MS PWM -> MS S&T?

I'm a current full time employee working in financial services (but not a bank) who graduated from undergrad a year ago. I was able to secure a FT offer from MS PWM (not in a financial advisor role) and was wondering about the possibility of a lateral transfer to institutional sales after 1-2 years. I know MS IM and IBD look down on PWM, but there seem to be a lot of transferable skills to sales.

I know most people on this site still have the college recruiting cycle available to them, but with that no longer an option, is this a way to break into S&T?

6 Comments
 

Congrats on the pwm job! It's not impossible to switch from PWM at MS to institutional sales at MS but it is pretty hard. Are you in the 1585 Broadway headquarters its possible to interact and network with the institutional desks. If you are in a branch office or not in NY it'll be harder to interact and network with those desks. MS has middle market/wealth management sales and trading desks. They sell stocks and bonds to MS financial advisors and other wealth management firms. You could try to pursue a role in this group.

 

I'd talk to a lot of people before making this move. At most firms, sales of firm assets to firm advisors (called "inside sales") is a much lower paying, less attractive gig than managing assets or institutional sales. Good work life balance but the work is really calling x amount of advisors per day and informing them of what changes are on the platform, what new products are available, etc. Topics tend to be high level and repetitive i.e. "should we use passive or active funds". The advisors you're dealing with are not typically all that sophisticated. Some people like this, it can still be a six figure job and it's easier, you don't have to be as on top of things. But for context, a lot of those folks would rather be in PWM or in institutional sales but didn't make the cut.

 

Can BreakingOutOfPWM comment?

I think with a solid 2-3 years of work experience, good GMAT, good/top business program you are able to get in. This is what I have gathered from reading on here. Oh, reach out to your alumni network!

 

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