As an MBA without previous ER experience, would it be better to shoot for a position on the sell side or buy side, in terms of salary progression and work/life. I'd like to see my career progress towards a PM role. I'd particularly like to hear from post MBA associates without previous ER experience, but all recommendations are welcome. As an aside, is the transition from sell side to Asset Management more difficult compared to going from buy side to asset management.
Thanks guys
As someone less than 1 year out of UG take what I have with a grain of salt, but my years of reading WSO & networking have shown that buyside moves post B-school are considerably more difficult, up until you get very senior (SVP-MD in Research).
I've also seen the more traditional asset managers (Fidelity, Putnam, MFS) be more accepting of MBA-level associates without previous ER/CR experience, especially if you have experience in the industry you'd be covering. If you're a first year, I'd think your best bet would be to try and get a during the year internship in ER at a sell-side or buyside shop, shoot for summer associate roles at buyside shops, then take it from there. Conversely, if you're only able to land a summer associate position in sell-side ER, leverage the offer into a FT buyside role.
Thank you PaulAllen, your advice is very helpful.
Asset Management is buy side... not sure what you are talking about there. Those AM gigs out of MBA are exceedingly difficult to get (they recruit early and take the best candidates) but obviously are a good option. But plenty of post-MBA sell side ER associates move to the buy side. Certain firms are more known for this than others (Bernstein for one) but it's possible from anywhere.
Just look at analyst postings on any recruiting firm's site. Half of them will say "x years of buy side or sell side research experience". Some firms prefer sell-side candidates because they want to teach you their investing method/philosophy. It's probably easier to make buy-side to buy-side transitions than sell-side to buy-side, but it's not a cake walk from anywhere.
Thanks nutella. You're right- Asset Management is buy side. I was referring to sell side vs. buy side at the associate level and the difficulty of breaking into a PM position down the road coming from either side. Good info.
In addition to my original question, is it absolutely crucial to get an ER internship after 1st year in order to be looked at for full time?
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