Breaking into AM post-MBA

Hi,

I'm getting ready to apply to a number of MBA programs this year (top 5/10 programs). I am coming from a Compliance background (currently PE and capital markets compliance at a PE megafund i.e. BX, TPG, Carlyle) and am interested in breaking into AM. Given my background, I'm wondering how realistic this is.

I originally intended to go into AM post-undergrad, but I naively accepted a compliance role thinking I could use it as a "stop-gap" to earn money will searching for an AM position. Unfortunately, by the time I realized my error I was already stuck on the Compliance track. I managed my own portfolio focused on tech and asian stocks during my undergrad years and have followed the markets throughout my time since, but have not been able to trade for the most part due to firm restrictions.

Assuming I can get into a top program, is my goal to transition into AM realisitic?

Thanks!

 
CaliforniaAnalyst:
hard but not impossible

and it's pretty hard to get into top mba with compliance background as well

assuming the rest of his app is competitive, he could still have a decent chance on schools 6-10 just based on the presumption that he is one of very few compliance applicants, as a differentiating factor.

Sometimes lies are more dependable than the truth.
 

Realistic? Not really. Possible? Yes. It will be hard to break in straight out of an MBA program, you will absolutely need an internship. Depending on your level of commitment and risk tolerance, you could hold out for a hedge fund internship (maybe even unpaid) to get some valuable experience. You should hit up connections and pound the pavement from day 1, maybe even do a school-year internship if you can convince someone to take you on. It'll take a lot of work, but if it's all you want to do it can be done. You might not get into the biggest mutual fund, or the most prestigious hedge fund, but it's such a fragmented industry that there are bound to be things out there. Unfortunately, since it's a scale business, there aren't that many spots in the industry.

 
Best Response

First of all, congrats on your offers! Both are awesome schools.

Columbia's value investing program is very tough to get into. You'll be competing against a lot of students with prior experience, who are rockstars at stock pitches. Not saying it can't be done, but you should be aware of the difficulty before choosing to go there based on that program. Columbia has better placement into fundamental long-short hedge funds than MIT. Both schools do get recruiting from the big IM shops like fidelity, wellington, pimco, state street, MFS, putnam, etc. Even though MIT is in boston, i don't think going there will give you an advantage over columbia with respect to IM (aside from the convenience of visiting those firms more easily). Columbia is in NYC, which is a huge plus for any finance job; moreover, it has a bigger alumni network than MIT, so i think in your case i would choose columbia since you prefer it for personal reasons anyways. For finance people, the only reason someone should take MIT over columbia/booth is if they REALLY want to be in boston, are interested in quant funds, and/or want to look into venture capital or finance roles at tech firms.

 

Breaking into AM is very difficult without prior AM exp nowadays. I tried myself, unsuccessfully.

Brady's advice is pretty solid. I would go with CBS on this one. Not to say that MIT is in any way inferior, I feel that Columbia will set you up with a more career prospects within the finance sector if AM doesnt work out. Really, I dont think you could go wrong with either program.

If you are commited to AM, I would also recommend you work towards your CFA. I am assuming you will be matriculating Fall '12; if so, sign up and study for L1 in June. You can take it easy at your current job knowing you will be at CBS in the Fall so you can study harder.

Man made money, money never made the man
 

Thanks for your input. As a long time forum lurker, it a big honor for THE brady to be the first to respond to my post. :)

I read your previous post on the competitiveness of getting into CBS' VI program, and I'd like to reiterate something another poster responded with: 40 students = ~5% of the class (or 7% if you don't count J term; not sure if they can apply). Last year, approximately 11% of the class went to work in IM or Buy/Sell Side research. Now obviously not everyone who went into IM wants to do Value, and I'm sure there are people who would have liked to and didn't get jobs, but I just feel like those numbers suggest that the acceptance rate to the program is over 30%. In addition, the stock pitch is limited to 2 pages, and I'm not sure if that's enough space for the difference between a rockstar and me to shine through too bright. I take your larger point, however: I will by no means assume getting into VI is a given.

One more question: I understand that Columbia has better placement at long/short HFs. However, if I don't have a finance background, will I even be seriously considered for these types of positions?

In any case, your post has been very helpful. I would appreciate it if others could back it up/disagree vehemently.

 
newborn:
Is the value in doing this to show more interest in IM to recruiters?

The real value is learning the CFA material, and you are doing so because you are interested in a career in AM. As long as you make that obvious to recruiters (via resume/cover letter), recruiters will take your interest seriously.

There really isnt any excuse for you not to take and pass CFA L1 this June (assuming you really are interested in AM).

Man made money, money never made the man
 

I don't know how easy or hard it is to get into the program, but it would be a mistake to think that quantity = quality. You can have a dynamite stock pitch in quarter of a page of bullet point comments. Someone who is good at value investing absolutely would shine through relative to what I expect would mostly be a bunch of crappy pitches. I have never interviewed anyone out of Columbia, but if they are like the rest of the MBA business schools">m7 schools, the people coming OUT of the programs have crappy stock pitches, and I imagine those going in would be even worse. Not to say that there aren't lots of smart students and so on, but being smart and knowing how to find good stocks and pitch well are two totally different things, and it's very hard to teach yourself out of a book or during a couple of years of (irrelevant) banking experience.

To answer the question, I'd vote for Columbia over MIT for all the reasons you said.

 

I'm still an undergraduate, and this is highly empirical, but it seems to confirm what others have been saying, so I thought I'd share it:

I've interviewed at a decent number of buy side shops, on both coasts, and at each firm, Columbia's Business School always accounted for at least a couple of the VP Analysts and Portfolio Managers I spoke with (I'd say Booth was a close second). I only met one guy from Sloan, and that was in Boston, so take that as you will.

Both great schools, obviously, and a tough choice to make either way. So, mostly: Congratulations! Also: Definitely do the CFA -- even with all the trendy, anti-CFA rhetoric that gets tossed around, it still has signaling value for days, and for someone without prior AM experience, I think it would be massively useful.

 

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