Confused about Finance career paths, is my understanding of buy-side VS sell-side correct?

Ok so I know this:

Sell-side: Investment Banks

What they do: - Buy securities from the primary market and trade in the secondary for profit - Market making (Does this mean trading jsut for the sake of trading? Also, do they trade straight from the 2nd market or do they trade out of their own inventory tha they got from the primary market? Do they make little money from this but they do it out of goodwill?) Also, what's the difference between marketing making and providing liquidity? Is it the same? - Act as agents for retail investors like brokers - Consultants for M&A and raising funds: Find a company that wants to raise capital, or merge with another company --> Do a valuation on it --> Market it to potential buyers from the buy-side.

important skills: - Valuations (bottom up) - Corporate Finance - Sales - Trading - Legal

What I can do to get here: MBA

Buy-side: Funds

What they do: - Buy and sell securities from the secondary market in hopes of making capital gains - Buy equities from the the sell-side - Trade for profit

important skills: - Valuations (top-down) - Economics - Trading and TA (for HF) - Portfolio management - Sales (probably important for mutual funds?)

What can I do to get here: CFA

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