Difference Between AM at a Bank vs AM Firms (Blackrock etc)

What is the difference between AM at a bank vs AM at one of the large institutional asset managers like Blackrock, Fidelity, etc)? Also is the AM at banks more wealth management/individual focused or is that a separate division?

 
Most Helpful

One's independent and the other is under a corporate parent?

EDIT: not sure why this got MS? The AM arm of a bank is in the exact same business doing the exact same thing as an independent AM firm: offering active or passive fund products in various asset classes / strategies to retail and institutional investors for a fee.

The main difference is the ownership - being under a corporate parent means you're more beholden to corporate bureaucracy, decisions made at the top aren't always in your division's best interests and bonus pools can get torpedoed based on terrible firmwide performance even if the AM division does well.

PWM: servicing wealthy individuals / families and small asset owners then (more often than not) outsourcing the AM part to external managers is not AM. It can be if the firm / group has an in-house investment team with their own funds / strategies but that would only be for the investment team. The advisor is still mostly a relationship manager

 

Thanks for explaining this it was helpful. Do you know which banks AM divisions are highly ranked? (AM divisions that are separate from the PWM divisions) Also, (as an example using JPM Asset & Wealth Mgmt here) is divisons that are called Asset & wealth mgmt just classifying the two under the same umbrella which are actually 2 separate divisions? Or is this really just the wealth management divison?

 

Firms like JPM have both. The JP Asset Mgmt has a division that manages assets / builds portfolios, etc like a fund. It also has a division that handles distribution of that asset mgmt to both institutional clients and retail advisors. They also have a Wealth Management arm which is similar to Private Banking dealing directly with ultra high net worth. All of them fall under JPM Asset Mgmt. You have to know which division you are speaking to.

 

Could you explain the differences? Is AM at a bank the same thing as PWM at the bank? Or are those two separate divisions and what I'm assuming the banks that call their division 'Asset & Wealth Management' is just PWM?

 

Maiores repellendus et iste illum pariatur quod maiores. Architecto officia sunt ipsam quo ex reprehenderit soluta.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (87) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (146) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
numi's picture
numi
98.8
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”