ER analyst or sales?
Hi all, I have been battling with a tough dilemma for a few years now - I'm in ER sales, have CFA, have had multiple opps to switch to sell side/buy side analysts or more specialized sales, but indecisiveness kept me in a generalist sales role.
I currently have a good opportunity both for sell side analyst covering a high growth sector, and sell side sales specializing in a high growth area; and am completely torn. Just wanted to hear any thoughts on pros/cons.
My preferences: comp is not a big factor (if I do well, I'm sure $ will come). Lifestyle is important (no family obligations, more from a yolo perspective). Learning is very important, but I'm intimidated by sell side analysts's 10k grunt work and snarky hedge fund clients no matter how much you know about your space. Sales on the other hand are not expected to be smart (in general...) so if you're smart, you surprise clients to the upside. Not interested in buyside analyst as exit strategy.
Thanks for reading through my rambling and appreciate any kind of input.
From a pure survival perspective, I think equity sales is f*cked long term. MiFID II is not going to treat those guys well whereas top notch sell side analysts will still be around 10 years from now (not so sure about the lower ranked guys) and even if you don't shoot for analyst you have a realistic shot of going for an IR or some kind of bus dev role at a company you cover.
Lifestyle is purely dependent on the analyst. Some analysts work their associates harder than bankers whereas i've seen some associates regularly leave by 6 during non-earnings season hours (earnings season is going to kinda suck regardless - just part of the industry - unless of course Trump gets his way with biannual reporting...)
Don't be too intimidated by the grunt work, it's easier than you think so long as you aren't a complete moron. Being smart is a plus, but by no means necessary to succeeding as an associate. If anything, I'd say it's more about being very good at running a 'process' and having a very mechanical and predictable approach to analyzing issues and writing notes. Keep in mind, what makes a great associate is not necessarily what makes a great analyst, vice versa.
Equity Research or Sales to get in AM (Originally Posted: 02/23/2009)
I am looking at two different offers, one at Fidelity for Equity Research and BNP Paribas for Fixed Income Sales and Structuring this summer. In your opinion, to get in a place like BlackRock or Wellington (AM in general), is it more important to have ER experience or technical experience with how the actual products work, ie fixed income which BR and Wellington are strong for?
Please let me know, I am worried ER is to qualitative and it will be hard for me to switch. But sales and structuring will help me learn the idea of risk management but if I'm in sales, I may find myself pigeonholed and it hard to switch over to buy side.
What do you guys think?
I don't get it. Why do you think Blackrock and Wellington are better than Fidelity? Fido and Wellington are virtually identical while Blackrock has a slightly more quant-focus. ER at Fidelity is far and away you best choice if you want to work on the buyside in AM. ER at Fidelity is buyside AM!
If you mean you want to be a PM, ER is the most direct route.
Goodbread,
Im from Mass and have friends that work at both firms. Trust me Wellington blows fidelity out of the water. Wellington was actually asked by the Federal reserve to manage assets.
fidelity > bnp if u want to get into AM
dipset1011,
I live in Mass. Maybe Wellington is better from a lifestyle or fit perspective but the strategies used by both shops are very similar, with a serious leg up for Fidelity in terms of AUM. Who cares who the Fed wants to manage assets? Every pension fund in America uses Fido.
With regards to the OPs question, Fidelity is definitely the better choice because an FO role at Fidelity/Wellington/Blackrock is the exact same thing.
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