Is SS ER a great path to investing?

Hey everyone, I know that buy-side ER is generally considered better training to become an investor, but it’s also much harder to break into, especially as a recent graduate. For someone passionate about equities and public markets, would starting in sell-side ER (combined with personal study) be a strong path to become good at evaluating companies/stock picking?

17 Comments
 

I dont know, this is why i asked. I read on WSO that ER (SS) is a completely different world from BS ER, so i figured that probably it is not optimal if i want to learn how to pick stocks. But again i dont know this is why i am asking

 

You’re asking if one of the most popular pathways into LO asset management and L/S hedge funds is a good path to end up into those roles?

I usually try to be helpful but given your post history and this I don’t really know what else to say 

 

I probably did not write the post properly, i ve corrected it. I know you can get into HF from ER, but what i am trying to understand is if SSER is a good path to learn stock picking and valuing companies if i want to invest. I read that SSER is a completely different world from BSER so probably it is not ideal, but idk.

 

It’s not the same, analyst dependent what your day to day will look like but it’s a materially different job. 

A lot of overlap for sure, and definitely the closest thing to it without actually being the same thing, but the ability to pick stocks and run money isn’t being explicitly drilled into you in SSER the same way it will be when you’re in the seat

 

So the analysis is the same/very similar but one has to take an investment decision, the other one does not, correct?

If i understood correctly then maybe SSER is fine, i just want to get good at analyzing companies on my own to find investment opportunities for my money and i think that working at a very related job is a good way to learn it.

 
Most Helpful

Some of the analysis is very similar, you’ll be looking at a lot of the same things, but how granular you get, the quality of data you’re using to form opinions, the channel checks/expert calls you can do etc will be different. Given a lot of buyside work is doing stuff sellsiders won’t be doing, and vice versa (client calls, data compilers/sheets, bespoke client requests, process work) means the actual day to day can differ substantially. This depends on your analyst and what they’re trying to solve for though.

When you are actually ramping on a stock and maintaining coverage, there’s probably 70% overlap or so in terms of what you’re doing. The bigger question is how often will you be doing this as a junior sellsider.

 

Please stop embarrassing yourself and your country before your career even begins, esply when you are using your real name. 

 

Absolutely hate your comment, fortunately other people actually helped me.

The only good thing is that i did not notice i was using my name, thanks for that i guess

 

I am not rlly understanding all the hate this is a good question. SS ER is arguably the closest you’ll get to BS ER compared to all other paths but it has some real drawbacks also as I’m sure you can find by reading. A lot depends on who you work for and their client type. Some analyst are known for their model and others are for their deep knowledge on names so it all depends. That said, you will definitely be pinged by MM over time and you will need to make the most of your chances when you interview. You can wreck your image with BD by performing poorly and getting bad reviews so be prepared when you say yes to an interview.

Good luck !

 

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