Become a Portfolio Manager after being Sales
After a few years as a Sales in a big Asset Management firm + the CFA, is it possible to become a Portfolio Manager?
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It would be very odd. The skillsets and typical career path don't really come together until CEO. Sales is sales, you're expected to sell. If you know the product, great, but as long as you're selling they don't care if you're dumb as a rock. There is a TON of money to be made in sales however, because at the end of the day AM is all about AUM.
PMs on the other hand typically come from the ranks of Analysts. Start at the bottom, and keep advancing into research and trading, and eventually you might get lucky. No sales involved.
Thanks a lot for your reply. I was asking this question because a Sales role gives you a good knowledge of the markets and the CFA gives you great technicity. How much are we talking about for the salaries for a Sales role? Are they as good as in investment banking? The topics on WSO are more related to Sell Side regarding the Sales jobs.
I work for a pretty big shop, and I wish I could say our wholesalers were geniuses, but unfortunately, the biggest strength for most of them is being friendly and likeable.
Broadly speaking, AM sales breaks down into internal and external wholesaling. Internals probably make 75-100k depending on bonuses, Externals have a much bigger range. Their base is only about $50k, but with the commission $300-500k is normal. Internaling is supposed to be brutal. You're cold calling FAs and trying to set up meetings all day long. The goal of almost every internal is to become an external, but a lot burn out before they make it. Externaling is a different animal. You have to be on all the time to make the sale, and its all about hitting your numbers, because the job is 90% commission, and in addition to not getting paid if you hit a dry spell, eventually they'll can you if you don't produce. Beyond that, as an external lot of it is your territory. Some territories just have more assets than others, even though they try to split them up roughly evenly. Travel also varies a lot. We have some guys that just do Manhattan. They sleep at home every night, but other externals may have to cover multiple states.
The next step up from sales is to manage all the wholesalers in a region, then an entire distribution channel, and eventually possibly the entire company. At my firm, I don't see how you move from sales to PM, short of going through the C-suite and then taking a demotion.
Yes if you pivot into an analyst position. If you work at a big firm, reach out to your internal recruiters and see what you can do to get an interview on a PM team.
It's possible, but not particularly likely...
Noob question: Sales to PM?? (Originally Posted: 01/15/2013)
Can a guy woking in the institutional equities sales dept move on to the buy side and become a PM?
You CAN meaning it could happen, is it likely without moving to something else first? no
Very unlikely need at least one step in betw
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