As an ER associate in a certain industry, how much would you be tied to that industry regarding exits? I’m guessing its not as intense as “you can only go into XYZ industry after ER” but not as easy as “you have an equal chance at any industry”
Using industrials as an example, how well would a coverage associate be able to exit into corporate or investment functions in a completely different industry like software? How would that compare to trying to find an IR role in the same industry you covered?
Financials and biotech / pharma (not other parts of healthcare) are the only two where you could be "stuck".
How so? Is it because of the different structure (bank) or technical knowledge (bio)? Would the same also apply to real estate?
Oooo, REITs yeah somewhat specialist-ish, but at least you develop knowledge of the REITs end markets (how retail is doing, how industrial is doing, how office is doing, etc.)
With all that said, if there is a will, there is a way. You can argue financials (dead) -> fintech (growth). Biotech is obviously growth, but I don't see how biology / chemical knowledge transferable outside the healthcare space, maybe in oil and gas, but then that's another dead space (arguably).
Shockingly, utilities are actually fine because they are pivoting to covering clean-tech / renewable, which is growth.
Never entirely stuck. In sell-side you build a diverse skill set of soft skills and technical skills that will make it possible to move outside of your industry. Opportunities in your industry will be the easiest and most plentiful for sure, but I have seen former co-workers (bulge ER) go into a wide variety of roles from sell-side. (Various types of buy-side roles, Consulting, IB, Wealth Mgmt.). Some shops will be looking for someone with a specific expertise (HF's and large long-only's), but many other opportunities are really just looking for a skillset. You can always learn a new sector if you have the basic modeling and research skills down.
But yeah if you cover a shitty specialized sector with unique business models like MLP's, energy or many areas of financials, it will be tougher to go outside the industry than if you cover something in consumer, tech, or industrials that have business models with broader appeal.
Bioech/pharma in healthcare could be considered stuck as well, but most people on sell-side in those roles have medical backgrounds prior to sell-side and I would argue they will be better off staying within the healthcare industry because it requires more expertise than most sectors. Healthcare guys get paid $$$.
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