Am I Crazy for Wanting to Pursue Institutional Sales/IR Over Banking or S&T?
Currently an associate at a BB asset manager in NYC in a middle-office role with significant exposure to the institutional sales/IR teams. Several people from my team have made the move into those seats, so it’s a realistic path internally.
I’ve also considered trying to move internally to the investment bank, specifically capital markets or S&T. It would be a much tougher pivot given how competitive those seats are, but I think it’s possible with enough networking and technical preparation.
However, the more I think about it, the more appealing institutional sales/capital formation at a top asset manager or alternatives shop becomes.
My thinking is that as alternative managers continue to grow and fundraising becomes increasingly competitive, the ability to raise capital and maintain institutional relationships will become even more valuable. At the right platform, it seems like the long-term compensation potential can be substantial, WLB is generally better than banking, and it’s a much more natural pivot from my current seat.
A lot of my friends are in banking and doing well, so it’s easy to feel like I should be pursuing the more traditional or “prestigious” Wall Street path. But I’m starting to question whether spending years trying to break into banking/S&T is actually the best move, especially if institutional sales/capital formation could offer comparable upside with a better lifestyle.
I’ve also recently been getting interviews for some fairly lucrative IR roles at well-established alternative managers. While these opportunities are attractive, my long-term goal would be to move into a true institutional fundraising/sales seat rather than primarily servicing existing LP relationships. I’m curious how difficult that transition is in practice. Is starting in a more traditional IR role at a top fund a good stepping stone into capital formation, or is there a risk of getting pigeonholed into the servicing side of the business?
I guess my main questions are:
1. Am I overestimating the long-term compensation potential and career trajectory of institutional fundraising relative to traditional banking/S&T?
2. How realistic is the transition from IR/client servicing into true institutional sales/fundraising? Is this a common progression?
3. Would you prioritize getting into a top alternatives platform in an IR capacity and working toward sales, or holding out for a direct institutional sales opportunity?
The combination of compensation potential, lifestyle, and a relatively accessible pivot from my current role almost seems too good to be true, which makes me wonder what I’m overlooking.
Would be interested to hear from anyone working in institutional sales, capital formation, or IR, particularly at larger alternative asset managers. Curious whether I’m looking at this the right way or missing some major drawbacks.
