Boston based AM Firms ( MFS, Putnam, Wellington)

Was wondering what ppl's/street's thoughts were on Boston based AM firms specifically MFS, Putnam, and Wellington.
Culture, pay, B school opportunities etc. Are these shops considered more "regional" firms (compared to some of the big names such as PIMCO/BlackRock etc)?

Thanks.

30 Comments
 

Tons of great buy-side shops in Boston. Wellington, MFS, Putnam, Fidelity, Wells Cap are all fantastic places to be and will surely look good on b-school apps. They are not small by any means. Culture is a little more laid back in AM, and additionally in Boston compared to NYC.

 

Putnam has suffered. MFS is doing fine. If you want to look at the quality of a fund family look around on their website for their overall fund performance and aum trends. Families with strong performance i.e 4 and 5 star funds are the places you want to be at. Funds with shrinking aum and poor performance are difficult places to be. Often senior management and pms will still be getting paid and have no incentive to worry while good analysts will be leaving.

 
Best Response

Wellington is one of the top names in Boston - they sub-advise all of the Hartford Funds. Other elites are GMO and Boston Partners, who also sub-advise other firms' mutual funds.

Putnam got hammered in the tech bubble of '01 and never seemed to recover since. MFS is a solid shop. Fidelity also. Columbia and Pioneer are bleeding assets.

From a HF perspective, Baupost, Adage, and Convexity seem to be the top names.

 

Depends on the team. Interviewed with them recently with the global macro team (basically their hedge fund). Very nice and cool people. Down to earth and just make you wanna work there. Small office so the culture is different from big ones like BlackRock. Historically it seems like the equities at EV is better than fixed income. But global macro team is within the alternative group and I'd say it's a great chance to work and you will learn a lot. But people tend not to leave and relatively hard to get promoted as well. So think about this if you wanna go to another firm later.

heard that their pay is not that high tho. Don't know too much that. just for FYI, a lot of guys are from Booth.

 

Can't give too much input about MBA at BU vs. BC, but in terms of shedding some light on the firms you have in mind -- Fidelity is possible, I've seen people get into it out of undergrad at semi/non-targets (yes, for AM). Wellington is damn picky about their recruiting; I went to a target and they flat out didn't even bother to look at my resume. They also tend to only do OCR (i.e. applying online or via headhunter is rarely successful).

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chicandtoughnessCan't give too much input about MBA at BU vs. BC, but in terms of shedding some light on the firms you have in mind -- Fidelity is possible, I've seen people get into it out of undergrad at semi/non-targets (yes, for AM). Wellington is damn picky about their recruiting; I went to a target and they flat out didn't even bother to look at my resume. They also tend to only do OCR (i.e. applying online or via headhunter is rarely successful).

Yup. Wellington is insanely picky. I didn't even know they hire undergrads, but for MBA recruiting, they give out 2-3 full-time offers nationwide.

 
chicandtoughnessCan't give too much input about MBA at BU vs. BC, but in terms of shedding some light on the firms you have in mind -- Fidelity is possible, I've seen people get into it out of undergrad at semi/non-targets (yes, for AM). Wellington is damn picky about their recruiting; I went to a target and they flat out didn't even bother to look at my resume. They also tend to only do OCR (i.e. applying online or via headhunter is rarely successful).

Yes, Fidelity actually is recruiting on my campus this fall, but I fear I am not prepared to get an offer at this time, though I am committed to getting into an AM shop like this. So I guess the question is - should I try to get any job in the industry while maybe studying for the CFA on the side and then apply for the next round of Fidelity recruiting next year (i plan on networking with the recruiters that come this fall and stay in touch), or should I actually go the MSF route and try to get recruited out of there in Boston? Thanks

 

BC is better - notably their MS in accounting. BU... meh. They mostly cater to working professionals and foreigners who don't know better, it seems to me. That being said, I know several people who have gone through their masters degrees programs - they apparently have a good part time MBA program, but that is more for people trying to switch industries.

“...all truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” - Schopenhauer
 

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