
CJayB:

I work at a pretty small buy-side firm. (65 employees, 6B AUM) and all of the PMs here come from pretty prestigious schools. (I think we have 2-3 from Wharton, 1 from HBS, etc. I think the lowest "tier" school one of our PMs came from was BU, but he also has like 20 years of PM experience.)

Out of undergrad you would be aiming to grab a Jr. Analyst position, and then go for your Masters/CFA to move up to Analyst, Associate PM, Co-PM, etc.

I don't know what it's like in the bigger firms, because I only have experience with my smallish firm, and I don't work in portfolio management or research.

Hope that helps!

BU as in Boston or Binghamton?

CJayB's picture

Behavioral: CJayB: I work

AM
(Monkey, 40
 
Points)
 on 6/14/12 at 7:54pm
Behavioral:
CJayB:

I work at a pretty small buy-side firm. (65 employees, 6B AUM) and all of the PMs here come from pretty prestigious schools. (I think we have 2-3 from Wharton, 1 from HBS, etc. I think the lowest "tier" school one of our PMs came from was BU, but he also has like 20 years of PM experience.)

Out of undergrad you would be aiming to grab a Jr. Analyst position, and then go for your Masters/CFA to move up to Analyst, Associate PM, Co-PM, etc.

I don't know what it's like in the bigger firms, because I only have experience with my smallish firm, and I don't work in portfolio management or research.

Hope that helps!

BU as in Boston or Binghamton?

Boston.

IBPEHFVC's picture

There are not very many

HF
 
Points)
 on 6/15/12 at 1:00pm

There are not very many buyside analyst-type jobs out of u-grad, usually they prefer experience. If you do have the chance, I would recommend it. However, make sure it's not some portfolio/administration type job, otherwise you'd be much better off going to the sell-side out of school. At that level, comp is probably similar, maybe slightly less, on the base salary as sell-side, and with some discount, say 20-50%, on the bonus.

Behavioral's picture

IBPEHFVC: There are not very

 
Points)
 on 6/15/12 at 5:20pm
IBPEHFVC:

There are not very many buyside analyst-type jobs out of u-grad, usually they prefer experience. If you do have the chance, I would recommend it. However, make sure it's not some portfolio/administration type job, otherwise you'd be much better off going to the sell-side out of school. At that level, comp is probably similar, maybe slightly less, on the base salary as sell-side, and with some discount, say 20-50%, on the bonus.

By portfolio administration job, do you mean something like PAG in BlackRock?

Falcon's picture

IBPEHFVC: There are not very

CF
(Gorilla, 512
 
Points)
 on 6/16/12 at 9:32am
IBPEHFVC:

There are not very many buyside analyst-type jobs out of u-grad, usually they prefer experience. If you do have the chance, I would recommend it. However, make sure it's not some portfolio/administration type job, otherwise you'd be much better off going to the sell-side out of school. At that level, comp is probably similar, maybe slightly less, on the base salary as sell-side, and with some discount, say 20-50%, on the bonus.

I know exactly what you mean by PM admin or assistant because I see most of the PM's here do have an assistant that helps them plan out their scheduling and often times executute their trades for them after the PM sends them exactly what they want to do.

But as a Jr. Analyst role, how much will I be expose to, and i noticed the Jr. PM roles are mainly with HF's.

Just a sophomore looking for an opportunity to start up this dream of mine.

J_monkey's picture

Why don't you ask your

O
(Baboon, 165
 
Points)
 on 6/16/12 at 9:39am

Why don't you ask your boss?
They should know what step you should take.

West Coast rainmaker's picture

It varies from shop to

ER
(Neanderthal, 2,072
 
Points)
 on 6/16/12 at 9:42am

It varies from shop to shop.

For instance, T. Rowe promotes from within. Almost all of their PMs come from research, starting as research associates and moving to analyst, then junior PM.

PIMCO is pretty adamant about PMs having advanced degrees (mostly MBAs). They hire 1 or 2 a year from top programs.

Fido mostly hires from undergrad, promoting people until the path forks between advancing in research and moving to a PM role.

There are more models, but you get the idea. Every firm has its own ideas.

Falcon's picture

J_monkey: Why don't you ask

CF
(Gorilla, 512
 
Points)
 on 6/16/12 at 9:01pm
J_monkey:

Why don't you ask your boss?
They should know what step you should take.

Too early in the internship, i'll definitely ask him halfway through my stint there.

West Coast rainmaker:

It varies from shop to shop.

For instance, T. Rowe promotes from within. Almost all of their PMs come from research, starting as research associates and moving to analyst, then junior PM.

PIMCO is pretty adamant about PMs having advanced degrees (mostly MBAs). They hire 1 or 2 a year from top programs.

Fido mostly hires from undergrad, promoting people until the path forks between advancing in research and moving to a PM role.

There are more models, but you get the idea. Every firm has its own ideas.

I've always been interested in ER, I guess it will serve as a good starting path en route to becoming at PM.

Just a sophomore looking for an opportunity to start up this dream of mine.

IBPEHFVC's picture

West Coast rainmaker: It

HF
 
Points)
 on 6/18/12 at 5:41pm
West Coast rainmaker:

It varies from shop to shop.

For instance, T. Rowe promotes from within. Almost all of their PMs come from research, starting as research associates and moving to analyst, then junior PM.

PIMCO is pretty adamant about PMs having advanced degrees (mostly MBAs). They hire 1 or 2 a year from top programs.

Fido mostly hires from undergrad, promoting people until the path forks between advancing in research and moving to a PM role.

There are more models, but you get the idea. Every firm has its own ideas.

Don't underestimate the amount of MBA hiring from these large firms for their analysts. For instance, Fido hires plenty of MBAs every year (maybe like 6) as well as undergrads. T Rowe also gets almost all of its analysts from MBA. PIMCO doesn't have the centralized research in the same way, but they also hire several MBAs every year for the portfolio management group. Most of the time at a long-only to become a PM I think it's largely a function of luck...you need some retirements, to be a superstar, or more likely you will have to be poached away to start running money.

Flake's picture

What the fuck are "PM sector"

ER
(Neanderthal, 3,595
 
Points)
 on 6/19/12 at 6:37am

What the fuck are "PM sector" and "PM shop"? Must be industry vet terms.

Under my tutelage, you will grow from boys to men. From men into gladiators. And from gladiators into SWANSONS.

Falcon's picture

Flake: What the fuck are "PM

CF
(Gorilla, 512
 
Points)
 on 6/19/12 at 7:50pm
Flake:

What the fuck are "PM sector" and "PM shop"? Must be industry vet terms.

Lol my bad.

I'm at an investment management firm and currently interning under three of their portfolio managers.

I think right now the best path is pursuing a buy side ER gig.

Just a sophomore looking for an opportunity to start up this dream of mine.

CJayB's picture

Lotin: I think right now the

AM
(Monkey, 40
 
Points)
 on 6/20/12 at 12:16pm
Lotin:

I think right now the best path is pursuing a buy side ER gig.

I agree. That seems to be the typical path toward becoming a PM.

6 Free Financial Modeling Lessons...Straight to Your Inbox.

Confirm your name and e-mail below to get our best tips

Monkey Stats
Account information
We respect your Name and E-mail privacy. By joining you accept our terms of service.