Financial Adviser vs. Private Wealth and Asset Management

Guys Ive been often told that the stepping stone to IB is an internship in Wealth Management, how does that differ from the job of a financial adviser?

Also if you had to choose between the two with the ultimate aim at an IB position which one would you choose, a full time position as a financial adviser at a major firm or a wealth management internship at a boutique firm.

Thanks guys

 

the difference? FAs work in PWM or GWM. a pwm intern works under an FA. as an FA you manage client portfolios/IRAs, and you have to be licensed to do so. You don't intern as an FA, you intern under an FA.

a bb won't hire you for an FA position without any experience. Also trying to get into pwm as a stepping stone into IB is just dumb, bc FAs don't even start making real money after having years of leads piled up. PWM is completely different than IB. pwm is more marketing/sales/private banking than anything analytical.

 

Then how do you break into IB if you havent been able to score an internship while in school (im graduated now) and cant really score a IB full time position?

Whats the best stepping stone into IB then?

 
Best Response
kambojh:
Then how do you break into IB if you havent been able to score an internship while in school (im graduated now) and cant really score a IB full time position?

Whats the best stepping stone into IB then?

You need to get your MBA. Investment banking (at the junior levels) has very specific entry points, which are the undergrad and MBA recruiting channels. If you have already graduated, you have virtually no chance of getting into traditional investment banking so I would focus on getting promoted in your current role and applying to a top business school (that has a track record of sending people to investment banks).

If you are trying to be the exception, there are two other ways (though both are extremely rare): 1.) Be extremely good at what you do 20-30 years down the line and get into investment banking as a MD-level person who manages relationships with C-level executives 2.) Do something analytical and technically-rigorous like valuations work and transition to a boutique / non-standard investment bank, before jumping (again, after a few years) to a bulge bracket bank

 

I wouldn't really call pwm a stepping stone unless you can network your way into the ibd of the firm you're working for. Some of the non BB pwm firms have an ibd. It does show that you have some interests in the markets, especially if you actually get to work on some of the analytical stuff while you're interning. So it's better than doing, say, landscaping or putting security systems in houses or some other odd jobs.Try not to get a position that has you just selling the whole time if you want to do IB. Doing an internship in corp fin in industry might be another option as well as Big 4 Transaction Services or TAS groups.

 

I see, thank you for the information guys.

Suppose you hadnt graduated and you went to a non target school, that doesnt have recruiting how does one get into IB from such a situation.

I was planning on getting my CFA, soon as I am currently studying for one, and I am assuming that getting into a good MBA program makes all the difference in the world to getting a IB position or not.

What are the chances of getting a CFA independently, doing modeling work on your own and laterally transferring within a firm that also has an IB department.

 
kambojh:
I see, thank you for the information guys.

Suppose you hadnt graduated and you went to a non target school, that doesnt have recruiting how does one get into IB from such a situation.

I was planning on getting my CFA, soon as I am currently studying for one, and I am assuming that getting into a good MBA program makes all the difference in the world to getting a IB position or not.

What are the chances of getting a CFA independently, doing modeling work on your own and laterally transferring within a firm that also has an IB department.

Doing Training the Street is a plus. If you have the opportunity to do it, do it and put it on your resume. You can knock that out faster than the CFA. Talk to career services and see if they have any data on alumni already working in finance that you could network with.

 

It's all about networking at this point. Doing things like getting your CFA and learning how to model will help and give you something to talk about in your interviews to show that you are interested in IB. But getting those interviews is really going to come down to networking. Like a previous poster said, getting into IB is very tough from a non-traditional background.

As far as the difference between wealth management and FA....you say po-tay-to, I saw poe-tah-toe.

 

Quis rerum ipsam sit quo. Omnis iure amet quis unde ad laboriosam et. Autem iure eius et earum magnam vel. Et recusandae praesentium est et inventore.

Soluta aut sunt aut hic. Molestiae soluta ut provident consequuntur quidem iure. Ea explicabo iure cumque quam doloribus numquam doloremque. Soluta labore in magnam. Eligendi modi eligendi temporibus ut. Voluptas officia dolor tempora ut est reiciendis ut. Eligendi animi corrupti molestiae expedita.

Tempore repellat est sint omnis. Tempore cum dolores quidem quia quia vero. Eius sed necessitatibus ut.

Reiciendis voluptatibus tempore dolore assumenda. Animi quia aut et tempore accusantium. Ut a repudiandae voluptas rerum est qui. Excepturi molestiae nostrum qui.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (146) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
numi's picture
numi
98.8
10
Kenny_Powers_CFA's picture
Kenny_Powers_CFA
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”