Here's how they made it to front office up in Canada
Given the fact that I come from extreme non-target up in Canada I decided to start networking and getting to know the finance community proactively. I met plenty of people in all types of roles and industries imaginable. By using LinkedIn and personal conversations to find out more about their early career paths I was able to create a spreadsheet to try to see if they have anything in common. I excluded people who made it to front office through family connections and those who are very old because it's too difficult to pinpoint their beginnings back in the 60's or 70's.
Quick reference sheet:
"Buy side" includes institutional investors like pension funds, insurance companies, asset managers, hedge funds and private equity firms
"Sell side" includes investment banks and brokerages
Sample size:
- 12 people (aged between 30-60)
Undergrad: 6 went to target schools, 4 went to non-targets, 2 studied abroad
Degree: almost everyone studied business, finance, accounting or economics, except one who studied engineering
Graduate degree: half of them have a graduate degree (MBA or Master's)
Designations: every one of them has their CFA®, a couple are CPA's, one is a CAIA and one is a CMT
Where they are now:
* 6 in buy side portfolio management
* 2 in buy side research
* 2 in buy side sales
* 1 in sell side S&T * 1 in corporate banking
How they started:
* 2 in audit
* 2 in sell side middle office (risk management)
* 2 in sell side S&T * 2 in buy side research
* 1 in sell side research
* 1 in buy side sales
* 1 in commercial banking
* 1 in sell side back office
As you can see there's no single path to front office as WSO might have you believe. A lot of people I met are still in BO or MO roles. There are more folks in FO but I don't have enough information about them so I did not include them.
I’m not sure what the point of this post is. And yes, there are many people who move to the buyside without an ib, er stint, or a target school pedigree. But is this not common knowledge? If you show passion and competence, getting a job in investments isn’t impossible.
Exactly. Personally I have never been interested in IB but when I started reading WSO it made it seem like IB was the only way to go. Now that I think of all the people I met I can't quite comprehend what the obsession with IB is all about.
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