Move from support role to portfolio analyst - when is too late?
I work for a big asset manager in London. I make 45K in a support role (don't wanna be too specific to don't be identified). I stayed in my role for 1 year, worked for a different firm in the same role for another year and previously I worked 2 year for a startup.
I did a decent Master in Finance in the continent but I screwed up the hiring process (poor networking, no previous work experience, etc) and since then I am trying to "coming back". I have passed CFA Level III and I was hoping it would help me to secure a better job but it did not help.
I would like to move a portfolio analyst position and in the future becoming a portfolio manager. This is both for the money and because I have zero interest in my current job, whereas I spend a lot of time reading financial news, try to analyze companies, etc.
Questions:
1)is it easier to move internally or try externally? I have good feedback form the front office people but they only me see as a support person and not as a potential candidate. Also, we don't have any open position for a long time
2)how would you prepare for the interview? I did my last formal test (CFA Level III) in 2017 and since then I have not done any formal study so I am afraid that I forgot everything. In my latest interviews (the one of my current job), the most difficult question was what is the duration so I am afraid to don't be ready for a proper interview
3)do you think the fact that I spend so many years doing crappy job plays against me and they may prefer graduates even if I would be OK to start with a low salary?
Nothing is impossible even though it's going to be very hard.
I think it's usually harder to make a career twist by jumping to another company, because company looks for candidate with the skillset that are looking for exactly. But I am not sure what's the type of positions you are looking for. Are you looking to jump to a deal team/investment team or a portfolio management team? If you are looking for a portfolio management team, I think this a more like a supporting role as well for the investment team. I am not sure how operation you are position are, but it is definitely possible to me your resume look more like a portfolio management function role instead of writing "operation analyst" as the first line.
My advice is be cautious of your next step, don't jump to an exact same position just because the salary is bit higher. Look at the position function in nature and see how the job description match your long term career goal. Don't struggle on CFA too much, this is something additional to look for but definitely not mandatory. Passing CFA requires lot of time time time and effort, but I think timing a more important thing than passing CFA, be on track of the career path you want as early as possible because it's only going to be harder if you stay in the position you don't want longer.
Disclaimer: I am no expert of this and I am only sharing my 2 cents.
Thank you for your feedback.
I want to move to a portfolio management position overtime (i.e. public markets, I don't care about deals).
I will take into account the fact that I should present my experience better, underlying my exposure to portfolio managers and that I partially assist them.
Re CFA: I passed the exams already and I should receive the charter soon. I mentioned it because, even if I had the theoretical knowledge to pass it, I feel I forgot everything now and not sure on how to prepare for a potential interview
Transitioning to a portfolio management team internally is likely the easier path, especially given that you know some of the front office people. Why not have a conversation about this with your immediate manager and also some of these front office folks?
Thanks for your feedback.
My manager kind of know this. We are having a restructuring of the company and I may end up in a position with even less exposure than know. I am a bit pessimistic on my chances because all the other people in the investment team went to UK schools etc and there are currently no open positions.
I feel I may have some opportunities in years if I stay here but if I go outside I could have it right now but I will also try to discuss with my manager/front office people to see if something can happen
I'm fairly certain most people in the AM forums always promote moving to Equity Research first before going into any Portfolio Analyst positions because those PA positions are where a lot of people get stuck. I assume we'll have some certified AM people drop their $0.02 on this as well.
I think your actual problem is that you undersold yourself. You weren't willing to wait for a better entry and started extremely low. The qualifications are definitely there - masters (GPA?) and maxed CFA are about as good as you can do if you're fresh into the labor market.
Thanks for your feedback.
Research>pm is an interesting point that I have not considered( I have exposure to the assistant pm mostly that do rolls, execute trades, etc so I didn't think about research roles).
Re underselling myself. That may be partially the case. I went to the wrong school ( target on paper but few people make it in IB as far as I know), got a decent GPA (8 out of 10) but screwed up with recruiting and finished in mo/operational jobs. Actually, few of the people I work with went to decent schools, are bright, ambitious etc, I think it happens quite often that decent people get trapped in these roles.
Any suggestions on how to get out of this, i.e. apart from recruiting externally and try to move internally?
I also thought about do some certifications/MBA but I am not sure if they would really help
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