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Career Resources
Not sure what you're asking... There is no "automatic promotion" (i.e. guaranteed to stay with the company as an analyst and associate and vp etc.) on any side. Rephrase your question.
You know that "automatic promotion" is the same thing as "up or out," right?
Yes. Does the buy-side have the same thing? Or one may be an associate for 10 years or more in buy-side?
In sell-side, if you get to stay, you will automatically advance in rank after certain number of years. It seems the buy-side career doesn't work that way.
Is that what you also tell your poor analysts when you're lookin' for a little afternoon delight?
Ewww. Analysts? I might as well go out to the boroughs and scoop 18-year-olds off the street.
The fund will grow from the lower levels IMO, meaning if you are constantly raising funds and putting money to work you will need to hire new analysts/associates you'll play a bigger role. If this isn't the case, most leave and go to a new fund... No idiot stays an associate in PE until they are 45.
Well, they may bounce around among different funds but stay at the the rank, right?
Interesting that you say that. When I was doing my big longitudinal banker career data crawl last month, one thing I was surprised to learn is that some people do stay at the associate level for 5+ years when they bounce from firm to firm on the sellside.
wow, people here can never just answer a straight question. Examples: yes. no. I don't know.
Question is: is buyside up or out like sell side?
When a banker doesn't want to commit to stating the answer to something, they say some smart-sounding shit that they do believe is true and which is vaguely related.
Every single HF/PE shop is different regarding size, number of funds, number of front office employees etc. If you work for a mega fund, my guess is the career progression will be very similar to a sell side role. If you work for a sub-bilion dollar fund who is having trouble raising additional funds, you may be stuck in that role until the need to bring someone under you to relieve you and your boss, in which case talented younger employees will reach out to a headhunter.
So, as you can see the answer obviously isn't a clear yes or no.
Let's say you are an associate good at modelling. On the sell-side, because of the "up or out" system, if the firm wants to continue to use your modelling skill, they have to develop your other skills for the higher ranks too. On the buy-side, without the "up or out" system, there is no incentives for the firm to develop your other skills for higher ranks, and you may end up as an associate doing modelling all your career in the firm.
The "up or out" system on the sell-side forces the firm to develop your future skills in order to continue to use your current skills. In a way, it serves as a protection for the future of the young bankers.
On the buy-side, you lose that protection.
I still have the same title I had when I joined my fund four years ago, but I currently earn a $h*t ton more. Hope that answers your question.
But have you been in more or less the same role, just doing much better than four years ago, with the same kind of skill set?
NO.
Have you graduated from college yet?
So here is what I see as the buy-side career peril. Say you are hired as a (post-MBA) buy-side associate for your modelling skills. The firm really has no incentive and under no pressure to develop your other skills except using your modelling skills. You can end up stuck in your modelling role and not be able to move up. Sure you can contact headhunters for other buy-side opportunities. But what can you bring to the table except your modelling skills? So you will move to another buy-side firm doing modelling works again.
Is the buy-side really the "promised land" that some in this forum tried to portray? I don't think so.
Many posters in WSO tried to make buy-side sound better than what it actually is.
Anyone from the buy-side wants to defend the careers in their side?
I prefer the buy side. Instead of trying to rip the face off my clients, I can try to rip the face off of banks and other professional investors.
How long have you been on the buy-side? What kind of career progression you have seen on the buy-side so far?
You're talking nonsense brother
There definitely is no automatic promotion at most hedge funds. One thing that is misunderstood by the majority of WSO posters is that at a hedge fund you are hired to do a job, not to join some training program. So if you are hired to be an analyst in research that is where you will stay...you may get a raise if you do a good job and occasionally you see people "graduate" to more senior roles but more often portfolio managers and other senior hires come from outside the firm and are experienced hires. Investors dont invest in hedge funds so that they can develop the careers of younger people, so no, nothing is automatic in terms of promotion.
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