Explain the industry to me

GWM, PB, PWM all fall under AM? I always thought AM was when you would manage your firms or another firms investments as in property and securities Basically all of those jobs require you too bring in client if you want to rake in money?

How does the hierarchy structure work in this environment? Is it like S&T, Analyst, Associate, VP, MD? What does each person do ?

How is the salary from Analyst to MD? do these jobs require you to have a CFA if you want to make it to the top or is it possible to make it without one? Do you need to bring in clients if you want to make it to MD level?

Thanks

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Best Response

It would benefit you to read all the threads in this forum, you'll learn a lot. To start you off:

Asset Management... managing assets... not sure how else to say it. PB, PWM, and GWM all manage assets for people. It's not just institutions, although when you say asset management most people I talk to assume you mean managing assets for a firm as PB, PWM, and GWM generally refer to themselves as such.

Hierarchy is same as S&T. It really depends on the firm and industry (PWM, GWM, or PB) as to what you'll be doing at each level. VP and MD level are focused on client relationships across the board, generally. An analyst in GWM is probably going to be doing a LOT of cold-calling, same with PWM. It's impossible to generalize what it's like, though, since there are so many different ways firms run their businesses.

You can make it to the top without a CFA, but it is worth it in asset management. To make it to MD level, yes, you need to bring in clients. That's what keeps the business running and makes you worth promoting. Salary is a lot more variable in these industries. You could be making anywhere from $30k to $3mm. For PB you're probably going to see generally the same starting salary, base, and probably a bonus that is 25-75% of those you see in IB at the analyst and associate levels. PWM and GWM I'm not sure about.

Do a forum search.

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