Quant Seeking Advice for Moving to Buyside

Hi WSO,  a little background of myself. I graduated from a nontarget but was accepted to a top tier master of financial engineering program and now i am working as a capital market quant(front office/middle office) in a bottom BB(think RBC, WF), I also have a military service background which makes me a very unconventional quant in my firm (my average coworkers are of STEM phd background). I believe my foundation for acedemics is not as strong as my coworkers but is enough for the job, I'm also a quick learner. I represented my undergrad+master school to compete in multiple large trading competitions(manual trading +algo trading, I love designing trading algos) and placed very well.

I really want to break into trading shops(SIG/IMC/Jump) or quant hedge fund(Citadel/Point72) in my future career. Given my background I mentioned above, should I first work couple years at my current firm, then exit to a front office quant position in a top BB(BAML above) then finally go for buyside firms?  Or I can get myself to a front desk position, work for couple years then apply directly for buyside?  Any advice is appreciated!

8 Comments
 

Not a helpful advice but would suggest don't call UBS/WF/RBC/DB a BB on this forum as their status is being evaluated by a group of professional college students on a weekly basis, same logic applies to JEF.

 

Sequi qui impedit et reprehenderit deleniti error. Sed voluptatum reprehenderit quasi tenetur enim repudiandae quae. Fuga rerum animi aut corporis et libero. Eveniet quibusdam in occaecati illum nulla ut et nobis. Tenetur aut pariatur sequi nulla et illo. Deserunt fuga soluta ipsam blanditiis et ullam.

Tenetur iusto nisi neque dolores repellat. Nulla quod impedit autem sunt ut accusantium est.

Ab omnis consequuntur ratione neque. Maxime consequatur qui aut alias corporis. Occaecati possimus perferendis et aut est quis. Totam aut ullam unde placeat.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”