Looking down the road...
Long story short: I have always been interested in a market-facing job, specifically S&T.
But with the S&T side of the business continuing to contract and facing increased regulations, I don't think entering out of undergrad would be a smart move in this economic climate.
Therefore, I am beginning to lean more towards going into IBD out of undergrad and then hopefully on to a hedge fund/investment management with the skills developed as an analyst.
What do you guys think of this plan?
I hate to take a round-about way to get to the market-facing job that I enjoy, but I am beginning to think this is the best move considering the marketable skill set from IBD.
Note: I may have a bias given that I am a former banker. I have many friends on both the banking and trading side.
I think your plan is on the right track. Yes, there are significant questions about the continuing shape and form of trading desks at major banks. If your simplified question is whether you have a better shot of entering the hedge fund / investment management business from the IBD side, the answer is yes.
S&T is a much better lifestyle, and my friends in S&T generally enjoy their jobs a lot more than the bankers. But they rarely get calls from headhunters, and seem to struggle to place on the buyside, even with trading oriented funds, relative to my colleagues in banking. This is my observation.
My observations apply to analyst-level roles, by the way. Associates in IBD seem to have relatively poor exit options compared to analysts.
If you're interested in HF/IM then consider applying to mutual funds out of undergrad as well (if they recruit at your school). These opportunities are not as common as IBD though. Either way, I would say that IBD gives you a more transferrable skill set that can be leveraged on the buyside (in general) than S&T. It also depends largely on what type of strategies you're interested in, as global macro draws more from the S&T crowd. Value/distressed will draw more from IBD.
check out research roles..not just at banks, but blackrock, insurance companies like metlife..
Thanks for the advice guys. I have looked into BlackRock's PMG summer analyst program. Do you guys have any info about that program? Any advice on preparing for the interviews for it?
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