Timeline to become a Sports/Entertainment Division PM
Goodmorning,
I'm hoping I can get some advice about my career path. I'm currently 20 years old, graduating from Colorado State University - Fort Collins with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Dual Concentration in Finance - Investment Analysis and Real Estate. Unfortunately, because I've spent so much of my time in school, I lack an internship upon graduating this Fall (although I'm in the Finance and Real Estate Clubs). My primary interest would be a PM for something like Morgan Stanley's Sports and Entertainment Division, then going to a smaller boutique firm in California such as Lourdmurray or the sort. The end goal is I really want to work and live in Newport Beach, CA. Preferably, I want to stay West Coast after graduation. These are the questions that I'm trying to use to form a timeline for what I should be doing upon graduation:
Would a starting position at NW Mutual be beneficial for this career path or would a private equity starting position be more beneficial in the long run?
At what point would I take the CFP and CPWA (i.e. 4 years into a career) and are there any other certifications worth holding?
At what point should I earn my MBA and what college would be acceptable in the West Coast?
Thank you, I'm just trying to get some idea on how to work towards being a PM for a Sports/Entertainment Division with some guideline.
I apologize, but you may need to clarify. Are you looking to be the Portfolio Manager for something like GAMR (ETFMG Video Game Technology ETF) or are you looking to be a financial advisor that focuses on clients in the entertainment industry, including professional sports stars? The two are very different, and pretty close to mutually exclusive career paths. Your reference to a PM role suggests that you are looking at the former, but your reference to the CFP suggests the latter.
I apologize for the confusion. I'm looking to be a financial advisor for a sector such as Morgan Stanley's Sports and Entertainment division.
Good fucking luck. I'd like to be the queen of England, but without connections our chances are about the same. Becoming PM is about as tough, but at least I could give you a compass there.
Would it really be that difficult just working for that branch?
Wow
I'm honestly trying to find the right stepping stones to get into the field. If your comment isn't applicable you might as well keep it to yourself.
I said wow because my initial impressions were, excuse for not having an internship is "spent so much of my time in school." This made me think, wow, must be relatively lazy or some odd ended possibly viable excuse (this is coming from someone who worked 58 hours / week sophomore - senior year of undergrad and finished with 3.5+ gpa, recommendation from fiance department head to be graduate of the year at large school (30k+), and ran a top house frat). Then read it over again and realized you're graduating in the fall at age 20, so you likely took an aggressive class load leading to an early graduation woohoo.
Respectable, but still... the facet of financial advising you listed that you wanted to work for is incredibly nuanced. To answer your questions though... 1) PE will look stronger, but FA is relationship based. If you don't know anyone in the industry, its difficult to find someone who is willing to work with you to build a viable succession plan. If you're talking about the NW Mutual Newport Beach office, starting there they'll run you dry for contacts, and all you will do is cold calling. A relatively poor place to start IMO. 2) Series 7 first, then 66, then CFP. 3) MBA is relatively (completely?) unnecessary for becoming a FA.
Which... is why I said wow to begin with. Most of this is knowledge that has been shared likely on this site, and definitely elsewhere on the internet if not here. That, coupled with a question somewhat comparable to "I want to become a starting QB in the NFL, what do I do" is somewhat laughable.
Thank you for the comment and clarification. Yah I was taking courses throughout the summer and full course loads during Fall and Spring. While working on a startup and dealing with a Trademark Opposition and working a few part-time jobs. I meant to phrase "Would it really be that hard to get into the position," looking for some motivational answer like "it's definitely possible to get in just very demanding."
I just went to the career fair here at CSU and talked with Goldman, Charles Schwab, and Foresters Financial. There were a few local PE firms but they were mostly on the accounting and consulting side rather than direct investment (i.e. MG Stover and Standish Management). I also realized that NW wouldn't be advantageous to me what so ever with their structure and business practices. Those three firms above thought my resume was very strong since they were looking for an entrepreneurial spirit in their new hires. It looks like I will continue the process with all three with interviews in the next couple of weeks.
It looks like the general consensus from meeting with the reps was that a Master's degree isn't really necessary, because of the certifications like you mentioned: 7/66, CFP, CPWA. I'm trying to decide which one of these initial positions could be the strongest going in, even though FA isn't as strong as PE.
Thanks again for that advice, sorry for the initial reaction.
You're fine, if I can ask, why do you specifically want to work under that division of financial advising?
I'm not familiar with that facet of FA at all..... But honestly, PE and FA have very few skills that translate to the other's career path. That being said, yes PE will look better on a resume, but the skills you may learn from that experience may not directly apply to literally anything you will do as an FA. So yes, you might stand out on paper, but what is that if you have no good application.
+1 to the brofessor's comment, he hit the head of the nail
It just interested me to work specifically with athletes, since I'm a big fan of staying up to date in the relevant sports network. Yah I'm going to apply to Goldman, Charles, and J.P. Morgan in the upcoming weeks. I'll post the positions and hopefully land something, come December.
Sounds like he watched a lot of "ballers" and wants to be on the HBO show in real life.
Whatever may be playing it off a little strong. The odds / path to becoming a PM in any division at any bank is definitely not straight, to the point, or easy. If someone had a plan as to how you become a PM the world would be overflowing with them. Best bet is to probably try to get a job in that division. As to whether or not PE would make you more marketable SPECIFICALLY FOR THE PM SPOT IN THAT SPECIFIC DIVISION... well fuck if I know...
Thank you, I'm just trying to find a firm located near me that would allow for a good background for my resume. I'm trying to build a resume that would strengthen the odds for a position like that. There are a few initial firms that I could possibly start out at: Charles Schwab, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Chase, Northwestern Mutual. I'm hoping to narrow those down for a starting position that would add strength to my resume when I seek out the necessary MBA school, certs, and the like for a position like the above department. I'm also reaching out to a few of Morgan Stanley's representatives and I have a connection to an athlete that could help. What would your opinion be on those initial options? Thank you, I've realized how abstract the field is in terms of a path. I'm just trying to do my best to have a chance.
Utilize those resources and try to become closer to your athlete connection. Ask him / her to introduce you to other athletes / etc build that network that way. Not only do you have to be a gifted investor to become a PM at any reputable shop / BB but on top of that you'll need a stellar network for something so niche as managing athletes' money.
Frankly... if you wanted to maximize your chances it would have been best to get jobs in the AM offices at JP / Goldman / MS / etc. If you aren't already there you'll be fighting an insane uphill battle just breaking into a BB like MS and THEN getting to the division you want to be in AND excelling to eventually become a PM.
Try to break in... and don't brag about your one connection. They haven't given you any money to manage / you likely just know one cool athlete. The people you will interview with, if in that division, likely know hundreds of famous athletes... show interest and competency to break in, knowing that one dude won't get you in and flaunting it will make you look stupid.
Good luck.
ML/MS/UBS sports & entertainment divisions aren't something you get hired into, you get accepted into it. first, you make it as a PWM guy (hard enough, right?). then, you have to develop a niche within sports/entertainment (even harder), then you have to prove you're actually an expert and then the firms invite you to market yourself as a specialist.
every sports/entertainment person I've talked to has described it as much less glamorous than you may think. for every kawhi leonard that drives a 20yo car, there's dozens of terrell owenses or rookies that get one $3mm contract, tear an ACL, or you're at a position with more supply than demand (remember BenJarvus Green Ellis? never fumbled in 4 seasons with the Pats, doubt he's still a millionaire). they are in it because the possibility to get a kawhi leonard type client is there and those clients are amazing to have. all you need is a couple.
my advice? figure out if you actually want to do PWM, and then go from there.
Thank you, I'm very interested in PWM hopefully I can break into that in 10 -15 years. I knew that it was a niche position but I had no idea it was based on acceptance. I did try and research a lot for this, but since it was so obscure it was hard to really find what people did to get into that position. Especially after sending some messages to individuals with similar titles on LinkedIN and not getting any responses back. These comments really help to clarify things for me.
I used to work at a PWM firm, not at large as a BB, but we had some very high new worth clients playing profession sports. One thing I noticed was a large portion if not all of these advisers either played in college and got contacts through that or actually played professionally and got pushed out/retired and chose financial advising as their second career. The successful guys had deep rooted connections in the industry and the new guys either had to produce or were pushed out within a year or so. This is probably the most competitive field to get into in advising.
Also sports are only now starting to pay enough to make it worth looking for clients in this space.
I just some quick math on the book size you could put together if you signed every star athlete in a certain. It comes out to like 500 million.
This post also has the I just watched “ballers” and it looks fun aspect to it.
I have seen an episode or two of that show and I know it's fantasized compared to real life. I just want to have a more active role in FA and have a diversified portfolio of individuals. Not just retirements accounts etc. I also started school studying to become a sports medicine doctor and after a few anatomy courses, I couldn't handle the sight of the cadaver. It's always been an interest of mine.
Thank you for that first-hand experience. What PWM firm was it by any chance? Did they have a designated sector for that work or were the clients just part of the normal division?
For confidentiality purposes I would like to hold off on that one. The research team at this firm is fairly small. That said fairly established private firm with 100B-500B under advisement, much smaller percentage of that is entirely discretionary. The institutional practice is much larger than the wealth practice. And yes, the athletic division was a subset of the wealth division as a whole.
Trying to contact Morgan Stanley reps that are in that specific division but I've had no response yet. Charles Schwab private client is something that could relate and I could get in, come December, hopefully to their starting position for analysts.
Park Lane IB sounds like it would be up your alley lol
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