So I have been working for a little more than 6 months at a BB IT in the BO. I want to do ER but dont know how to approach ER analyts/associates at my BB. I dont want to seem rude or raise any flags within my team.
Can anyone advise me what approach should I take to get their attention and then try to switch?
I also passed CFA L1 (would L1 be enough or do I need atleast L2 to get ER's attention?)
BUMP
It's definitely possible.
I think you need to be there for at least a year for this to work.
Politically, it's best approaching a group that doesn't have a lot of direct contact with the group you are currently working for. If you rotated out of a past group, and the research people you worked with there liked you, that works well. It's just that it's bad politics to steal people from the IT group that supports you.
Is there a reason it needs to be ER? To be honest, quant research or portfolio research is going to be a much more natural transition for a smart developer.
My Experience:
2 years as developer in credit quant analytics. Got taken over by a bank that didn't "get" analytics; redesignated IT. Then two years in Options S&T.
So yes, it's definitely possible to move into research, but why would you want to? Your programming ability is a quickly appreciating asset with a much higher multiple in terms of its value than your income as a finance side person would carry. The Java, C++, or Python skill carries massive optionality, and salaries for good developers have gone up significantly over the past few years.
I say find a role- like maybe being a portfolio analyst or a desk strat- where you need a CS undergrad to do the job and you program every day for your work- but you also work with finance. There are FO jobs out there that preserve your technical skill, work on finance problems, and let you give the firm a competitive advantage, but you have to look carefully for them and they can be very competitive.
Do a good job, get good reviews, and develop a reputation with the FO for competence, and the transition will be natural- except you can't transition directly from ER IT to ER. It would have to be Fixed Income IT to ER or ER IT to Equity Sales and Trading. Something where maybe you know people in that group, but they're not stealing you from a group they need to work with every day.
I tried doing the same from my BO role at a BB. Networked w a guy from muni ibanking that supported/worked with (Had a wide net as we'd be involved in the cash perspective for ECM/DCM/what have you). Anyways, this guy previously worked in ER and gave me some contacts.
All in all they told me to sit for level I (apparently its almost an unspoken agreement for anyone in ER at least at the jr level), know an industry inside out, and develop a two page summary for a security that outlines top line/bottom line growth, porters five forces, and catalysts. This sounded like a lot of work; it is if you're not truly passionate about ER.
The ER personality is very different/intellectual and while there obviously is some ego, people are generally very nice plus being internal is definitely an advantage.
At ut laudantium quas dolorem. Consequuntur non tenetur accusamus beatae. Molestias iusto et delectus numquam vel et quisquam quis. Et libero ipsum illo nemo sed quos.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...