Best sales job in finance

What is it?

I know a very open ended question but, for a website that has so many different topics covered, I don't believe this has been discussed or at least not weighed-in on heavily. To throw out some ideas, I would start with various product sales that would fall under S&T (institutional equities, mortgage/securitized products, credit, rates, derivatives etc.), prime services, PE fundraising, HF fundraising etc. The list could go on and on...but would do you guys think the best true "sales" job in the industry is?

Interested in hearing mainly from people who currently hold or once held the position

 

Transaction Sourcing in PE, sponsor coverage at MM banks, and IR at PE/Hf are all great sales-oriented roles to be in. Seems like these types of roles are on the rise and pay vs hours / stress is great IMO.

Have personally seen some folks make the move from sales (mostly institutional equity) over to these roles and are quite happy.

 
Most Helpful

Since this is the S&T form lets avoid anything that could be considered "banking" and stick with things that are more markets based. I don't think this is a "best" list but I think a good overview of what is out there. I am in FI S&T and have seen a lot of people, especially older people move from group 2 to group 1.

Group 1- Good work/life jobs that are interesting and pay well at the senior level (not sure on the junior level) 1. Institutional sales for a major AM, PE, HF. All things being equal working at an HF would be most interesting depending on the strategy. Not tied to a desk but I would imagine a good bit of travel. I think this looks a lot like banking at a junior level, lots of time in powerpoint and excel but the hours are not as bad.
2. Cap intro at bank- Think this is the cushiest "sales job" in finance. You don't need to source clients and there is some scarcity value in what you are offering to institutional investors. Not tied to a desk but you are going to travel a bit. 3. Retail sales at an AM firm. Think this is a bit of grind but if you can get a good territory you are basically running your own business inside the firm. 4. Sales/capital markets at a fintech- Seeing a lot of people leave S&T to take sales/capital markets roles at fintechs helping these companies find investors for various products. Makes sense as a lot of these companies are lending money which leads to some natural similarities to fixed income.

Group 2: Sales jobs that pay well but have worse work life balance. You are going to be tied to a desk during market hours as being away can cause you to miss trades and you are going to be going out at night a good bit as well. While not as miserable as banking this is more of a grind than people make it out to be. Working from 7-5 and then going out 2 nights a week takes its toll. Never worked in equities but I would imagine it would be similar to fixed income.

  1. Anything in institutional fixed income, its all about the same (rates, credit, MBS, etc.) if you are covering institutional clients. Pace is fast and structure is pretty flat so if you find the right seat you can move up quickly. Not really all that "salesy" as their is a defined universe of clients and you are not out there cold calling.
  2. Middle markets fixed income (generally you do all products), slower pace in some cases but a bit more of a traditional sales job, you will cold call in this world and its more office meetings and less nights out. Takes time to build this up, generally these seats are commission and not salary/bonus.

Wealth management- This is kinda its own category, very hard to get off the ground but once you get it going the pay and hours can't be beat.

 

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