23 Exec. Assist. to a CEO: How can I leverage this experience to benefit my future career interest of being a wealth manager?

I am a finance student who works as a remote assistant to a VC CEO.

A little background about me:

I really do not know much about careers in finance. I come from a very humble background with little to no knowledge/support in anything finance-related.

One day, my best friend, who was an accountancy student, was helping me pick my new course to shift to at my university of choice. Upon checking the available courses being taught at my uni of choice + doing some Google searches, we settled that financial management sounds like a good option. So I went and enrolled for it, and I do not regret it. 

But again, I did not know much about the opportunities and the industries. My knowledge of careers in the finance industry was minimal. But then, someone asked me, "What career do you plan on pursuing after graduating?" -- I just answered "wealth management" out of the blue. At that time, I did not even know it was an actual career. I did not even think much about it, but somehow it has always been at the back of my mind since. Do I know what they do? No. Do I know how much they work? No. Do I know anyone who works in that line of career? No. 

Fast forward to now, I got this EA job. It has been so interesting seeing how my exec communicates with the people he works with and targets to work with. I am able to get a good picture of what an actual high finance professionals' work/life looks like. I am realizing a lot of things regarding how things work--how relationships benefit business and why it is important to be diplomatic despite differences. It has been very interesting too to see actual numbers of actual companies--much more interesting than solving Company ABC's theoretical problems. I was so thrilled to be able to see how a 9-figure firm works. From where I am at, I am learning a lot of new things while at the same time, I am able to observe what can be improved from a management viewpoint. 

Yesterday, I saw a WSO discussion thread shared on my Facebook feed about finance careers such as being in investment banking and wealth management aka private banking. That is basically how I got here. From the little that I read, it seems the demands of being in investment banking are almost the same as the demands of being in private equity where people work loooooong hours, being on almost 24/7. Meanwhile, wealth management is hard work at hustling at first, but it gets lighter down the road. Although the rewards in WM do not seem to be as lucrative as in IB and PE, I think it will fit my lifestyle and long-term goals better. Also, I like the idea of being good at taxes and asset management (which I can use for myself) and then using it to provide value to my connections. Now, the question is: how do I leverage my current role to benefit my possible shift to wealth management?

1 Comments
 

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