Is IB Still A Good Place To Start A Career, If One's Career Goals Are AM Or Trading?

Eventually, I think I want to be a portfolio manager (and probably fixed income instead of equities) or potentially a trader. I've always just assumed that starting my career in IB didn't make much sense, because I figured the couple years of training as an analyst would not be particularly relevant for these careers. Am I right? Or is 2 years at an IB still a good option?

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Best Response

Generally, you are correct. Although IB does give a decent skill set for some different strategies (Merger Arb, Value investing, Credit trading (if you are in DCM or get a lot of exposure to debt during your analyst stint)).

In the end, it's a FO job so transfering within the bank is not out of the question and it can set you up with B-school if you need to get into another recruiting cycle

Perhaps it is the computer age, but people today (including myself at times) never look more than 6 months into the future and take into account, that what you do today does not mean you will be stuck doing it for the rest of your life.

"Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
 

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--Death, lighter than a feather; duty, heavier than a mountain

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