Explanation of advice in e-mail from Executive Director:
I recently e-mailed an executive director at a prestigious i-bank that also has operations in asset and wealth management.
In my e-mail to him, I mentioned " I have a particular desire to work on the floor in fixed-income S&T and ultimately progress to buy-side money-management."
His response was:
"I would be happy to speak with you however let me give you some guidance here. If you are looking for a career on the buy-side (which I agree is the better place to be vs. sell-side) I would suggest you start your job hunt there; moving from sell-side to buy-side is tough and frankly doesn’t make sense at your place in life, in my opinion. Also prepare to study for and take the CFA® which is becoming a staple if you want to advance in the portfolio management world."
I was a little confused by this response. From my conversations from others in S&T, buy-side (HF, PE) seems to be the most common exit opp for traders and salesmen. Am I wrong or misinterpreting his message?
Thanks,
James
it's an exit but numbers might be going down in the future as only a handful of HFs actually deserve those fees--buyside to buyside is more feasible
In PE having a CFA is definetly not required.
The OP was referencing buy-side AM, not PE. So yes, the CFA is definitely a preferred prereq (or progress towards it).
I think the advice was on-point. Unlike the natural transition from sell-side IB to buy-side PE, the transition from sell-side S&T to buyside HF or money mgmt firm is not nearly as natural. In the latter case, the sell-side has a stigma for the reason you mention...it is very much sales. If asset management is your goal it would be in your best interest to start at a small fund or, if sell side is your only option, pwm.
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