Q&A - AM Investment Analyst at Top Firm With No Return Offer

About Me

  • Working as an Analyst in Product Strategy (intersection between Portfolio Management and Sales) with focus on two multi-asset portfolio groups: Income and Model Portfolios (built from ETFs)
  • Previously interned at a Bulge Bracket Investment Bank's Global Banking division in the real estate and infrastructure team
  • Graduated with a BSc in Economics

Q&A

Ask me about my time at a BB in London, my work in Asset Management, or anything else that comes to mind.

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WSO Podcast:

Member @NoelBudapest explains his path to becoming an investment analyst at one of the top Asset Managers in the world. How he landed a summer internship at Google and then a bulge bracket investment bank his junior year, what he did when he was forced to move back home after graduation from London to Budapest when he failed to get a return offer and some critical advice for the younger listeners still in school.

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6 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Hi there, thank you for your questions.

1) compensation: well above national average, you can enjoy a great life even with the entry level pay, however, if you leave the country (e.g. for travel) your income is not as competitive

2) At the beginning of each month there are some analytical reports (portfolio risk, performance, sector/country exposure) that I need to run, At every iteration I work on automating more and more of these reports to increase efficiency. For automation I mainly use VBA and python. 2-3 times a week I have calls with portfolio managers to discuss fund strategy / potential trades and go over upcoming client events. Rest of the time varies a lot, I can be doing research with a portfolio manager, prepare materials for a client meeting (presentations) or reply to complex client queries that our relationship managers cannot answer due to lack of detailed technical knowledge.

3) I am really glad that I had a chance to experience asset management, however, I find it a bit slow and narrow (you are focused on 2-3 specific types of funds) at the current stage of my life. I am looking for something faster paced where I can learn about a wide variety of industries. I find that management/strategy consulting or investment banking would offer that.

 

hi there, thank you for asking. Unfortunately, I cannot answer this question as I don't work on investment valuation. Our investment process is different. We decide on high level asset class allocations then forward these orders (e.g. USD100m in High Yield EM bonds) to asset class specialist teams who do their own research and security selection. We call this an investment sleeve that is part of the aggregate portfolio (and represents High Yield EM bonds in this case).

 

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