is it true that BB PWM >> no-name IBD/HF/other FO role for SA recruiting?

gGeck0:

To answer your question...

It pulls weight in 2 cases. Here you go:

PWM carries weight for non-IB front office jobs (BB S&T, PWM, etc.) or intra-firm (same firm sophomore and junior summers). Otherwise, it doesn't.

For example, if you do Morgan Stanley PWM sophomore summer in order to get GS IB Junior summer, it won't help you at all. A wasted summer - you should've done what you did, get no-name IB experience. You made the smart move. If you do MS PWM for GS S&T, that could work. I've had friends successfully pull that off.

However if you do Goldman PWM to get Goldman IB the next year, that's a smart move. You can network within the company easily, you know people, and the people you'll network with will know people too, and they might be able to pull some weight when intern-recruiting and later offer season comes around. I have one friend who's working there now because of this.

Shit I wonder if this happens often... thanks for the post though. It's interesting to hear that PWM could lead to S&T

Depends... if you're working at a regional branch doing PWM, it might not be that great, but if you get in a top PWM Group in a central office, you're superiors are bound to know some bankers. If you impress them enough, they should be willing to go to bat to keep you at the firm. Keeping that in mind, I was the top intern in a BB financial services group (non private wealth) and my bosses were unable to get me a spot in the banking class. This could be due to the fact that they did not start making calls for me until recruiting was completed, or because I turned down an offer for their group. Nevertheless, if you don't have many choices, take a PWM internship. Make the most of your time, and leverage the firm and experience to get into banking the following summer.

how easy is it within one of the larger banks to transfer from a summer in PWM to another division?

it can be easy but it seems like its all about networking. Do well, get your bosses to like you, and you got a shot.

i actually did that exact same thing. the summer after sophomore year, interned at merrill lynch PWM (before it was acquired by BofA). next summer came (last year) and because of the shitty economy, couldnt land an IBD internship (got a great one regardless at a major corporation). then used those experiences to land a full time job in banking. firms arent necessarily looking for IBD experiences (tho that is nice); theyre looking for any valuable experience you can talk about and relate the skillset over to banking. PWM sophomore year is a good way to not only show interest in the financial markets, but it gives you something to talk about in interviews. not to mention, it can greatly broaden your network (for example, while i was at merrill i occasionally met with fund wholesellers, some of whom ASKED for me to send then my resume.. great connections!).

i guess in conclusion, for a sophomore year internship, this is definitely a good thing to have.

Yeah, I second that. It might not be ideal, but you are absolutely going to want to have some solid internship experience. Look at it as a chance to network and meet people within a firm that you might be interested in working, albeit in a different function (ideally).

I was in your same situation my sophmore summer.

Honestly, just the name of the BB that you're currently working at will help you get your foot in the door for next summer's recruiting. Any work you can do using Excel would be helpful - the more you know the better you will look next summer when you're on the job. I also made sure I networked well at the BB I was currently working for. Those networking contacts will help you get a job at the current BB next summer. Even if you don't want the job at the same BB next summer, you will be better able to get it, and use it to help you should your target firm be on the fence come offer time.

Basically, network as best you can and try to pick up the skills of the trade (excel and modeling, although if you're aiming for S&T, modeling is not essential). Pick a target firm or two for next year, and make contacts/network with their executives/analysts/whoever. The earlier you start, the better.

i hear that all that matters is the brand name of the BB, eventhough all u did is get coffee and cold call...so apparently that mean BB PWM on resume >> no-name HF/IBD/other front office role (for SA recruiting)...

Any other input at all? I'm just looking for ONE thing to focus on for the remainder of my time that would be impressive/helpful come recruiting season

Check your private message inbox. Im in the same boat

you are a sophomore. any relevant internship is good, especially at a BB. relax, learn a lot, and network network network for next yr.

as a sophomore it should help

People do seem to bash PWM internships pretty hard but everyone here is also overly critical in general. My PWM experience was a good one and I was able to leverage it to S&T. The internship is definitely worth the time if its all you have.

PWM is good because of the access to senior people you'll get.

Be sure to learn about other roles in the bank and to connect with your school alums - that way when next year comes around you can reconnect with them for front office roles in IBD or S&T, what have you.

Good luck

Breaking Bankers http://chasingconsultantsbreakingbankers.blogspot.com/

does anyone know ML's drug testing policy for PWM local branches? There has been no mention of it yet and I start in a week or so

No, you don't get drug tested if you work for ML's local PWM branch.

No drug test

so get as high as you like this week

i think HR's drug policy changes from year to year so i would still be careful. who knows if they decide to test this year when they have not in the past...

PWM, even within the BBs vary widely. My family is a client with a number of the different formerly elite firms, so I can give a decent explanation of what I have seen. Some offices are very much connected to the home base(may be located in or nearby an actual IB office), they tend to deal with bank employees' money. i.e. they will handle accounts of associates, VPs, MDs. Depending on the bank and department, you will need to have your PA through the bank's brokerage for monitoring purposes. When I was working at Bear and Scotia, that was the case, not so at my current employer. Depending on the account holder's knowledge, the FA will function as anything from a trade executor to a full service adviser encompassing asset allocation, fund recommendations, etc. These also serve to help place employees in internal funds (bank-owned HF and PE). These offices will also deal with select other client, usually HNW and UHNW. Then there are what is called a "regional office" on this site. This is not necessarily in the middle of nowhere, plenty exist in NYC especially for MER, UBS, and Smith Barney. These really range from legit full service offices that cater to the HNW and UHNW including financial planning. They use legit asset allocation techniques and financial analyses to help their clients achieve superior returns. The experience one can gain at one of these offices is legit, and many former bankers and traders end up in these types of positions. A third type of office serves the middle class. These offices are in the suburbs, retail bank branches, etc. They also use the MER, UBS, and Smith Barney name, but they tend to use less sophisticated techniques, because there is less upside to doing well for the client (other than keeping the client to churn the account). These offices are really a volume business as they make money mostly on commissions, and they tend to hire lots of interns and other unqualified people to cold call mom and pop to sell a specific mutual fund, or to try to setup an initial meeting. There is little to actually be learned in this type of an office which is relevant to "high finance", and it is unlikely you will make any connections to further that goal. However, if you are a freshman or sophomore, you will impress your friends (whatever that's worth), and it will show initiative that you were at least thinking about finance while your friends were not. To conclude, not all BB offices are created equally. Some shit on all PWM, those people don't know what they're talking about. The real PWM offices are extremely profitable and lucrative to the lead advisers there.