LO AM Competitiveness

Hello Everyone!

I'm an undergrad currently trying to decide between one of the top LO AM shops (Cap Group, Wellington, Fidelity etc) and IB. The nature of LO AM is far more appealing; this is something I would definitely love to do long-term. However, given the spread of passive, underperformance of most of LO AM funds, and extreme fee compression, I am quite worried about the long-term competitiveness of LO AM jobs. Especially given that these types of programs provide one with a very specialized skill set, are those worries warranted? 

Would love to hear some thoughts on this.

Thank you!

3 Comments
 

Are you coming from undergrad or business school? 

I myself am graduating from undergrad and was in your position a few months ago. I ended up taking an offer at a major competitor to one of the shops you mentioned and although I'm somewhat a bit apprehensive about location and potential future roles, I think that this will make for a great start for me out of undergrad. 

For me, I'm trying to do HF in the farther future, and believed that this would be a great place to start. I admittedly find myself concerned with the ability to migrate into HF from LO, but I think that my LO experience will still be valuable for my career and my understanding of the markets. 

I've many a time asked people if I should go back into IB as well after a stint in LO, and consistently people have told me not to do so. That options within and outside of LO will eventually emerge. 

The other thing I want to mention is that if you want to do LO farther in the future, then you should definitely get started there now. The spots are few and the nature and lifestyle associated with the business is far more appealing than IB

 
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