happypantsmcgee:
My buddy did it and it worked out very well. I think the catalyst was family connections though...
that's good to hear...what did your friend do? was he a consultant or an analyst? I'm currently an investment analyst being the liason between institutional clients and money managers we work with. what would you suggest to make this transition without family connections? thanks for the info!
 

Talk to the managers, develop a relationship, etc. Use the fact that you have contact with these people to facilitate your transition

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 

hey westcoastmonkey. if you dont mind me asking, why are you looking to get out of investment consulting?

i am the opposite - i work for a large money manager but was considering investment consulting in my future. can you shed some light on why you want to transfer out? do you work for a large consulting firm? Mercer? Hewitt? something along those?

 

Investment consulting can get you into a client-facing or product management role at an asset manager at best. PM track? Strategy at ibank? These would be very long shots and require a totally different skillset.

Keep in mind also that for an asset manager recruiting an employee from a well connected investment consulting firm is a politically dangerous move and is quite often not worth it, even if the move is triggered by the consultant and not the asset manager. The more senior the consultant, the more this is true.

 
promisc:
Investment consulting can get you into a client-facing or product management role at an asset manager at best. PM track? Strategy at ibank? These would be very long shots and require a totally different skillset.

Keep in mind also that for an asset manager recruiting an employee from a well connected investment consulting firm is a politically dangerous move and is quite often not worth it, even if the move is triggered by the consultant and not the asset manager. The more senior the consultant, the more this is true.

totally understood...could you further explain what types of roles lie within product management (from entry level, mid career, senior, etc)? Thanks
 
promisc:
Keep in mind also that for an asset manager recruiting an employee from a well connected investment consulting firm is a politically dangerous move and is quite often not worth it, even if the move is triggered by the consultant and not the asset manager. The more senior the consultant, the more this is true.

Can you please elaborate on why it is a bad political move for an AM firm to hire someone from an IC firm?

 
Best Response

I've seen and know of many consultants going to AM, primarily to client service roles. IC is a generalist's arena, while AM often utilizes more specialized skills and there are obviously positives and negatives to being a generalist.

Jr. level client service roles for managers can be very boring from what I have heard and deducted. Sr. level RM roles are comfortable jobs and see fairly low relative turnover.

For the person looking to move into IC from AM - Do the math on the expense ratio of an AM vs. the flat fee of a consulting firm. The managers are raking in much more fee money and, consequently, their employees are getting paid much more.

 

WestCoastMonkey - I looked back at my post history and noticed that I replied to a post a few months back about an interview you had, presumably for your current job. Congratulations, but maybe you should test the waters for a few more months?

 
Snowman77:
WestCoastMonkey - I looked back at my post history and noticed that I replied to a post a few months back about an interview you had, presumably for your current job. Congratulations, but maybe you should test the waters for a few more months?
Snowman77, your reply was very helpful and thank you for the input! In terms of my current role, I definitely don't plan on doing anything...i am learning a lot and will definitely be putting in some time. I was just curious to see the possibilites of someone in IC....Whether that's going further in IC and become a consultant or move into AM.
 

WestCoastMonkey: from bottom-up, it goes from intelligence gathering about competitors and market trends, up to product design and positioning relative to the competition. Product managers deal with the (quite difficult) task of finding how a firm's management skills can be packaged into products that will answer a growing demand from the market. From one side they are pressured by relationship managers to think of products that would fulfill specific needs, while from the other side they are pressured by portfolio managers to think of products which better fit their skills or give them enough flexibility to make full use of their skills. They must match both sides while keeping the long-term perspective of how the firm's product line should be positionned in the competitive landscape. From my perspective, this is probably where an ex-investment consultant would best fit...

Tan86: whenever you hire good employees from business partners, it can be perceived as if you were stealing them regardless of who initiated the contact, and even if you are not a competitor. Asset managers are known for having the big bucks, compared to investment consultants, and therefore they can pick employees from investment consultants whenever they want. The only thing that prevents them from doing that is to maintain good business relations. You'll observe the same thing between the sell-side and the buy-side. If a PM makes a move to a trading or strategy team at a brokerage with which they were doing business tightly, relations can suffer. Interestingly, the opposite is usually beneficial from the supplier's perspective. A move from the sell-side to the buy-side, or a move from an asset manager to a consultant or institutional investor, is usually a good thing for the ex-employer.

 
promisc:
WestCoastMonkey: from bottom-up, it goes from intelligence gathering about competitors and market trends, up to product design and positioning relative to the competition. Product managers deal with the (quite difficult) task of finding how a firm's management skills can be packaged into products that will answer a growing demand from the market. From one side they are pressured by relationship managers to think of products that would fulfill specific needs, while from the other side they are pressured by portfolio managers to think of products which better fit their skills or give them enough flexibility to make full use of their skills. They must match both sides while keeping the long-term perspective of how the firm's product line should be positionned in the competitive landscape. From my perspective, this is probably where an ex-investment consultant would best fit...

Tan86: whenever you hire good employees from business partners, it can be perceived as if you were stealing them regardless of who initiated the contact, and even if you are not a competitor. Asset managers are known for having the big bucks, compared to investment consultants, and therefore they can pick employees from investment consultants whenever they want. The only thing that prevents them from doing that is to maintain good business relations. You'll observe the same thing between the sell-side and the buy-side. If a PM makes a move to a trading or strategy team at a brokerage with which they were doing business tightly, relations can suffer. Interestingly, the opposite is usually beneficial from the supplier's perspective. A move from the sell-side to the buy-side, or a move from an asset manager to a consultant or institutional investor, is usually a good thing for the ex-employer.

promisc: Thank you for the response. I always thought the portfolio manager took on some of those tasks mentioned above...definitely good to know. In terms of transitioning into a fund, are skills used as an investment consultant more relevant than a manager research analyst within an IC firm?

 

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