I am posting this for a friend since he does not want to use his corporate email to register for this. He would like to find out if it’s possible to switch from fixed incomes to equities. There isn’t much upside for fixed incomes area anymore, he would like to hop on to the next train (equities) with much better potential going forward. His passion is always in equities. He landed a fixed income job while the market was a bit shaky couple years back, there were very limited equities jobs around. Has anyone switched from fixed incomes to equities before? What would be the best way to justify your switch? What is the chance of a credit analyst cum trader sitting on buyside move into equities sales trading on sellside (or equities research on buyside)? Any input will be greatly appreciated.
I know some equity traders who started off in fixed income. Few people make this switch, but if your friend has a good resume, I don’t see why it can’t happen. He’ll probably have to wait for the job market to improve though. There are too many unemployed equity guys at the moment. As for justifying the switch… just say that you think there is no more edge in fixed income/whatever he was doing. People will understand that.
It’s easier to do it earlier in the career. My best friend did FI for 2 years and moved to equities buy-side.