Buyside Trader - Next Steps? Progression
In regard to FICC-related buyside trading desk roles, whether it be at AM shops or HFs, have you seen eventual progression towards PM roles? Is a path to PM viable from this seat? Are there any exits available post-role if a buyside trading seat is taken at a junior level?
I am aware that buyside trading seats provide best execution and market color. Would love any info you may have regarding career progression in such roles.
Bump
Depends on particular responsibilities you take on. If you're just an execution monkey for your PM who gives you a bunch of limit orders, unlikely to have real career growth beyond button pushing, but if you are active in portfolio management responsibilities like seeking opportunistic broad market timing, identifying relative value, etc then it can easily morph into PM role.
Thanks so much for your insight! In your personal experience, have you witnessed most junior buyside traders get stuck as merely executers? Asking as conversations I've had with certain buyside trading desks in AM seemed more so focused on solely best execution, albeit these were more senior people.
not enough sample size to give you a representative answer, but generally I would think juniors are prioritized with flexibility in responsibilities given keeping a junior around to grow talent and teach investment process from within (potentially become named PMs in 15-30 years) is far more meaningful long run in an industry with little turnover
At the risk of sounding harsh, if you have to ask this, you likely won’t make it without a mentality shift. This general question seems to come up all the time on this forum, and if it’s a specified question, maybe you can get some good advice.
If you want to make it, change your entire mentality. Don’t focus on execution or risk tools, dashboards, etc. your goal is to do everything you can to learn and understand how whoever is running the risk approaches their decision making process. That’s step 1, and to do step 1 right, before you ask your boss a question, go through every avenue possible to arrive at an answer, before you ask. Frame your questions in a way that shows you understand.
Step 2 is just grind/hustle/scrap. That’s cliche, so more specifics would be to turn over every stone, start finding minor additional alphas, look for ways to make small but incremental value adds. W AI and data so available, anyone with enough determination can find a way to make an impact
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