How to Break into High Yield Credit Research

What are the best jobs after undergrad to pivot to HY credit research? How competitive is HY credit research compared to ER? How helpful is the CFA? Is it possible to break into credit research from nontraditional backgrounds like big 4 or FP&A?

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There's no secret sauce here - it's the same as most every job honestly. Junior analysts on the credit team would be the best route, but they are very hard to come by. Your best bet, IMO, would be to pick a firm that has fixed income strategies and target roles there, as close as you can get to the investment team. Don't focus on just high yield - you really need to start getting exposure to fixed income and then work your way out from there. If you get an equity research job on the buy side I'd take it, as in some ways high yield can effectively becomes equity-like in how you evaluate things. Again - the important thing is that you start getting exposure or experience doing something - either similar work, or industry specific experience you can leverage. 

CFA - yes. These are the roles it is designed for. If you want this path, just get it. 

 

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