AM recruitment compared to IB
What is the summer internship recruitment like for AM compared to IB? Do they mostly recruit juniors? Do the interviews cover the same intensity of technicals? Is there a similar format to study as the 400 IB questions for interviews? Do they recruit in the spring like IB or do they recruit later? Is it just as hard to get an AM internship at a top bank as it is in IB?
Can anyone with some experience in these industries give some insight here? I’m a rising junior and I’ve started to realize that AM is much more appealing and interesting to me than IB, which is what I have been applying to and preparing for. I’m a little confused on the process since I’m finding it a little harder to get info on than IB recruiting. Thanks!
Bump
At investment banks, there is a constant need for a supply of very hardworking people to do endless tasks to support deals, such as making pitchbooks, running models, handling correspondence, etc. and these analysts learn quite a bit. But on the asset management side, the work varies much more depending on the team, the style of management, the investments being managed, and how the team or firm is organized. Analysts might do all kinds of things. In fact, a lot of firms rarely hire inexperienced analysts, because they don't need the volume of personnel a bank does, so they tend to focus on people with experience. The bigger shops do have internship programs, but in my experience this has not been the most common path to an asset management position. A lot of people come from the sell side, or a ratings agency, hedge funds, academic research, sometimes law or government, or other more varied backgrounds. People often ask how to get a good AM job, and for those of us in the business, there's no simple answer, it's not really such a clear track although there are ways to position yourself for it.
Now if you want to work in AM, my advice is to talk to people who work in AM, and figure out what different people are doing. The one thing they tend to have in common, is that they know how to generate money doing something. So you need to think about where you can get the knowledge and skills to do that.
This post is pretty accurate.
I would add, AM front office roles (Junior: research / Senior: portfolio management) have very little turnover from my experience. Also, I've seen exceptionally intelligent and talented folks walk away/get let go/not get a job because of misalignment in investment philosophy (+horizon) as well.
Recruitment far far more competitive. Thousands of summer interns globally in IB. Maybe 200 at non back office asset management. Harder interviews where you can’t just memorize answers to questions you know you’ll be asked. Most of the technical questions involve pitching investment ideas that are judged as if you’re already a professional. Most full time recruitment happens if you do a 2+2 or top 5 MBA. Very unstructured typically.
Pm me! Interning at a regarded LO AM this summer and currently recruiting for both AM research and IB. Would love to offer insight on the recruitment process
From a numbers perspective, here's reality. Across the ENTIRE enterprise, a leading AM shop hired 100 interns from 12k applications. This was 2020. I emphasize the entire enterprise as number of investment related seats (research) was probably 5 (10 max).
Interned at a rather large LO AM last summer and returning this summer (probably the firm you're thinking of). Something like 110+ interns, maybe like 5 of those are equity research, 3-4 are quant research. Would also caveat that you must network for these positions as I'm not sure some of them were even posted
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