What realities should I know about the MC and/or PWM industry?
Hi guys.
I’m an older year student (ex- Law student) in a more creative degree but am looking to do a second major in Finance or wealth management. I’m looking to find out what the realities are of MC and PWM. I’m not a math based person but I’m very ambitious and hardworking. Since thinking critically is a strong skill set of mine (was a Law student before I decided that wasn’t the route for me), I enjoy people facing and problem solving (minus strictly math based problems) and hence MC and PWM seem like attractive careers for me. I want to ask
- what habits should I build for either of these fields?
- what are the realities of these fields for top tier companies such as McKinsey/Accenture or JP/Morgan Stanley/OW etc.
- what skills should I build now?
- what is the life of a first year for either of these jobs going to be like?
Thank you so much.
PS. I’m not based in the US but in a major financial city elsewhere with unlimited options for finance related jobs.
These are two VERY different careers. It's a bit odd you've lumped the two together, as they attract very different sort of people.
PWM is all about building up a book of private client business - and that means being able to find HNWs and win their trust and business. There is big stress to gather these assets, and it's a rough eat-what-you-kill environment. The banks don't keep you around unless you can grow your pool of assets under management and start generating fees. The people who go into PWM are generally excellent networkers, with high EQ and a sales-minded personality. There is usually minimal cerebral work - that sort of analysis is done by specialists in the bank. The work is fairly interpersonally challenging but not as geared to problem solving It attracts salespeople and relationship people first and foremost.
Management consulting is like 'engineering for business'. It attracts cerebral people - people who love to solve problems - usually engineers or similar. You are going to be doing a lot of analytical work, and much of it IS math-based, so your aversion to math is not going to fit here. For years, you will be in the trenches analyzing / solving a diverse set of client problems. Later salesmanship and rainmaking become important as you rise up the ranks. There is certainly a people-oriented aspect to the job, as you have to get your recommendations to land with the client. However for the most part, success in MC demands ability to think in a certain engineering kind of a way about business problems.
I would say PWM is just as much about problem solving as MC. All clients are unique and the HNW ones have many issues with tax, estate and trust planning. These skills to figure out how to solve these issues are not taught in a classroom unless you majored in financial planning making it more complex. It is a steep learning curve (and very different curve than MC and requires you to get licensed to increase your education. Designations like the CFP will help increase knowledge. I would not go work for a big bank it is too much eat what you kill. Rather, start off in a support role to get your licenses and learn the business. I would highly recommend going to a smaller, private firm where you can grow and not be pushed to make sales immediately. I am a first year and am an "associate advisor" so I get to go meet with clients but not lead the meetings, just learn. I have been offered a great opportunity to join a team of advisors at a small shop with a book everyone shares. This makes for much less competition and honestly is helpful to have people on your side when you don't know an answer. The big banks have too much red tape, management is distant, and communication is lacking that is why I am leaving for the new position.
MC is probably a more prestigious career with guaranteed higher salaries, but if you make it in PWM you can have a very nice 8-5 life and make a lot of money as well it just isn't a sure thing.
Here are some realities of MC you won't read about online:
The travel starts sucking after about 4 months. 6am flights are no fun, especially if you're flying to Fuckingnowhereville for some F500 company
You will get fat. Not sure if this is a compensation mechanism for the shitty 6am flights, but you will start expensing everything you eat. And since you won't feel guilty about it, you'll want to expense more and eat more etc. Vicious cycle.
Surprisingly, a lot of clients are total fuckwits. How they got to the c-suite of F500s and F100 is beyond me, but you will understand that many are pretty dumb
You will not be visiting any cool city. "Oh wow, I got staffed on a project in Paris". Nah mate. You're going to a peanut factory on the edge of Paris' ring-road. You better catch a good glimpse of the city as you land at CDG because that's all you'll see.
You'll become a master at optimizing credit card reward points. Even if it means using your Amex to buy a $0.50 pack of gum at the supermarket, you'll rack up an ungodly amount of miles and hotel points.
Jokes aside, MC is an awesome world with some elements that suck (like all industries I guess). I'm sure you'll enjoy it.