Hi all,
I am looking for advice or insights into how to get a job in finance, particularly investing and wealth management, in the following areas: private equity, asset management, investment banking and hedge funds. I am living in London and am happy to wfh or in office, and have immediate availability.
I have a 1st class honours degree in Financial Economics, and a level 6 Diploma in trading and financial markets analysis. I have a strong knowledge of the markets and over the last 5 years been trading/investing using equity, indexes, funds, fx, derivatives and commodities.
So far since the start of 2020 I have sent out many applications, messaged multiple people in the industry including recruitment agents, and tried networking. I don't hear back from almost all, and the few times I do it is a generic one-line rejection email.
How can I land a front office job?
Kind regards,
James
Through a graduate scheme, is the simple answer. But the market is pretty competitive at the moment, so be prepared. Joining a Big 4’s department like Transaction Services will set you up well for a move later on. A lot of mid-market PE funds in London look for that type of profile.
Thanks for the reply. The issue I have is that the grad schemes all start towards the end of summer 2021. And all the sales and trading roles go to the summer interns. I can't do a summer internship because I've already graduated. I'll have a look at the grad schemes but I need to land something alot sooner.
Look for Off-Cycle Programmes on institutions’ websites, like 12-month internships. Don’t underestimate LinkedIn - roles on there are genuine and I have seen a quite a few coming up for your level. Set up alerts for ‘Analyst’ positions. Cold e-mail smaller funds. Consider start-ups, don’t rule out finance roles within large companies: some commercial experience is better than no experience.
I've applied to a couple off-cycle ones, but all the good roles just go to people from top unis who got at least a 2.1 degree and straight A's at A-level. It seems I am immediately disqualified on the basis that I didn't get straight A's, or went to a top-tier uni, even though I graduated top of my uni class in financial economics.
Hi. In the US, wealth management has pretty much no direct exposure to hedge funds, PE or i-banking, except as a consumer and allocator of those products. Perhaps that’s different in London but if you were speaking to someone here and throwing all those paths together in a sentence trying to convince someone it was a role you wanted, you’d get a funny look.
Thanks for clarifying that. I understand I'd get some funny looks haha! I'm really just looking for something in IB, PE or AM.
Same in London.
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