Need Some Insight
Hello Wall Street Oasis, I've been a big fan of the site for a while, but this is my first post. Before I start, I would like to apologize for the douchbaggey-sounding username, I couldn't really think of one, and this one kind of amused me.
I'm going to be a freshman next year (at Stern), and lately I've been having some trouble deciding what I want to do. Like a lot of kids, I learned about investment banking, and became pretty set on that as a career path during my high school years. However, I've been doing some research on prop trading, and have begun to question whether investment banking is the route I should go. I'm a pretty quantitatively minded guy, I love poker, have had some success on the market already (I can't really trade as actively as I would like to, since commissions would eat up my account) and it seems like I would really enjoy going the trading route.
Getting to the point, does anyone have any advice as to which way I should go? I'm going to be majoring in finance, but if I decide on trading, I might go with both finance and math. I know that investment banking recruiting at Stern is decent, but how is the recruiting for trading? Would good prop shops or BB S&T departments be interested in a finance/math Stern grad? Which one is more enjoyable (in your opinion), and which one will end up paying more (both are important to me)? If anyone would like to share their own experiences, that would be awesome.
Any and all insight on this issue is greatly appreciated, and I thank you in advance.
Stern has excellent placement in S&T and banking.
The search function is your friend......
I'm guessing its his only one.
You only have two posts and both are attacking a new user. Perhaps you should make a single positive contribution to the site before going in for the quick insults.
Inquiring into compensation when talking to industry professionals is certain to rub them the wrong way, especially given that you have not even started your first year of university yet. I'll point you to the frequently asked questions page, where your money-focused questions can be answered...
//www.wallstreetoasis.com/faq-how-much-will-i-make-if-i-pursue-a-career-i…
[quote=rufiolove]Inquiring into compensation when talking to industry professionals is certain to rub them the wrong way, especially given that you have not even started your first year of university yet. I'll point you to the frequently asked questions page, where your money-focused questions can be answered...
//www.wallstreetoasis.com/faq-how-much-will-i-make-if-i-pursue-a-career-i…]
You're right, sorry about that, and thanks for the link. I didn't mean to make that the focus of this post, and made the wrong choice in even including it. I meant for the main focus to be on which one people would recommend, and why.
Even that info can be found in extensive detail through the search engine. You've demonstrated a pretty impressive level of cluelessness about both this website, and the industry itself. I hope you're not my roommate next year.
you guys are dicks
Sorry for the harsh words, my comments were immature and impulsive. Gekko21 is right, and since I don't want to be just another annoying internet jerk, I'll give a humble attempt to amend my actions.
If I were to give you a answer to the primary question in your post, I would say you might enjoy the trading route more. Now this is purely subjective, and my answer will mostly be based off of my own opinion, and the small amount of information I have about you. It seems like you might have a knack for trading, since you have already shown success in it. This is very important, since the retention of a trading job is extremely reliant on your ability to perform well. Your love of poker also demonstrates some intrinsic talents that are necessary for a trader (risk/reward analysis, quick thinking, etc). As far as the major question goes, if you do end up going into trading, I think it would be a good idea to have math in there (comp sci, engineering, and things like that are also options), since many places will be more apt to hire you if they are confident in your quantitative skill. Your bonus as a trader, has the potential to be quite a bit higher than your bonus as a banker, from what I understand, but this is only if you are extremely good. I think the exit opportunities may be better for investment bankers, although this depends on what you want to do. Bankers can go into things like private equity, venture capital, or a myriad of other things, and traders can often go into hedge funds, end up managing their own portfolio, or things like that. Regarding the experience you will have at either job, I can't speak from a point of strong credibility (since I'm also a student), but I'm sure you can read what other people on this site have to say about that. Both jobs will offer very different experiences, exit opportunities, and the like, and I'm sure you will find enjoyment in whichever rout you choose.
Thanks for the info, this is helpful. Its cool about the other comments, I understand that you didn't really mean it, and I'll admit, I did ask a bunch of stuff that has already been answered.
No problem. And about that roommate joke (which isn't even relevant, since I go to ucla not stern), that was untrue. I would be perfectly fine with being friends with you.
alright you guys kiss and make up.. it was real touching.
anyway, from reading this site for about a year or two now I think that your best bet would probably be to do a double major in something business related and heavy quant (economics & math or Comp Sci & Finance) anything like that.
Next I think you will want to start out doing BB S&T because they will give you more training. From what i've heard you have to be a moron to get fired from S&T in your first two years of working there. It's mostly sales or training/shadowing others and so you learn a ton while only being exposed to very limited risk. So at BB it is very structured, as you would expect and you're guaranteed to learn something out of the situation and get a good start.
If you go to Prop Shop out of school than you're basically thrown into the fire (I think there are probably 4-5 shops that are the exception). But they will give you your own book within the first 6 months and you will have little to no training. The second you start going negative or losing a marginal amount you'll be tossed on your ass. And therefore your career in trading is over. Who wants to bet on the losing horse? You won't be able to get S&T job because you're a laggard and you'll have to either trade your own money or pick a new career (in which you'll have no transferable skills because trading is such a unique career path). BUT, if you win big... you win F$#(&g BIG... HIGH risk HIGH reward
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