I obtained my CFA certification for the simple reason- I wanted to be an equity research analyst (sell side or buy side).
But now that I finally broke in, and have been here for some time, I realize how bad shape the industry is in.
Buy side keeps getting hit but shift to passive, while sell-side (where I am) faces structural challenges from MIFID-2, as well as declining volumes. My firm just laid off 4 teams last week, and this comes after a talk by our Director of Research that bank is “investing in research”
Now, I am trying to strategize what to do and how to do? What possible exit ops are there and what will be most fulfilling (has to be somewhat related to directly investing in public/private i.e. not IR)
Any suggestions? Are you guys looking at exit ops?
I hear ya bud. ER was brutal; long hours for declining pay. Unfortunately you may want to explore another career. Marathon is on to something as I know a few people that have gone the data science route. Not sure how the pay is, but the work-life seems a lot better.
I personally am trying my hand in a start-up PE fund so we’ll see how it goes.
dude i mentioned in another thread that I am taking programming classes. learn now before the wave of programmers and AI come barreling in because by then it will be too late.
you will never be as good as someone with a computer science background. It is just plain dumb to start learning programming as if youre gonna pick it up overnight.
I am starting to think that PE is the one area with tailwinds instead of headwinds. I’m in a similar situation as the OP, except I don’t have long hours at all and my firm is very committed to the business and sector I cover.
Eff, I was considering equity research as MBA internship and possibly career move. Maybe I’ll just stick to PE and network my around to find another firm post business school.
well that is obvious. I or other finance folks are not taking some ~30 session programming classes to fight for jobs at Microsoft to be the next engineer to code Windows 11…We learn so that we can code simple formulas, automate few things, make rules for the computer to scan stocks with certain criteria we designate, or put trading instructions so we can get rid of execution traders who in my opinion is about as worthless as …
Look at analysts or PMs at top funds (top here is subjective) such as two sigma or citadel. They have not only spectacular resumes - finance focused - but also have working knowledge of coding.
^This. With a lot of the nested logical functions we use in excel for modeling, it’s basically a mild form of coding. I think some are just suggesting taking it a step further with actual coding.
My advice would be to learn the basics of Data Science and how to code Machine Learning algorithms (which are not nearly as difficult as it might sound) and then combine that with your domain expertise (probably some form of Finance for most people here) – and that will help to keep you ahead of the curve. There will always be stronger programmers out there – but they also likely won’t have the domain expertise and experience (which does still count for something).
Python and R have pretty sophisticated libraries that can do a lot of heavy lifting “under the hood” so that you can run Machine Learning algorithms with literally just a few lines of code. It is important, though, to have a good grasp of the principles and mathematics that are underpinning those algorithms.
These days, really if you don’t continue to learn new skills you’ll eventually get ground under the wheel.
The first option is close to data science, but the only problem is I wont have any pre-requisites for it. I know someone who went there and their interview process was fairly long and comprehensive. I think i will need some time to build up my abilities in that area before I can actually realistically make that move. (and BTW i am brushing up on Python so I am trying to do this)
However, i think that the danger for my own job is a lot more short term. My boss isn’t II ranked and not the best analyst (but has a huge ego), so chances of him getting cut are pretty high.
The reason why I liked the second path better was that I want to at least be in a somewhat finance-heavy job. Plus, I started looking into PE (and growth equity), and it seems like a really good way of generating good returns long term. BUT then everyone in IBD wants to PE, so it just becomes very difficult to make that transition (from EQR).
ER to PE is incredibly difficult. The process is often very formulaic and often very pedigree driven. As you put it, most deal guys in PE come from at some point IB and/or have some operational or corporate transactional background. Worse, you sometimes can get boxed out of PE and regulated back to IB or consulting after your fund’s vintage is up.
You might be able to square away an entry or early analyst role as you essentially have all of the same skill sets from EQR. Aim for the industry you cover/know. As you get older, it gets much harder because you’ll lack deal and/or operational experience, as well as, a network to source opportunities.