~1.5 years experience covering HC (total 2.5 YOE). I've been tiptoeing around the idea of going to a LO (just completed a portfolio breakdown + pitch and it feels like I've given birth) and have really started thinking about taking my personal life and time more seriously. Realized I wanna work as a means to support my life/health and adventures with friends and family rather than accumulate wealth at an early age. My experience on the sell side seems like it's starting to slip towards just being an expendable tool (i.e. multiple random calls at 1am from my analyst, no real growth besides learning about the industry and adjacent ones, notes that take forever to get approved and require being in the office past 10pm because my analyst is also in... the usual stuff).
If I'm being honest with myself I just want more structure, weeknights + weekends to myself, and have predictable hours again. SSER is a good job for new grads to develop an array of skills, but the idea of becoming my analyst truly scares me. To all the former associates of all sectors and years of experience: 1) When did yall realize the sell side / buy side wasn't for you, 2) What industry did you end up going to, and 3) How has the experience been?
It's time we revive the ER section once again and hopefully this starts it!
Based on the most helpful WSO content, your concerns about the sell-side equity research (SSER) lifestyle and career trajectory are echoed by many in the industry. Here’s a breakdown of insights and potential paths based on WSO threads:
Realizing Sell-Side/Buy-Side Wasn't the Right Fit:
Industries People Transitioned To:
Experience After Transition:
Your desire for structure, personal time, and a healthier work-life balance is valid and shared by many in the industry. If you’re leaning towards a transition, networking and clearly articulating the transferable skills you’ve gained in SSER will be key to finding a role that aligns with your priorities.
Sources: Overview of the Equity research Industry, Overview of the Equity research Industry, Breaking into buy-side equity research - my experience, Breaking into buy-side equity research - my experience, Work/Life Balance: Equity Research vs. Investment Banking - (A Definitive Guide, Part 1)
bumping to hopefully get more traction...
I was in ER for 2 years in healthcare. I pivoted to IB and stayed for 3 years then went to VC. I wouldn’t have changed my career trajectory because ER helped be good at IB even though I was flexing a different muscle there. VC in healthcare is what made me realize how passionate I am about the sector, and for the first time I’m excited to go to work everyday.
Interesting, I know a couple people in the industry who went from ER to IB but don't know where they are aiming at as next steps.
How did you prepare for IB interviews coming from an ER background? Any helpful resources/ tips?
Would it be possible to move to VC after a couple years in ER or does IB is between really a pre req?
I know someone who's done it but it's certainly less common as an ER exit than an IB exit
Can you dm me please have some VC/ER related questions… thank you in advance!!
Have you thought about IR? That's where I went.
I think I'm done with the direct capital markets exposure as a job. Anything to do with earnings is just a complete no-go for me. I'm thinking about either corporate or manager research at a pension/endowment or leave (either put in my two weeks or purposely get fired to get severance and PTO paid out) and take a 1 month break and just gather myself and just be a normal person
Interesting, I had the exact opposite conclusion coming out of IB. Planning your life around quarters is 1000x easier than the chaos of M&A, even in corporate...
Amazing info, thanks for sharing this
Still in ER, albeit, I switched analysts/sectors/firms/cities.
You can have vastly different experiences in ER based on your analyst. As if it's not repeated enough in this forum, the firm name doesn't matter as much as your analyst.
Obviously earnings are still a shit show but you can work for an analyst and have your week nights, and weekends.
I know some people on the buyside who have had similar experiences, obviously not a MMHF, but you can still get paid well do interesting work and have evenings and weekends, *ex earnings, conferences, etc.
You're not stuck where you are but you're in charge of your own destiny.
Yea I know deep down I can move on to a different analyst, I've just recently had a self discovery that the large aspects of research (i.e. notes, marketing, client communication...) are just things I don't have an interest in. If I can avoid earnings in my next job then I'll take it lol
What is so tough about earnings? Meaning when people start talking about earnings, what is it specifically that gets your anxiety/stress up?
Replaced by AI
Went to the buyside and now on the fundraising team at the same shop. Loved the switch and wish I made it earlier!
Fundraising as in buyside IR? What’s the role title?
Correct, and associate is the title. Most shops/recruiters will give a looks to people with IB/equity sales. I had zero luck with just sellside/buyside research experience, so I made the switch internally
Thanks. Would you mind sharing a ballpark of comp or at least why you chose that flavor of IR (fundraising) rather than corporate IR at a pubco
Corporate IR kinda sucks unless you're at a really exciting company, and even then, it's not an actual focus point for almost any company. I'd contend that buyside IR is a much better proposition and here's why:
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/equity-research/five-years-after-…
Missed this thread before I wrote about my own experiences. Long story short, I moved into a very niche government consulting type role. Things were going really well until Trump came back into the picture. Now i'm looking for a job again.
I appreciate the link, and I actually posted a comment to your thread. I'm hopeful to leave the industry and take my time back sooner rather than later. I'm rooting for you to find something similar to your previous gig!
Wanted to comment on this. Currently a sell side research associate covering reits and planning transition to the investment team of a real estate private equity fund/family office in the Midwest. Currently in NYC and want to move back to my home area in the Midwest. Found the opportunity through good old fashioned LinkedIn networking/cold emailing. I have found that directly speaking to professionals at companies/firms you want to work for is MUCH more effective than using 3rd party recruiters.
Similar to OP I was fed up with the quarterly earnings and short term nature of a role in the public equity markets, also there are serious geographic constraints to public markets (really need to be in either NYC or BOS at the junior level). Now I haven’t started the new gig yet and I am sure there will be new challenges and aspects of the job I dislike. But I needed to make a change and try something new so I am jumping in head first and am going to embrace the change. Good luck with the search and I’m sure you will figure it out!
I appreciate the response, I'm sure you'll enjoy the new role.
Started in ER 10+ yrs ago covering TMT. Got a ton of responsibility early on. The day I passed my licenses I started taking client calls. 9 months into the job I got sent solo on an international IPO roadshow and drafted our initiation report from start to finish. Since my analyst was well established he let me own a few names as our team expert and I got a ton of high profile client interaction, especially when we put 2 sell ratings on two hedge fund hotels.
Honestly, it was a great learning experience. I didn't get bored, but after 3+ years I asked myself if I wanted my boss's job and it was a hard "no". I interviewed a dozens of hedge funds, got close in a few but it wasn't clicking. But through my network I heard about a VC opening out on the west coast where I actually could stand out. I reached out to a few people that had worked there or friends that had interviewed for the role and wiggled my way into an interview. 5 rounds, a case study, and a 8hr superday later I beat the odds and got it.
Worked hard, pulled all nighters, and got to learn alongside some of the sharpest investors out there. Then 3yrs in, I looked at my partners, who were are very, very successful, and asked myself again: Do I want my boss's job? Same answer, "no".
Finally I realized I wanted to build a company, learn by doing -- So I let them know and I quit with a semblance of a (terrible) start up idea. A year of throwing ideas at a wall, selling one, 4 failures, my co-founder and I finally locked on something where we had founder-market fit.
A little over 5 years in, we've raised a Series B and are focused on scaling to the next milestone.
Most of my previous experiences didn't really help prepare me to build a company, but what ER did help with was teach me the importance of sales. When building a company, everything is sales. I'm selling my candidate, employees, prospects, customers, and partners daily. I spent a lot of time with our sales team when I was in ER and having to back your opinion, recognize when you're wrong, and understand different personas motivations, helped me get way outside my comfort zone.
If you're ER today, the one thing I'd push for more than anything, that AI can't replace, is getting direct client exposure. Answer the stupid/hard questions, debate someone who's got the other side of your trade, and learn how they interpret the same data you're seeing. Writing reports that chatgpt is going to summarize for a buyside client isn't what accelerates your growth, it's constantly finding opportunities to learn from others that will.
Worked in Equity Research for 4 years, enjoyed it very much but knew pretty much on day zero that this wasn't what I was going to do all my life. Because i was enjoying and learning a lot, i continued to work for 4 years - worked on a few IPOs, initiated about 5-7 companies (my favourite part about ER), survived the Covid volatility in the markets.
Quit in 2022 and since then have worked on corporate development, strategy and investor relations - helped my firm raise $150mn, restructured a struggling business unit, developed comprehensive dashboards to track metrics, researched on new business opportunities (organic and inorganic) and really enjoyed all of it. Much better hours than ER but way more unstructured to be fair.
Have seen my colleagues from ER do all sorts of fun things - IBD, VC, PE, Consulting, Corporate Finance, Entrepreneurship, etc. I think ER gives a very unique range of skills (elite modelling skills, business understanding, smelling the trends, and communication skills - most underrated) that allows ER professionals to be successful in a range of situations!
Keep at it my friend and you will find your calling soon! Best of luck!
Sounds like you just need to work for a more enjoyable Analyst/team. That sounds like a shitty team dynamic.
Worked in ER for ~10 yrs and loved it but near the latter stages felt demand waning + little incremental learning. I covered HC and made the switch to corporate - first via IR, then over to corporate development. IR is an easier stepping stone from ER - and it opens the door to other opportunities. Corp Dev still has downsides (hours fluctuate - my co is very active) - but very interesting work and hard to automate.
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