Principal Side -> Brokerage?

I've worked as an analyst for an owner/operator for a couple years now and am looking to make a move. While I don't necessarily dislike the work I am doing in my current role, I have started to become bothered by the fact that there is not an "eat what you kill" aspect of my comp structure and am confident that I would be many years away from participating in any upside at my current firm.

Would I be foolish to pursue a job as a broker (assuming I landed with a strong firm/team)? I know that there are plenty of kids who work as analysts at the big name brokerage firms and then move into an actual client facing role but it's not very often that I hear of people in their 20's leaving the ownership side to pursue investment sales so I would be curious to hear from anyone who has done it.

4 Comments
 

The best decision I ever made was being a full-time capital markets broker at 19. You would laugh at the $1.6 Million and the $3million loan I was struggling to close back then but 7 years later all we do is institutional-sized deals. It's funny looking back at my post 5 years ago and think that we are actually closing BFDs  https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/100m-deals-co-broke 

 

I know of people making the jump from buyside to sell-side. I think this move is much more common than most would think. Because you have seen the principal side of the business you know what they look for, which helps tremendously in a brokerage/advisory role. Also your connections at a buyside shop could help you  potentially set yourself up with a strong account of your former shop. 

 

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