Hey Everyone,
I am looking for some advice/guidance on summer associate offers in equity research at BlackRock, Capital Group, T Rowe Price and Fidelity.
I received offers from the above firms, but I am struggling to decide. The packages are fairly similar, range is +/- 5% on comp. The teams were all great and the interview experience was great.
BlackRock are obviously the largest, but I'm not sure if they are the best in equity. Does anyone have experience with any of these asset managers?
I'd be happy to help on any interview questions, feel free to reach out!
You probably know this already, but AUM != quality. AUM/IP can be a better metric to ascertain company economics, but even then, it’s not super useful, and you’d have to make sure you’re only accounting for active AUM. (Blackrock, for example, is majority passive).
In general, I’d say that a private firm >> a public firm (so Cap Group and Fidelity win out there). You also want to look at whether a firm has a history of promoting associates to analysts. Lastly, and I’m speaking from an American perspective, Blackrock seems to be a bit less respected in the active equity management space. I have no idea whether that’s warranted or not, as I’m sure people in the industry have their personal biases.
Thanks - I'm going in as an MBA associate, but good info on checking promotion track. Cap Group had a really interesting structure where the research associates manage a small sliver of certain funds. Roughly 5% of a fund is managed separately from the PMs. Quite a nice carrot if you portion performs well.
Slightly confused - is this a post MBA Analyst role, or post undergrad Associate role i.e. Cap Research Associate program? If it's an Associate role which requires promotion in the future, I would flag to ask your recruiters on the requirement it takes to get promoted as an Analyst (timeline, etc.) and/or if a MBA is required since that seems to be common among LO AMs.
This is accurate.
Re BlackRock: probably because they sell a shit ton of ETFs
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/blackrock-hits-record-10-trillion-115…
Worth noting that even at Blackrock, something like half of their fees come from active funds despite active assets being a much smaller fraction of total AUM. Ultimately, that’s where the real money is, at least for asset managers
It's funny this is mentioned, since I've felt that T. Rowe and BlackRock both are better with internal promotion than Fido or Cap. I guess it's a trade off. That said, I've never worked at the analyst level, so think you should look into that on your end more
First of all, congratulations. Not a bad dilemma to have!
All things being equal, being a Capital Group Analyst is arguably the gold standard for equities (comp, structure, reputation, culture). That being said, leverage your other offers to get some clarity re promotion path. Notoriously bad at promoting associates -> analysts.
BlackRock would be the only bad choice you can make out of the 4 (unless you’re dying to be in NYC). Fido is a super training ground for diversified PMs but be aware of a slightly more “sharp elbowed” culture. T Rowe culture is second to none - but heads up that Baltimore is as bad as they say it is
I work at T. Rowe (sry I'm not certified lol), so figured I should chime in on Baltimore.
I've lived in Baltimore my whole life and can tell you it ain't perfect. A lot of people in my cohort (just graduated from undergrad) live in DC or nearby suburbs and commute, and my own manager lives in Philly but comes to Baltimore 2days/week. Of my cohort I'd say it's a 50/50 split between people living in Baltimore vs. people living in or near DC and commuting. If you're down to do some super-commuting, you can definitely work at T. Rowe without being in Baltimore for lifestyle purposes.
I’m curious, how long is the commute?
I have a decent amount of experience with all of the firms that you mentioned. You do need to take into account where you would like to be location wise as that is critical.
But, I will concur with the others that Capital Group is likely the best option. Good team and culture. Great performance historically. Great reputation. Corporates love them. Smart people. I liked being in meetings with Cap.
After that, I would go with either T. Rowe or Fidelity. Personally, I probably like T. Rowe more but prefer Boston. I think the career longevity at T. Rowe is long. People love it there. They are smart. They think long-term. Fidelity sometimes has a little bit rougher culture; there is more performance oriented turnover and it is a bit more intense at times.
BlackRock has some good active funds, but I think the others are still better places.
I would suggest you strongly consider cap group or fidelity.
Just curious, because you mentioned all your offers were quite similar - what was the base and target bonus?
So I should mention I am doing my MBA at LBS in London - so the roles are all for London offices.
So given it's a summer associate/analyst role the salary is pro-rated at £85k/annum. I spoke to someone full-time at Cap Group who has been there for 2 years (4 years total exp) and their total comp is £180k (Base: £100k; Bonus:£80k). Difficult to use this as a data point though as its obviously dependent on their coverage and alpha added to the fund.
Is this for 2 years post MBA, (so 2 yrs work exp + MBA + 2 yrs cap group equity analyst) or they worked for 2 years then lateralled to cap group from another place?
Do they get any stock as well or £180k is all in everything?
Thanks, just curious
Legal & General is also huge in the UK, does anyone have info on them? Comp/hours/progression?
Would lean towards Capital Group and Fidelity here if we're talking about post MBA associate research roles. You also have to consider location: TRowe is most likely in Baltimore, Cap Group most likely in LA, and Fidelity most likely in Boston. Cap Group and Fidelity are still in private partnership structures (like Wellington) which makes the comp levels at the PM/Partner levels insane ($10M+ possible). Lastly, the culture at Cap Group is something they pride themselves in A LOT. They are very very selective and have some of the best career analysts there. Great offers though best of luck.
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