Equity Research vs big 4
Hello,
I am currently a college student looking for ideas on where to start my career. I am an accounting major at a good business school and have a great GPA. I have been doing a lot of searching of what would be a good career path for me. I have been noticing that many finance job exit options tend to be other careers that also work require a significant amount of work per week at the office(HF, PE, IB, etc.), unlike public accounting exit options which often seem to be 40hr a week jobs. To me equity research seems interesting and also doesn't seem to be that many more hrs per week compared to a big 4 audit or TS job. On top of that the compensation is higher which is a huge bonus.
I was wondering if there are any exit opportunities for equity research for 9-5 type work that pays decently well and has room for advancement. For example would a large corporation be interested in hiring someone in this field for a more senior or advanced role? I do not mind putting in a few years working 60 hr weeks, but at this point I am not sure if I would enjoy that lifestyle long-term. Any experience or insight on this topic would be much appreciated.
I don't know any equity research firms where associates work 40 hour work weeks...
I usually work from 7am to 7:30-8pm.
Lifestyle for sure is better than IB but during earnings it's almost comparable. You're looking at 2-3 weeks 4x/year at 80-100 hours per week depending on how much coverage your analyst has and how aggressive they are about putting out reports and initiations.
Also, if you want to break into ER, I would suggest you start networking early as hiring an undergrad with no industry experience would really be tough on analyst considering youre working on such a small team (compared to other groups such as IB).
Just my 2cents.
From what I have heard from a couple people who had a couple buy-side stints on the pension fund side (not the major huge ones like CALPERS, but from sizable funds), it was around 40 hours a week. However, I think the compensation wasn't very good which might explain why he jumped ship within a couple years despite demonstrated success in his risk adjusted return.
Hi, I'm also a soon-to-be-graduated Finance student.
It's cliche, but I think if you have an interest in the capital market, do pursue a career there. For me, it was banking vs capital market. I got two offers from two different companies from two different industries and I ended up signing an offer from a brokerage firm.
I have a friend at Big 4 who constantly complains about his job, because he is actually more interested in the capital market industry. So.
Pretty common for ER associates to work near-banking hours including weekends. Same with Big 4. If something is to be released Monday morning and it has to be reviewed, then it happens.
Does anyone work 40 hour weeks anymore?
You are so fucked.
Haha, I don't know where these people get these assumptions... "I want exit opps that are 9-5 @ 300K/year and golden retriever puppies flooding my office :D "
I saw a number of Big 4 audit and TS guys switch to equity research later on. It really depends on your experiences and project exposure.
Ex-big4 in ER here.
To answer your main question about working a 40 hour a week job but still having advancement opportunities, you're chasing unicorns and rainbows. Not trying to be flippant, but you're still in college and this is an unrealistic expectation. Before you even plan your plans and scheme your schemes about achieving any particular type of greatness, you need to realize that advancement in the corporate context (startups, entrepreneurship, and government being the main alternatives) implies that you are taking up more responsibility. More responsibility by and large means a bigger share of your hours in a day will be spent on work. If you try to maintain such a large portion of your time for personal endeavors, the people willing to work the extra hours and sacrifice their time for the company will come out ahead 9 times out of 10. The exception being where you really are that much smarter and more productive that you just don't need to spend that much time (hint: we are all on a bell curve and most of us fall within 2.5 standard deviations. Look in the mirror and ask yourself if you really are that far right on the continuum).
On the tangential point of hours, you are right and wrong. ER probably works more hours in a year than big4 audit given that we don't have slow seasons as in big4 (yes you might be at the office 40 hours a week during slow periods, but no one is actually doing anything). However, in ER, my day is busy from the moment I get in to the last minute as I pry my fingers off the keyboard. So even though you may be right to say that ER doesn't work THAT many more hours, I would argue that our day is filled with much more substantive stuff than a big4 job.
Lastly, as has been well covered by many posts in other threads, we end up in IR, HF, AM, or possibly sales. The hours there vary wildly depending on the size of the shop, etc etc.
Cheers!
Transaction Services (Big 4) first or straight to ER? (Originally Posted: 04/26/2016)
Hi all, I would appreciate some advice. I currently work in audit (London) however I'm nearing the end of my contract. I'm hoping to move into ER within the next year or so however I wanted to find out if I should focus on moving to ER as soon as possible or whether it would be useful to gain experience in Transaction Support first. I would appreciate any advice from people who moved from audit/TS to ER. I think my biggest worry is spending too much time at the big 4 when I could be working my way up in ER. Any advice appreciated!
These might be in play $GLBL $TKAT $ARWR $GEVO
Go directly to ER if that's what you want. From my understanding there is a specific demand for CPA's from Big 4 audit for equity research gigs. So you shouldn't have any trouble landing something in that space.
I'm based in London so might be a different to US recruitment. I was wondering if Transaction services or corporate finance would be useful for ER?
Honestly, TS is less relevant because its deal oriented. You should supplement your CV with things that indicate your interest in finance, e.g. do CFA. Also you dont want to stay in the big 4 too long. Headhunters usually look for newly qualified ACAs.
If you want ER, you should be networking for ER gigs now, because you want to be top of mind when they're looking for experienced/off-cycle hires. You also want to be practicing and able to speak to your modeling and valuation abilities in an interview.
Considering leaving ER for Big 4 TAS or similar - stop me? (Originally Posted: 12/01/2014)
Hello folks,
I've been in ER for little more than two years now, and I'm thinking about throwing in the towel and move on. The problem is I don't really know where to go, or eventually whether I'm a dumb f-ing idiot if I quit at this stage. Note: Although the business model and set up in IB seems cool, it's is not an option. 80h weeks ain't for me.
Lets roll back.. I went on to study right after high school and graduated with an MSc in Finance. Was incredibly lucky and landed a job at a tier 1 sell side investment bank, working below one of the highest ranked analysts in our region. Now the problem is, he is a cool guy, but he is not much of a team player. He does not really care to teach me anything unless I ask specific questions, and if I ask him to look over my model or my writings he does so, but he does not engage in it - i.e. he does not really make me part of his thought processes, only corrects my errors. Hence, its more of a "this is how I do it, you do it your way" style. It seems he hired me for doing brainless tasks (updating models) for him, but a part from that he wants me to be an independent analyst on my own.. My boss have now told me that I should begin cover companies on my own, but christ, I don't feel I have the technical knowledge to drill around with top PMs and pushing cases. I am much more of a team player, and hence sitting around the clock alone being stressed becauce I am not feeling on top of things, not delivering as much as I should, nor contributing to revenues. And for that reason I have been thinking about quitting, to go somewhere else..
I have an interview coming up for a Big 4 TAS position, and it seems the business environment there is a lot more friendly and team built. But on the other hand I don't know if I'm closing any doors by taking it or what.. I really have no clue what kind of finance related jobs there are that have decent hours, is not looked upon as a dead end, and that still have some kind of performance related compensation.
Has anyone else been in my position? Am I just a whimp for feeling like this?
I know where you're coming from. Moved to ER recently, and definitely notice the natural emphasis on the individual vs team. If you generally like equity research, maybe you could look around to other firms and analysts that you might enjoy more and could better prepare you for either a) your own coverage or b) a move to the buyside.
Facilis nemo saepe possimus sed quod. Aut autem dicta sed ut.
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