starting as an Associate in equity Reaearch!
is it possible to start as an Equity research associate if you have the CFA level 2 exam and barely any experience? or do you still have to do 2-3 years as an analyst?
Hi Fabrice.Valentin, any of these discussions helpful:
Fingers crossed that one of those helps you.
ER is flipped, so Associates work for Analysts. Zero chance you'd even get an interview for a Research Analyst role with no experience and CFA L2. You'd be looking for associate roles, and even then you'd face some tough competition.
Also, I think 2-3 years from associate to analyst is fairly ambitious unless you're a star, and even then you'd likely not be offered the best coverage.
Just my $0.02.
so how long do you think it will take to even becoming an associate? assuming entry level with 0 experience
I passed L1 of CFA and had 2 years of middle office experience at a BB, and I had a very hard time finding a research role. I ended up finding a role covering the bank sector which I attribute to being able to frame my prior experience as sector knowledge (kind of BS but regardless).
I'm going to refer to the ER hierarchy in terms of standard bank progression (analyst, associate, VP, ED, MD).
It won't be easy for you with zero experience, but depending on what industry you work in you might be able to transition to covering the sector you work in now. You would be able to spin that story.
Regarding your question about coming in at the associate level, probably wont happen. I came in as a 2nd year analyst and made associate in 1.5 years.
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