advice on breaking out of PWM to ER/AM
Hi new to the forum, I've been reading this site for years
Need some help..Here is my story:
I graduated from a non-target school with a mediocre GPA 3.3 cumulative and 3.6 major. Finance major.
I was unable to secure a job in IB or ER/AM. I then made a huge mistake and instead of going for an MSF, I opted to work for a PWM BB firm. I love the markets and I wanted to get right into the job market in a finance related role. The issue is that it is a heavy sales role. The positive aspect is that I am making great money as an individual a year out of college as the model we are in enables us to handle our own clients and build portfolios for them to our discretion. I have always longed to go into ER or AM as I've been investing for years and held a strong role at my school's investment fund
Here I am a year out of college extremely upset at myself for potentially extirpating my chances to move into ER/AM as I'm currently in a role that I'm not happy in and has no transferable skills transparent to folks in ER/AM. Although the job did bring me to realize I honestly have a passion for investing. I want to get out to follow my passion.
What can I do? All relevant internships have been at BB PWM firms and I am currently studying for CFA 1. I love value investing and I'm currently working on a thesis for one of the positions I write about. This may not be relevant but I enjoy writing. I am currently writing a novel for fun and I hope to have it self published so ER is really where I am steering towards. Any suggestions?
It's nearly impossible to break out of PWM - take it from me, I've been in PWM at a BB for over 5+ years and have tried, unsuccessfully, to break out for the past two years or so. I'm not trying to be negative, but I've only seen a few exceptions to this rule.
1) Get the CFA, and get it fast. Even if it's only Level 1, you can use that in conjunction with your resume to convince recruiters and other people in your indirect network to give you a shot at an interview. Passing the exam may actually convince the employers to believe the more analytical bullet points of your resume, because there are just so few CFAs in a position that has been pigeon-holed as a "sales job." Sadly, there's such a large cesspool of jokers running around in our field that we simply get stereotyped into the group.
2) Reboot your entire career at an MBA program. I have seen this done at both FT and PT MBA programs, but this is a much more expensive option than passing the CFA. Even getting into a top MBA program will require fighting for a summer internship, and even after slaving away at a summer internship, there is no guarantee of a full-time return (but for what it's worth, the PWM guys I know who were able to secure summer internships all got FT offers from a good shop). And the only ones who didn't secure internships were the ones who didn't do well academically/GMAT.
You're young enough to rebrand yourself and to reboot your entire career trajectory, so my advice would be to not waste any more time, and to knock out the CFA Level 1 ASAP (preferably June or Dec of this year). If you find yourself struggling with the material, then you may want to look into taking the GMAT. The score is valid for five years, which would allow you to secure a few more promotions before applying for business school.
You need to be applying for entry-level positions which require no previous experience
Any suggestions in particular? I'm mainly asking because I unknowingly trapped myself in PWM for the past 5+ years and genuinely want to share this information with the public, especially the college students who are either thinking about going into it and/or group in their early/mid twenties who are thinking about switching into it. Not saying PWM is all that bad--it can certainly be worse, but I just want everyone going into my industry to see what it really is all about.
The only people I see in equity research are those who: (A) joined after university or (B) worked in IBD/buy side/industry/consulting/accounting. In these sectors I've listed, they have transferrable skills relevant to equity research. Unfortunately, the skill overlap between PWM and ER is limited (PWM to Equity Sales would be doable) and it is not a natural transition. That's not to say it cannot be done, but I think after a few years in PWM your chances of breaking into ER are very low - with no relevant ER skills you are as qualified as a graduate.
If someone has been doing PWM for a few years after college, I would even say that it's nearly impossible to lateral into other job functions, including first-year entry level positions in financial services, without the MBA or CFA. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I'm in PWM and haven't seen it done before. Curious if anyone has seen it done for entry level positions?
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