Timeline to become a Sports/Entertainment Division PM
Goodmorning, I'm hoping I can get some advice about my career path. I'm currently 20 years old, graduating from Colorado State University - Fort Collins with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Dual Concentration in Finance - Investment Analysis and Real Estate. Unfortunately, because I've spent so much of my time in school, I lack an internship upon graduating this Fall (although I'm in the Finance and Real Estate Clubs). My primary interest would be a PM for something like Morgan Stanley's Sports and Entertainment Division, then going to a smaller boutique firm in California such as Lourdmurray or the sort. The end goal is I really want to work and live in Newport Beach, CA. Preferably, I want to stay West Coast after graduation. These are the questions that I'm trying to use to form a timeline for what I should be doing upon graduation:
Would a starting position at NW Mutual be beneficial for this career path or would a private equity starting position be more beneficial in the long run? At what point would I take the CFP and CPWA (i.e. 4 years into a career) and are there any other certifications worth holding? At what point should I earn my MBA and what college would be acceptable in the West Coast?
Thank you, I'm just trying to get some idea on how to work towards being a PM for a Sports/Entertainment Division with some guideline.
I apologize, but you may need to clarify. Are you looking to be the Portfolio Manager for something like GAMR (ETFMG Video Game Technology ETF) or are you looking to be a financial advisor that focuses on clients in the entertainment industry, including professional sports stars? The two are very different, and pretty close to mutually exclusive career paths. Your reference to a PM role suggests that you are looking at the former, but your reference to the CFP suggests the latter.
Good fucking luck. I'd like to be the queen of England, but without connections our chances are about the same. Becoming PM is about as tough, but at least I could give you a compass there.
Wow
I said wow because my initial impressions were, excuse for not having an internship is "spent so much of my time in school." This made me think, wow, must be relatively lazy or some odd ended possibly viable excuse (this is coming from someone who worked 58 hours / week sophomore - senior year of undergrad and finished with 3.5+ gpa, recommendation from fiance department head to be graduate of the year at large school (30k+), and ran a top house frat). Then read it over again and realized you're graduating in the fall at age 20, so you likely took an aggressive class load leading to an early graduation woohoo.
Respectable, but still... the facet of financial advising you listed that you wanted to work for is incredibly nuanced. To answer your questions though... 1) PE will look stronger, but FA is relationship based. If you don't know anyone in the industry, its difficult to find someone who is willing to work with you to build a viable succession plan. If you're talking about the NW Mutual Newport Beach office, starting there they'll run you dry for contacts, and all you will do is cold calling. A relatively poor place to start IMO. 2) Series 7 first, then 66, then CFP. 3) MBA is relatively (completely?) unnecessary for becoming a FA.
Which... is why I said wow to begin with. Most of this is knowledge that has been shared likely on this site, and definitely elsewhere on the internet if not here. That, coupled with a question somewhat comparable to "I want to become a starting QB in the NFL, what do I do" is somewhat laughable.
ML/MS/UBS sports & entertainment divisions aren't something you get hired into, you get accepted into it. first, you make it as a PWM guy (hard enough, right?). then, you have to develop a niche within sports/entertainment (even harder), then you have to prove you're actually an expert and then the firms invite you to market yourself as a specialist.
every sports/entertainment person I've talked to has described it as much less glamorous than you may think. for every kawhi leonard that drives a 20yo car, there's dozens of terrell owenses or rookies that get one $3mm contract, tear an ACL, or you're at a position with more supply than demand (remember BenJarvus Green Ellis? never fumbled in 4 seasons with the Pats, doubt he's still a millionaire). they are in it because the possibility to get a kawhi leonard type client is there and those clients are amazing to have. all you need is a couple.
my advice? figure out if you actually want to do PWM, and then go from there.