What are the prospects of starting in AM?

hi all, need some advice regarding this: firstly, with the aim of being a portfolio manager, is it better to start on the sell-side on ER/IBD or buy-side? then secondly, what's the salary like for top AM houses such as JPM AM and BlackRock etc in London for an analyst out of undergrad? (referring to front office research roles)

 
covariance1:
what about salary at buyside vs sellside for the above roles? can anyone provide some ballpark figures?

Competitive. Similar or higher base but typically much lower bonus. Some places comp retardedly well though but by and large you should expect a standard base, 60 or 70k probably 70, and something like 30-40% bonus.

But I want to stress that what you make your first 2 years is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO irrelevant... you will be absolutely baffled at how quickly you build wealth after you're a few years out. Don't go to the sell side because it pays 20k more all-in comp (which it should, given the hours) if you know you want to be on the buy-side and you can start on the buy-side, do it. And another thing - the 'New York or bust' mentality has no place on the buy-side either, so if that's a factor for you, trust me - it shouldn't be.

I hate victims who respect their executioners
 

Comp is roughly equal out of undergrad. All-in is more variable on the buyside, although with a larger salary component; some are higher (Fidelity) some lower (Franklin Templeton). I am basing the above on "normal" bonuses. ER bonuses are were low last year, and could likely be low again this year. And, of course, salaries decrease as you move to smaller/less profitable firms, both buy and sell side.

You might make 10k more at one job or another, but I wouldn't let that impact your decision too much.

 
covariance1:
hi all, need some advice regarding this: firstly, with the aim of being a portfolio manager, is it better to start on the sell-side on ER/IBD or buy-side? then secondly, what's the salary like for top AM houses such as JPM AM and BlackRock etc in London for an analyst out of undergrad? (referring to front office research roles)

If you can get into a front office research role in a top asset management shop then that would be much preferable in my view if your goal is to become a portfolio manager, as opposed to churning out colorful pitchbooks or whatnot. Better to not spend a day in the sell side if you can help it. Sorry but that's the harsh truth.

 

salary is about 40k in london starting for FO asset management in London. Bonus's much lower than IBD, probably less than 10k in first year but work life balance is pretty good. rarely in the office past 7pm and you can come in about 7 30/8. yoy salary bump is about 15% so really not bad. PMs normally take home low 6 figures, good ones take high 6 figures, amazing ones, 7 figures but sky is the limit.

 
Best Response
darety:
salary is about 40k in london starting for FO asset management in London. Bonus's much lower than IBD, probably less than 10k in first year but work life balance is pretty good. rarely in the office past 7pm and you can come in about 7 30/8. yoy salary bump is about 15% so really not bad. PMs normally take home low 6 figures, good ones take high 6 figures, amazing ones, 7 figures but sky is the limit.

Avg PMs taking home low 6 figures? Even in Pound Sterling I find that hard to believe. I work in the industry in New York so I guess I can't speak to London as directly but that seems awfully low. Maybe your firm uses the term "PM" more liberally than mine?

 
cheese86:
darety:
salary is about 40k in london starting for FO asset management in London. Bonus's much lower than IBD, probably less than 10k in first year but work life balance is pretty good. rarely in the office past 7pm and you can come in about 7 30/8. yoy salary bump is about 15% so really not bad. PMs normally take home low 6 figures, good ones take high 6 figures, amazing ones, 7 figures but sky is the limit.

Avg PMs taking home low 6 figures? Even in Pound Sterling I find that hard to believe. I work in the industry in New York so I guess I can't speak to London as directly but that seems awfully low. Maybe your firm uses the term "PM" more liberally than mine?

If low 6 figures is 300k and under, that's probably about right. 300k pounds sterling is equal to a little more than 480k US dollars I believe. I'd say that's pretty good for an average salary.

Even in dollar terms, $300k is probably a bit high for the average PM in the US. At a top AM firm or at a fund in a major financial center, the average PM likely makes more than that, but the average American PM in general (counting HF, AM, PWM, etc) probably makes somewhere between $100-300k in salary.

 

the top performers in my company tend to be the named PMs on fund documentation etc. and are the people hitting 7 figures. my low 6 figures refered to more junior people mainly but there are plenty of older people who aren't very good and have effectively stagnated. my firm is quite liberal with the portfolio manager title as its cheap to confer it and makes people feel important. also by low 6 figures i mean about 250k.

 

Darety-Sounds like most of it comes down to the use of PM then at various firms. PDX... you continue to use the term salary but I cannot tell if you mean salary + bonus which si really the only useful number to quote here. To me anyone working in PWM is not a portfolio manager by my definition but I know that the title can be conferred on people in a variety of jobs not limited to just those you named (i.e. commercial banking loan PM). No one managing a legitimate chunk of money at an investment firm in a PM role is making just $100k a year. I think it is safe to say no one on my investment team makes

 

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