The move would be easier to an sell side institutional sales role or product specialist or account manager role (on the buy side) than an equity research role. Wealth Management is a sales job, plain and simple.

Getting a CFA could help but I wouldn't think that'd be the way in. You'd be a sales guy with a CFA - what makes you different than the 8 billion ops guys with CFAs who also want the job and also have no investing or research experience, right?

 

All depends on your role. If you work with complex instruments for hnw clients then the transaction is very easy. It becomes easier of you happen to work in the wm sector of a firm with instructional clients as well. If you are an FA who does sales and marketing and mostly outsources transactions, may be difficult

 

What would you think of doing in AM, as roles are rather diverse. I could see it being rather feasible to go from say, a support role to a support role, or Financial Advisor to wholesaler. To be honest, looking at my firm, I am not aware of anyone other than myself who has done so, and it was a long route from one highly specialized role to another. (and we're a big firm)

The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.
 
Best Response

not great, but also not impossible. here's what I'd do, since I work in PWM and before my business took off I daydreamed about moving to Cali and working at PIMCO, Brandes, Oaktree, or TCW.

  • get your CFA, you don't have to finish it, but at least pass L2 and be working on L3 when you're recruiting
  • crush it at your current job. if you're a financial advisor, you need to leave that ASAP, that's a sales role (esp in the early years) and will not transfer well. whatever you're in, crush it, a turd on the resume will stink up anything else that's good
  • work on your investment prowess. join things like sumzero and value investors club, have your thesis torn apart and sharpen your skills. this will mean many nights and weekends refining this
  • take the GMAT, crush it (over 700 at least, preferably higher). this will make sense in a moment
  • network, network, network. meet with anyone who will listen, learn about their asset class, learn about their work, ask for help, you'll get told no a lot but you might get a hit with a boutique AM shop and it's a helluva lot easier getting into a big name from a small name in the same industry than it is to get into a big name from PWM
  • meet with ER analysts from your firm. don't go for the MD, but if you work at Merrill, you have access to their entire directory, use it. if I was in your shoes, I'd plan a couple trips to NYC if you're not there already (outside of earnings season), and say "hey I'm gonna be in the area and I've been reading your reports a lot, would love to pick your brain about X over coffee or lunch (probably coffee). can we visit for a bit at the office on 42nd st?
  • if all else fails, use that GMAT to recruit for a top MBA.
  • after you graduate b school, go into IB if you can't get an AM job (have heard anecdotally that it's hard to go straight from MBA to buyside if you weren't already buyside)
  • from there, try to lateral to buy side as if you were anyone else

best of luck

 

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