I see a lot of folks on here looking for jobs, mostly unsuccessfully. Most seem to want to get into asset management or IB. Both are great, but not exactly hiring every warm body they can. I work for a top 4 (by AUM) investment consulting firm and am always surprised why more folks don’t consider this path. I wanted to share a few reasons some of you searching for jobs should consider consulting as a viable option. 1. As a consultant, I work with folks in a myriad of different investment roles. I have contacts at >50 different asset management firms, 5 large investment banks, all 4 of the big accounting firms, and a whole bunch of actuaries. Additionally, through work with clients, I have contacts at several fortune 500 companies and a lot of big pension funds. Why do I mention this? I’m not certain I want to do consulting forever. But I know that if I ever want to do something different, I have contacts in several different investment fields to at least send my resume to. Not all of them could or would help, but I’d wager this approach is far more likely to help me switch fields than just sending resumes out in the dark. 2. There is opportunity for a good bit of travel, and I play golf with clients/managers at least 4 times a month. This is great for breaking up the monotony of being in the office, but obviously not for everybody. 3. I only work about 50 hours a week. Peaks around 60 a couple of weeks a quarter. 4. The pay is good, but not outstanding. I bring home a decent 6 figure salary. Drawbacks 1. I don’t get to use hard core CFA stuff as much as some of you do. That doesn’t bother me but some on here might not feel intellectually fulfilled. 2. It’s not a job for folks who are socially awkward. You do have to feel confident talking to clients and socializing with people you don’t know well. 3. Pay is not as good starting off, but can be excellent if you do well and can bring in some clients. 4. It’s a profession that often values gray hair. Some clients will be skeptical you can do the job at first. But kick ass at a few meetings and they’ll come around. Just understand its not personal and show them you can do it. Now, with all this said, consulting jobs aren’t bountiful right now. Bur I think some of the folks on here languishing without offers might benefit from expanding their options beyond AM, IB, and PE. I hope I have at least convinced a few of you to think about it. It’s something you could do for a while and then if you want to do something else try to parlay your contacts into a different gig. Happy to answer any questions.
Hi dude. Thanks for your post. To apply Occam’s Razor, I will guess that few people consider jobs in investment consulting because there are actually fewer consulting jobs overall compared to jobs in research, sales, trading or investment banking. However, I’m sure that any reasonable person would consider good opportunities that fall into their path.
How long have you been in consulting? Years? Since undergrad/masters?
Sounds like a job I’d really enjoy, less the light hour load. I love communicating with clients/hashing out ideas or strategies and just showing them I can be a BAWS
Definitely sounds like the path I want to be on. Right now I need to find a way to get in to a bigger city than the one I work in…literally 4,400 or so is the population here.
It`s not a good sign if ass-man has slept with more women than the population of the town you reside in… Time to move on up.
I know it. The only problem is because if my situations i have been in, it somewhat looks like i have been jumping around from job to job. Not gunna use that as an excuse, but it is a turnoff to many HR people without having the back story. Just gunna have to work hard at it.
MP, Been doing this for 4 years now since undergrad. Will probably get an MBA at some point but I don’t think its necessary to get a consulting job. Clients and hiring folks put more value on CFA. I have had some fortunate breaks to move up quickly. AM, To be fair, the travelling and overnights add up so some weeks 50 is probably not a fair assessment of the hours. I enjoy the travel so it doesn’t feel like “work” to me but it certainly would for some.
I’m a little envious of the golf bit. Are you mostly in the DB space?
Just to be clear, you are 4 years out of UG and making well into 6 figures at a big insitutional consulting firm? In my top 10 insitutional consulting firm I know people with CFAs with 10yrs of exp not even breaking 100k. Your take on the industry is an exception to the rule.
Also, many people on the boards (and looking for jobs) are recent grads. Makes sense to look for research jobs since they’re hopefully still sharp from all the paper writing. Don’t know what finance company would hire a fresh grad to consult them on…maybe beerpong strategy or keg demand modeling, but I know a lot more people laid off at Anheuser-Busch than hired in the past few years…
Bipolar, I didn’t say well into 6 figures. In the 120k range. As I mentioned, pay is often not great at the beginning. I have had some fortunate breaks and also brought in a few clients which scaled my pay a good bit. Your points are fair. My main goal was to get folks to consider consulting as an alternative. Glad to see you are in the business as well.
cfa315- My only question is… Where do i apply 
really though what titles/job descriptions would a recent graduate look for?
Ski2Much Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > cfa315- > > My only question is… > > Where do i apply > > > really though what titles/job descriptions would a > recent graduate look for? https://www.cambridgeassociates.com/careers/job_description.asp?ID=CA
I do portfolio manager research and selection at large insurance company (my group of 7 oversees $80 bil+) and would love to get into an investment consulting firm but I’m sure they would turn their nose up at my experience because it’s with an insurance company. It’s especially annoying because there are many transferable skills.
cfa315, since ur pretty dang young how did you win those new accounts? can’t imagine winning a 3billion dollar plan with some kid 3yrs out of school.
In our somewhat smaller institutional consulting firm things aren’t quite as lucrative as described above, but it is an interesting sector of the financial services industry. Our compliance guy frowns upon us golfing with investment managers.
I believe the $1+ billion endowment at my alma mater farms the heavy lifting of managing its investment portfolio out to Cambridge Associates. I was disappointed when I found that out. In light of that I’m not quite sure what the few folks actually employed by the endowment in its investment function do all day.
What do you guys feel is a reasonable salary range for a charterholder just starting out as an portfolio manager analyst?