Is It a Good Idea to Start at AM Arms of Banks?
Trending Content - Asset Management Forum
Career Resources
WSO Free Modeling Series - Now Open Through
July 31, 2026
9 Free Financial Modeling Lessons
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
High Finance Applications
Guaranteed
Get at least one offer GUARANTEED
- 1:1 support
- 92% success rate
- 2,000+ mentor network
- Unlimited Live bootcamps
- AI for resume + LinkedIn
- Networking automation tools
- HireVue simulation tool
- Full course library
- Private Slack community
- 20hrs of mocks
- + much more...
unrelated, but which school did you go for masters? Im in a canadian UG and its something im planning.
I would say your past experience/internships matter more than the master itself. In my case, my previous internship manager was the main reason why I land a job in gam. But I guess a finance-related master with co-op/internship would all help.
Depending on what your exit strategy is. If you're looking to stay and work in Canada, having RY or TD on your CV will always be valuable. If you're interested in the traditional IB -> PE -> HF then Asset management isn't the place to start.
Thanks for the insights. I’m planning to stay in the field of secondary market, so probably not gonna try the PE/VC path. But I do wanna try other independent AMs or HF (if possible) in the future.
What's RY?
RBCs stock ticker is RY.
If you worked for a bank you won't have any issues finding work at an independent. Canada is a small market but having a bank on your CV will get you thought the door at most if not all places.
Yes and Yes. There's nothing inherently wrong about working at a big bank's AM arm and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to switch should or if you decide to. Unless you have other offers from similarly ranked, high quality independent firms - I would take it and not think about it again until you start thinking about your next career step.
Starting at a large bank is not a bad idea - despite the mind numbing corporate bureaucracy that you have to deal with, there's a ton of opportunities. Often you can get exposure to a variety of different things, plenty of career opportunities within the bank should you not like what you are doing and plenty of them have good performing, high quality strategies that you will get a lot of good experience on. I'd also suggest to you that all of the experience you get a big bank AM could be extremely valuable to a smaller AM from a business perspective - i.e. helping w/ distribution, relationships, risk/controls, efficiencies, focus on scale/profitability - that some can struggle with. From a business perspective I do think there's value you and it shouldn't be dismissed.
On these forums what the majority are hyper focused on are the career paths, experiences and potential for 'investment' folks - so we'll call it research analysts, portfolio managers, etc. In that sense banks tend to be more challenging, as AM arms are not purely there to be an Asset Manager - they are simply another business that the bank has, manages and needs to resource - among the other million things you've read on here.
Thank you so much for the response and advice.
Quia in illum voluptatem consequuntur. Beatae officiis dolore labore officia illo. Ab amet ex aut sed eveniet voluptatibus.
Atque natus distinctio soluta veritatis rem. Nihil totam saepe esse tempore. Ducimus est distinctio itaque sit. Explicabo corporis magnam odio sint recusandae. Velit maiores saepe nulla soluta.
Molestiae iure eos et ducimus tempora nisi. Accusamus et placeat recusandae qui quos. Iure commodi exercitationem vero sed. Earum molestiae aut rerum quod.
Aliquid veniam eius est eligendi aspernatur et sed. Laboriosam reprehenderit nobis deserunt. Architecto doloribus unde dolorem magnam ut iste. Nihil molestiae consequatur tempora ratione magnam dolorem aperiam.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...