Asset Management Hopeful - BB or Boutiques?
Rising senior at a target school looking to apply into Asset Management. Not sure whether to pursue BB or Boutique, as I've heard that boutique will give a better experience.
In addition, I am looking to figure out what Boutiques I should be focusing on in today's industry.
Most certaintly not completely qualified to answer, but I'm at a boutique right now (William Blair) and it's great. I'd say go with whichever company's culture you like the best.
The BB/Boutique designation doesn't apply as much in AM as it does in IB. (Talking AM here, not WM, in WM it's basically throw anybody in the pool and see if they can swim--Most can't and they quit because they don't earn a living) We are big (top 25 in public assets in the US) and outside of direct intern hires we do almost no inexperienced hires. All of that 'classes' etc. type stuff you see at places like Goldman IB don't happen in AM, although each firm has it's own culture.
So what would be the best path into the field for someone in my position?
Doesn't matter as much for AM, go with whatever you get. FT AM is incredibly difficult to land regardless, so if you land a buyside job, almost no matter what it is, take it; you can move over to a better fund later if that's your wish. I'm at a top boutique that almost exclusively takes off-cycle hires who have experience in IB/ER/AM.
Do you have a specific asset class of interest? Equity side will be far more difficult to recruit for, so expanding your search radius to debt side will yield a greater hit rate. Back in the day, I recall significantly more debt FT jobs available.
I don't have a specified asset class of interest just yet, mostly exploring at the moment. Equities interest me the most but I know that's relatively broad. Do you think that if I were to hit a debt side job I could transfer to the equity side later in my career or is that kind of lateral move uncommon?
Possibly, sure (although sadly, it's not quite as broad as you think on the public side). But you have to understand equity side (active) is shrinking due to the shift from active to passive fund flows. Let's say there were 10,000 candidates gunning for 100 equity spots (highly conservative ratio as at my firm alone, every RA position opening has at least 700 applicants) 5 years ago. Today there are closer to 11,000 gunning for 80 spots. In another 5 years, there'll be 12,000 gunning for 60 spots. This hasn't even accounted for the additional culling effect of AI that will emerge over the next 1-2 decades. It's not just a matter of 'it's always been intense.' It's not only gotten more competitive due to the quality/number of candidates that have risen, but more importantly because the industry has and will continue to structurally contract significantly over the next few years.
This is why I recommended debt side, as they haven't been hit particularly hard by the active to passive shift. You may as well apply to both and cast a wide net, but understand that you may never be able to move to equity side. Keep your interests broad for now
Best boutique is Lazard Asset Management. dont @ me
Why do you believe they are the best?
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