Transitioning from a very small firm to a larger, more prestigious one?
I am currently working at a very small firm and would like to evaluate my prospects with the help of other, better informed perspectives. Any input would be greatly appreciated but be warned, life story incoming! So, I graduated from a decent state school (top40) with a major in Biochemistry and was extremely lucky to have landed the position that I did at a very small quantshop (less than 10 people). Starting off as the tech guy, I’ve managed to impress my boss enough to transition into a management type role where I guide the development of our proprietary R&D software and handle off-the-cuff analyses. Recently, I’ve also started pursuing a M.S. Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins, part-time, and am looking to get some lettered designations thereafter. My plan is to finish the masters at age 24, have CFA at age 26 and FRM at age 28. By then, I plan to have also created my own trading strategy at the firm and put it into production. My current title is Director of Financial Technology but I’m looking to be CFO with a few “Director of ___” subtitles. At a small firm like ours, it isn’t like the titles really matter with respect to internal dynamics anyways. I think the path forward is fairly well defined with respect to the immediate future but I am concerned about my longer term prospects.
For one, we are a very small firm without prestige handling between 200mm and 300mm in assets. I am also working from home as we use a virtual office model to coordinate an international team; this effectively means I am living at home with my parents with limited opportunity to network. I figure I can always attend formal events to network but it feels a little forced as compared to the social capital that can be earned through a corporate office. Anyways, I wanted to highlight this point not as any kind of excuse but to paint a more complete picture and note that I might be a little … off relative to standard Street culture, kind of like the weird kid who was home schooled in the country side.
So, what do you think my prospects would be at say … age 32? By then, I’ll have 10 years of experience from back-office to front-desk under my belt and a 5 year track record in a quantitative program. I don’t think I will be able to transfer laterally but I definitely do not want to start over. My goal is to be able to get a mid/high-level front-desk job at a larger, more prestigious wealth management firm or really any buy-side institution. Any input, advice, opinion or nasty comment would be greatly appreciated.
