Is it even possible to break into bulge bracket banks' AM team after I graduate from college?
Hey guys,
I am a current junior studying Math and Econ at a semi-target school.
Although I am currently pursuing the actuarial field, I think I am also interested in the Asset Management field. This summer, I will be interning at an insurance Asset Management Company(so their clients are insurers) where I will be doing the insurance industry research with their credentialed actuaries. I am hoping to get a full time offer from the firm, switch from the insurance research arm to the asset management team within the firm, attain the actuarial credential, and hope to move into the Asset Management team at a bulge bracket bank.
I also realize that it's near to impossible to break into the wall street unless you get an internship there after your junior year or full time offer in your senior year(which is very unlikely if you haven't gotten the summer opportunity). I am wondering if it's possible to become an actuary first, get experience in insurance asset management at a relatively small firm, and move into the big firm. I am also interested in taking the CFA exams(at least the first one) after I become an associate of the society of actuaries.
Thank you very much.
It is definitely possible. If you have a solid understanding of both actuarial/investment sides you should have plenty of opportunities on buyside dealing with pensions and insurers.
Actuarial is a painful way to break into AM. The exams are brutal and getting ASA can take 5+ years because after you get through 5 exams, you still have to do modules which are project based and can take forever from what I hear. What kind of experience will your internship give you? Is it insurance modeling like casualty or actual investment related experience? If I were you, I'd look to get a FT offer on the AM side immediately after internship as opposed to doing actuarial though that will be dependent on the experience you will have in your internship. If they like you, it might be possible they transfer you over to AM side immediately, and you can skip a lot of pain in the process.
Actuarial is a painful way to break into AM. The exams are brutal and getting ASA can take 5+ years because after you get through 5 exams, you still have to do modules which are project based and can take forever from what I hear. What kind of experience will your internship give you? Is it insurance modeling like casualty or actual investment related experience? If I were you, I'd look to get a FT offer on the AM side immediately after internship as opposed to doing actuarial though that will be dependent on the experience you will have in your internship. If they like you, it might be possible they transfer you over to AM side immediately, and you can skip a lot of pain in the process.
Thank you very much for your reply. I really appreciate it.
The internship this summer is in their insurance research team. They have credentialed actuaries who forecast and analyze the insurance industry (both Property & Casualty and Life & Health). As you're probably aware, it's 100% not actuarial as what they do in insurance companies but it still relates. So I think that I will be gathering the insurance industry data and help my supervisors at the firm.
The company is an insurance Asset Management. So their clients are insurance companies. My goal this summer is to learn about the insurance industry as much as possible and to make good impression on the people there. I recently got more interested in the asset/liability management and risk management sides, and I hope to get a full-time offer from the same firm in their Asset Management or Risk Management divisions.
Do you think it's possible to get a full time offer from the same firm in a different division? Is that even possible? If so, do you think it's difficult to break into BB's AM teams if I start out my career at a small firm?
Thank you very much
Yes, I think it's entirely possible depending on the firm. Take your time in your internship to find out what you like, start talking to the supervisors of those groups, and potentially express that you want to try and get a job in that division instead. It never hurts to ask. I would also recommend that you keep an eye on what your internship looks like and be ready not to return if it doesn't look like it's going in that direction - if you ultimately want AM, look for AM jobs in your 4th year and see if you can do better.
Breaking into BB AM Teams is tough in general - a lot of AM firms tend to hire most new grads for back/mid office positions and then promote internally to more front office. For research, some of the larger firms have analyst programs though as you can imagine it's probably fed in through target schools or they hire people with experience. So you're up against quite a bit, though if you can find those analyst programs, apply for them and see if you can get into one as that would be really good. I would say that from my observations, if you start with a smaller firm, you would end up joining a smaller AM firm, and then make the jump to BB with some experience. However, I would say that BB firms aren't necessarily the 'best' to work for in the AM industry unless you're the star PM or are on a product that has billions under management - there are plenty of niche/specialty AM shops that you've never heard of that can be just as lucrative as or more than a BB. IMO it's about joining a small/mid sized shop that can scale to a large shop that has the most reward.
Thank you very much. I appreciate your advice.
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