A controversial “portfolio theory” of career planning

Hi all. I posted earlier (about reflecting on six years following a career change) and got treated to a fascinating discussion — thanks to the questions raised by all of you! In that discussion, some thoughts started germinating. I’m going to try to lay it out concisely here. And I of course welcome critiques, criticisms, reflections, and the occasional Monkey Poo (because what is a good discussion without Monkey Poo?)

TL;DR

If you’re going out to sea, don’t swim against the wave. Try to ride the wave. If you don’t know where the wave is, build yourself the best boat you can.

Executive summary

Modern portfolio theory (MPT) is a way of maximizing your risk-adjusted returns in a given portfolio of equity securities. It is the heart of passive, index investing pioneered by the likes of Vanguard. To me, there are four compelling learnings from MPT:

  1. Passive investing has been shown over time to outperform the lion’s share of actively managed investments, after management fees, transaction costs, taxes, etc. See Buffett’s “long bet”.
  2. [“Beta” (underlying industry) determines >90% of portfolio volatility and that “alpha” (manager skill) determines
 

Great post, very interesting MPT application! Just some purely theoretical comments...

  1. Let's say that the wind changes direction, and so does the wave. Would you prefer switching of industry and following the new direction, or staying where you belong (due to you skills)? And in case of a new wind change two years later, would you prefer switching again, then again, then again (maybe showing vulnerability or lack of endurance?), or rather strengthening your skills in the storm to stay among the few who survive?

  2. Between the exit-opps focus (always thinking about the next job rather than enjoying the current one) and the versatile mind (doing what you like at the moment, even if that's mean changing every 2 years), what's the ideal way to build a career in your opinion?

Long story short, I'm wondering how you can apply MPT to career 'construction' (succession of jobs) rather than career 'planning' (just your next move).

Thanks again for the post!

 

Hmm, that’s a interesting set of questions. Let me offer a purely theoretical response. Based on your “tacking to the wind” analogy, shifting industries regularly seems to be a factor-tilt method at best or a momentum/technical play at worst. Since there are real transaction costs to changing asset allocation, my view is to pick one and stick with it — focusing again on transferable skills and content, rather than idiosyncratic factors. I also think there’s a higher weight to be assigned earlier in one’s career as there are ripple effects that magnify with time.

 

Thanks for the response, nice ideas inside! Always interesting to compare the different effects of a decision like betting on the compound interest (the set of skills you develop, the reputation you build, and the ties you forge), or maximizing the positive effects of career changes (higher comps, better lifestyle), or just following the tide and surfing the wave wherever it goes.

 

Feinstein great post and very well said! I do have questions for you:

1.) How does one find opportunities that will advance there skill set and help an individual grow as a professional? Often times I've seen myself and others take on a role within a Fortune 500 that looks great on paper and sounds like it can help pivot your career...only to land in the role and realize the paper was just a hooker enticing you.

2.) Looking back at my life I've realized I held myself back because I didn't know what I didn't know (i.e. Didn't find out about Infrastructure Investing or Project Finance until my 5th year post-Undergrad). How does one go about exploring career options and finding opportunities in niche fields given the ocean of positions that are out there? Guess my question is more on career planning and knowing what moves to make ahead of your entry-level role.

Thanks!

 

Well said mate in respect to the second question. I made a post about how to find the right career path for finance as its difficult to find what you enjoy and what you're good at, so many different aspects of finance and only a few years until you get pigeon hold in your industry. Not to mention its more helpful talking to connections with a clear direction ie Infra PE.

 

Intellectual read. Wish we had more content like this on WSO. SBd

However I'm confused what you really mean here.

  • go with the group that's taking a genuine interest in your career and will commit to sponsoring and mentoring you, not the group that is hot in today's papers

and

  • TL;DR: if you're going out to sea, don't swim against the wave. Try to ride the wave. If you don't know where the wave is, build yourself the best boat you can.

Seems conflicting as you could say riding the wave is the same as going with a hot industry in today's paper.

 
Best Response

Trying to reconcile the question and OP here...

Hot industry in the professional function POV (banking vs F500 vs tech vs startup vs consulting, etc) - This is very much akin to exposure to a major asset class in asset allocation (equities, FI, FX, commodities, etc) - and the very large blocks within those asset classes (equities - large vs small cap, value vs growth; fixed income - sovereign vs IG vs HY; commodities - energy vs other, etc).

"Hot industry" from an industry coverage POV within a given function (ie. TMT banking) - this is much more akin to stock picking than asset allocation. You've chosen your asset and now you're selecting for alpha (actually, to get properly geeky about it, you're probably indexing for growth and momentum factors to drive returns).

Choosing a group to work with based on governance principles - this is much more about being able to achieve returns via a human action advantage rather than an information advantage.

The broad theme seems to be - choose top down based on systemic risk for the 90% of the expected returns, and for the remaining 10%, governance rather than information is the better way to generate alpha.

The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.
 

Also a big believer in systemic, undiversifiable risk (beta) being the key driver of returns.

We can look at this at the industry level, but heck, it's completely obvious when it comes to geography. Just yesterday I was in a 3rd world country, speaking to a young man who had actually chosen the same fields (plural) of study that I did. But he was serving me welcome tea and morning breakfast. What kind of a career and outcome could he have had if he had been born in the West (such as most of us), rather than where he's from? I'm strongly against feeling guilty for the privilege of where we were born, but equally strongly, I'm very much for people being grateful and acknowledging the privilege exists.

Back to industry topics...

In the case of banking, the golden 25 year run of 1983 to 2008 clearly seems to support the notion of beta-driven returns (banking being an excellent industry to have exposure to during that period). The exact same person - same talent, same background, same employer - would have made multiples more money in banking that 25 year stretch than in 2009 to 2034, almost certainly.

How do you see MBB type consulting today? Along with tech, it seems to be one of the industries with compelling reasons to gain exposure to. However, can the boom last 25 years the way banking did? How far along the path are we in this favorable period for MBB? Is it feasible to imagine MBB having a combined headcount of 100k in 5 years? 150k in 10 years? Did banking collapse under the weight of its own success, and if so, could it happen to MBB?

The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.
 

MBB is stretching out in all different directions to maintain, and perhaps grow, its relevance. Capabilities like big data, digital transformations, distressed support, etc., etc. are all areas where MBB is making massive investments into — because its going back to looking to where it has a sustainable information advantage that its clients don’t. Some of these areas I think will pay off handsomely, while others may show signs of a value trap, ie. Everyone recognizes there is value there, but it’s hard to see how it can be achieved.

I’m quite old school in that I’m a believer that nothing has value unless it can generate recurring cash flows. The idea that someone has value because someone else is willing to pay for it is ridiculous (see: Bitcoin). Applying the same logic here, MBB’s trajectory in the next few years will depend on whether its investments in new knowledge and capabilities result in real client-facing cash flow gains. Will it? Maybe.

 

"If you are joining investment banking as a young analyst, go with the group that’s taking a genuine interest in your career and will commit to sponsoring and mentoring you, not the group that is hot in today’s papers. If it’s hot in today’s papers, it (and by extension you) risk become yesterday’s news tomorrow. But people who will commit to sponsoring and mentoring you stay there year in and year out. "

Sadly, no one has ever taken an interest in me.... :-(

 

It’s never too late to re-invent yourself. I would second that notion of finding a group of good people to work with - life’s too short.

"Bulls take the stairs, bears take the elevator" "Sell a teenie, lose your weenie"
 

find the post to be a little but conflicted due to points mentioned above

My view is - whatever you do, be the best of the class. Then it’s pretty easy to move around. If you do banking, become the best banking analyst, then you can go to PE, HF, consulting, or even start-ups and F500 if you want.

Industries are certainly important, but being the best in class (both company wise and performance wise) will give you the flexibility to switch gear (especially in the very junior and very senior level).

I feel Op wouldn’t have the same consulting experiences if he went to PwC or Gotham or other consulting fims.

 

Thanks for a great post! Very insightful for someone who is just starting a career.

I was wondering - would you say banking is still THE industry to start your career in? Students tend to think that starting in IBD will allow them to exit basically anywhere. Would you say modelling and corporate finance exposure is still a more valuable experience (and signalling mechanism for recruiters) than for example starting in tech where you can get more responsibility, leadership support and soft-skills training earlier on?

Thanks!

 

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