Buy-side position going to top-tier MBA

I'm a recent graduate with an Electrical engineering undergrad degree from Rensselaer polytechnic Inst. and a Master of Finance from Uni of San francisco with a 710 GMAT.

I just landed a Research analyst position at a buy-side mutual fund. Since i'd ultimately like to be a portfolio manager at buy-side hedge fund. Is it better to go to top-tier MBA then come back to the industry or just climb up the ladder in buy-side and be promoted ? I know ibanking in sell-side is generally preferred by top 10 bschools, but is a buy-side position with 3-4 year experience gonne put me with a big disadvantage compared to those BB candidates ? I wanna go to bschool to strengthen my "soft" skills as well as networking with more ppl in the field. But, does going to Bschool really matter that much for a career in the buy-side world ? I heard ppl say some ppl got direct promot straight up PM position in buy-side, but is that just an exception or more of a traditional route ?

Basically i want to know the liklihood of getting into a top10 MBA from a buy-side mutual fund position. Thanks.

6 Comments
 

Only thing i would think of is....if u dont like banking....why would you go into PE?? Its the same long hours (if not more), and same workload (if not more)...and there is a higher level of responsibility because you are actually accountable to clients..so you CANNOT mess up...so idk id prob go with a top 15 MC firm jus so you learn how companies operate and can break away from the financial models...buts that just me...

Also some MC firms have PE consulting arms..id HIGHLY recommend that

 
Best Response
ibdafuture257Only thing i would think of is....if u dont like banking....why would you go into PE?? Its the same long hours (if not more), and same workload (if not more)...and there is a higher level of responsibility because you are actually accountable to clients..so you CANNOT mess up...so idk id prob go with a top 15 MC firm jus so you learn how companies operate and can break away from the financial models...buts that just me...

Also some MC firms have PE consulting arms..id HIGHLY recommend that

This comment is COMPLETELY wrong. Hours in PE are lower than I-Banking and the quality of the work on average is much higher.

This whole notion of clients is ridiculous, who are these so called clients?. You cannot mess up because it's your fund's money on the line, not because there is a "client" you are answerable to.

If you want to work on the buy-side at some point I'd definitely give it a shot now; it's much harder to break into the buy-side post MBA with no buy-side experience (not impossible though)

 

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