Is equity research a good start for a finance newcomer?

I'm a first-year college student (18 y/o) and have been interested in finance for a while now, mainly the idea of personal investing, but I wanted to know where a good area would be to start after (or during) college. I don't have much (if any) experience other than studying and learning about certain topics related to the market and businesses. Also currently aiming for a transfer as I'm completing my business pre-reqs in community college to transfer to a more finance-focused college.

I want to end up possibly in a hedge fund position or day trading on my own (wayyy later on), but I've heard that equity research gives good experience in financial information gathering/reporting. Is this true? Or can each area still give valuable information that leads to hedge fund careers?

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Hi ohhhdinky, no, I never sleep and so I can respond to any lonely threads (like this one) at all hours of the night. Impressive, I know ;-)

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Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.

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IB, ER and S&T all can lead to hedge funds exits. Contrary to what some on this forum believe, ER is an excellent training ground for finance careers, without the brutal 100 hour week grinds you get in IB. Like IB, ER doesn't make you a good investor, or give you investing skills, but gives you the baseline reps on analysis, modeling, how to find key information, attention to detail skills to develop into an investor. Lot of good posts to explore around on this site on each of the pathways/careers

 

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