Hi guys,
So I talked to a guy at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and he told me that wealth is a horrible place to start unless I already have a large network of wealthy people. He advised that I do S&T or IBD to start with and if I still want to, then move to wealth.
Now, my offer is from Morgan Stanley, which I am very happy and excited about. But I wanted to grab honest insight of Wealth Management as a starting place for a college grad. If not, I want to start looking elsewhere.
Thank you!
It's not a bad place to start, especially since it's MS and not a no-name PWM. Relatively speaking, IBD/S&T are much harder jobs to get and to work in than WM, so it's not exactly a fair comparison. WM will not be nearly as quantitative or analytical and that's the downside relative to other finance jobs. Doesn't make it bad though, you still need top-notch sales and relationship building skills. Also if you don't have any other experience or didn't major in finance or economics then doing WM and getting a CFA or CAIA is a good route.
However, if you're a finance-whiz then you'll find it a little boring at the entry-level. I've been investing my personal money for years in all asset classes - and so the lack of risk involved in generating a portfolio returning 5-7% annually (for mostly old clients) would be a turn off for me.
This is a great opportunity if you're looking to get started in the field though.
I had friend who interned there, and I hear it is a lot of cold calling and relationship maintaining. And, naturally, if you have rich friends, it helps getting clients but it is not a make or break deal.
As for your question on S&T and IBD, I know you will probably hate me for saying this, but it depends on what you want. Yes, I would say they are historically more "prestigious" roles or more quantitative. But, they are also more stressful (which sucks).
Anyways, the internship is not a FT role. Have fun and see for yourself if you like it! If not, then try to switch :)
I also agree with everything @400765" said!
Do not start in wealth management/PWM unless you are joining an established team and can build equity in the practice over time. Otherwise your chance of failure in the first 3 years is over 90%.
I also heard the the retention rate is very low :/
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