Best CF role to prepare for AM?
Hello,
I work in operations at a F100 company and I am currently earning my MSF degree from a decent school (Think BU, IU Kelley, NEU). I do not have a finance background, and I am using this degree to fully pivot my career. My eventual goal is to transition to AM, but I would of course also consider IM, PWM, or similar.
I need to transfer within my company to satisfy tuition reimbursement requirements, but I want to develop experience that will translate well to AM or similar.
I plan on starting the CFA process immediately after graduation (Aug '21)
What roles should I be looking for?
So I would think within corporate finance some of the best roles to target would be investor relations and maybe a treasury role where you are helping make decisions on borrowing and liquidity. I think both those roles would you give you tangible skills and experience you could speak to in an interview. The treasury role would be more understanding of debt capital markets, whereas investor relations could be more understanding how a company operates and a management team makes decisions.
Also, I think obtaining the CFA as soon as possible would be helpful. I think even applying after passing level 2 shows a lot of competence and dedication that AM firms are looking for.
So I would think within corporate finance some of the best roles to target would be investor relations and maybe a treasury role where you are helping make decisions on borrowing and liquidity. I think both those roles would you give you tangible skills and experience you could speak to in an interview. The treasury role would be more understanding of debt capital markets, whereas investor relations could be more understanding how a company operates and a management team makes decisions.
Also, I think obtaining the CFA as soon as possible would be helpful. I think even applying after passing level 2 shows a lot of competence and dedication that AM firms are looking for.
Do you think that someone with IR/Treasury experience and CFA Level 2 has a decent shot at AM?
Also where would you say FP&A ranks compared to these 2, along with CFA Level 2?
I think that combination would help your chances. Probably the biggest aspect of getting any type of role like this is networking, and I think with that combo of role and accreditation it would give you a decent amount of relevant info to speak about. It’s not the best prior experience but I think it’s certainly doable.
I would say both of the roles I mentioned would rank before FP&A. When I think of FP&A I think of just forecasting and I know there is more that goes into it but not sure how much you would be able to relate to an investment analyst on there day to day. I think it’s better than probably a controllership or reporting role at least. At the end of the day though it’s a lot about who you network with so maybe you meet someone who used to work in FP&A and hit it off. For the most part though I would focus on the roles I highlighted earlier.
I think that combination would help your chances. Probably the biggest aspect of getting any type of role like this is networking, and I think with that combo of role and accreditation it would give you a decent amount of relevant info to speak about. It’s not the best prior experience but I think it’s certainly doable.
I would say both of the roles I mentioned would rank before FP&A. When I think of FP&A I think of just forecasting and I know there is more that goes into it but not sure how much you would be able to relate to an investment analyst on there day to day. I think it’s better than probably a controllership or reporting role at least. At the end of the day though it’s a lot about who you network with so maybe you meet someone who used to work in FP&A and hit it off. For the most part though I would focus on the roles I highlighted earlier.
I'm gonna go in a slightly different direction with my comments. I would that think that corporate strategy would be an ideal area in CF. A lot of those type of roles are also quasi corporate development, so you get to see both the strategic drivers of the company and also get some modeling exposure as well. I've never worked in corporate strategy but if I had to do something other than what I'm doing now, I would try to get into that because I think there are a lot of parallels (although it seems like consulting is the most common feeder into a position like that). Evaluating corporate strategy and how that plays into the sustainability of competitive advantages is a huge part of what I do in my research process.
I would look for a strategy-related role (corp dev, strategic planning, etc.) CFA would be a conversation starter that gets interviews, but nothing more.
Ultimately, nothing stops you from studying publicly traded businesses at your own time and assessing whether its stock is a good buy (based on valuation at the point in time). If you don't have good stock pitches and can't articulate a clear research process during a buy-side interview, not even sell-side research would help.
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