Avoid pitching "unethical" stocks in stock interview?
Thoughts on pitching prisons / firearm manufacturers / tobacco / etc during a job interview? Assume a good pitch, but worried about the risk of looking like "we don't want to hire a guy who pitched us prisons"
The way I see it as an analyst, my job is to pitch my PM companies that have favorable characteristics and are trading at a valuation that would warrant us building a position in it. From there it is up to my PM to make the decision regarding the ethics or morals of the companies we buy.
Unless you genuinely believe this to be an all time great trade, why take the risk?
Unless the fund has a public ESG stance or something I don't think it really matters. PMs want good ideas - period.
Maybe take a flip through the ADV part 2 (which you should do anyways every time before an interview) and see if they talk about ESG frameworks or anything like that where - if it is part of their strategy, obviously don't pitch it. Otherwise I don't think it matters. What does matter is the risk of that company being in that line of work - almost always will be some regulatory risk or ESG discount, and it is your job to understand what is being priced into the stock because of that. If anything, highlighting the "unethical" issues are a good thing
It's risky. Prisons and particularly firearms are sensitive topics, and if the PM is politically liberal, he might hate the idea or make assumptions about your political leanings or about you as a person.
It's a not-immaterial risk that I would not take, considering there are thousands of uncontroversial stocks out there.
It is an interesting point that, perhaps even pitching the stock says something about the applicant's risk profile, whether well received or not well received
I would listen to MMPM rather than me.
I thought it wouldn't be that big of an issue as we invest in a tobacco co, and at the end of the day as long as we are quantifying risks, it is fine, but it makes sense its not worth letting politics become an issue in an interview setting.
Valid question. As a PM, I would like to counter your question with a question: With all of the uncontroversial stocks out there, why pitch something that may be considered controversial for some? Don't take the risk, pitch something where the narrative is not in the numbers or a company the market completely misunderstood. That would impress me more than a candidate saying "We're heading for a recession -> more crime -> higher earnings for prison stocks -> stock goes up."
I would much prefer a candidate walking me through the unit economics of a beverage company (for example) and quantifying exactly why/how the target company in question will achieve scale and take market share from competitors. If the target co. manages to do so, what would their valuation look like? etc. etc.
hope this helps.
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