Freshman Internship 2020 - IB at Small Firm vs. Asset Management?
Hi monkeys,
As a Canadian student at a semi-target university (Queens/Ivey/McGill), should I aim for a freshman internship at a really small investment bank (8-10 employees total) or an asset management internship? One of the bankers at the tiny investment boutique/advisory is one of my family friends, but before asking about any potential opportunities I wanted to make sure that an investment banking freshman internship (regardless of size/aum/prestige of the firm) as work experience would look better than asset management when applying for sophomore/junior/senior interviews at more renowned and larger banks.
Does a freshman year investment banking internship look good regardless of the size/prestige of the firm? Would it look better to interviewers and give me a competitive edge during soph/junior/senior year recruiting? Thanks!
Depends on the size of the asset management company and your role there. Are you going to be doing something like equity research? Is it a well-known company? What’s the AUM?
If the asset management company is small and unknown, You should do The IB one. If it’s a known brand and you will have a meaningful role, you should go for the asset management internship.
Thanks - Sorry if I was misleading in the post, I haven't received offers or recruited for either yet. I just didn't want to leverage connections and ask for a role at a small investment advisory before knowing 100% that it would be better than an asset management internship.
As a Canadian freshman, I'm not really sure if I'd be able to get many offers at asset management companies (or the difficulty of getting these internships without insider connections). Which asset management companies internships are typical/have a history of hiring Canadian freshmen? Should I try recruiting for equity research over the investment banking internship?
Also, what would my chances be (3.8-3.9 GPA) of getting a first year equity research internship at a well-known + good AUM asset management firm? Also would appreciate it if fellow Canadians could drop some companies that have historically hired freshmen :)
Search up "Finance Recruiting Guide - QFAC" - its a bit outdated, but provides a guideline on the recruitment process for Canada and the US.
IB > Asset Management, always.
I would say go with the asset management internship if you have a chance (assuming decent AUM) and use that to get a reputable MM IB internship in your sophomore year as opposed to a tiny company that nobody's ever heard of. IB is not always > AM regardless of what that other comment says.
Ah okay, thank you! I'm not sure how to find the AUM of the advisory, but it recently advised on deals varying from $1MM-15MM (so I'm guessing LMM?). Given this, would it still be better to seek a freshman internship in asset management? Additionally, do you have any tips for freshman summer recruiting?
Look at their deal flow and check out their tombstones - you can probably find this out through your family friend if they don't have it on their website. If their deal flow sucks then obviously target other firms before you apply there - use this company as a last resort since you know that you can get in if you desperately need something and the summer is fast approaching.
Go for either AM or small PE shop. You won't get a Big 5 freshman as they look to fill analyst class
Any tips on how to secure AM or PE as a freshman?
Network. Theres some small PE hops that take like 5-6 interns a year. I think IWC & Co or something like that is one.
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