Hi all, this is my 1st post here, i read a few posts, excellent ppl here!! please help me to clear my career development… i’m studying towards Dec CFA level 1, BA commerce, major accounting & finance, currently working as a corporate actions analyst in a large Aust custodian for 9 mths. at the moment, financial reporting team inviting me to join them as an investment accountant, one level up compared with my current role. should i take it??? i understand that i’m not gona to be an accountant nor stary in custody longer than 1.5-2yrs, i know that role’s doing nothing with cfa study, while i think it’s not a bad idea to do sth different before i get cfa level1/2, rite? i find it’s kind of easy for me to get the a similar role as a corporate action officer in IB BO doing operation job, should i go for it? should i try to get into IB first? is that investment accountant experience + cfa level1/2 is gona to expand my opportunities to get into IB? sth. in mid office (ie. risk mgt, product control, etc.) really confused… please please please help! any tips, any advises will help! also, in long run, i want to work in Asia (HK, Shanghai, etc) which will be closer to my parents, i dont think custody exp it that good, is it correct? THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH!!!
If you are going to do accounting work starting out, it’s better to be doing it in house at an asset manager, rather than at a custodian. The benefit of doing in at an asset manager is that there is the potential for advancement to other functions that are more closely related to the investment process. Therefore, I would suggest that you find similar employment with an asset manager, and pass your CFA exams. After a couple of year you will be in a good position to do something more analytical.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, Danteshek!!! great help!!! my current plan is, start this Investment accountant role till Feb/March next yr (6mths experience) and try best to pass level 1 this Dec. Then, from March 2008, relocate to Sydney, try to get into a global IB/ asset mgt firm. sounds realistic? if by time i have corporate action ( 9mths) & investment accountant (6mths) experience within custodian, what kind of job might i get? BO or MO? Hi, friends, please provide any advises or thoughts, thanks!! ^^
Sounds reasonable. If you’re a shmoozer like me you’ll want to be in marketing or client service. If you find the analysis more stimulating, risk analytics is a better bet and can lead to portfolio analysis.
THANKS, Danteshek!!
Leave the custodian… it’s a dead-end street. At the asset manager side, a custodial background doesn’t add anything as you’re too far away from the investment process. MO at an asset manager would be a good choice.
En Thanks, I feel strongly confirmed that I’m gona to leave custodian early next yr thanks!
which custodian are you working? are you located in sydney now? my situation is similar to your working in custodian now as fund accountant in unit pricing team. I would say you’ll learn more if you work in investment accountant i was doing investment accountant and moved to unit pricing team
I wonder which custodian you guys are working at. There are only 4 large ones and by the sounds of it, likely to be NCS. My first advice, don’t go to JPM/SS for the name, not worth it. BNP apparently pays more and certainly has many decent managers. To answer your question in short, FA and UP aren’t the best resort. Try to rotate internally as much as you can, unlisted unit trust, FX, FA, performance etc. Try to stay on performance more and know it inside out. From what I can remember, I’ve only seen performance people got recruited into asset management for the following reasons, 1. Fund manager needs someone to communicate with custodian and investment consultant, a performance guru is very handy. 2. Even though the fund has its own custodian, they still need someone internal to double check the work flow in. This case, a performance person is their best bet. Why? A performance guy needs to know FA + UP + performance, and what do they receive from custodian? Well, FA + UP + performance… Good luck with your plan, don’t get institutionalised in a custodian… don’t settle down and don’t lose the desire to get out of it.
Thank you, guys! yep, i’m currently in NCS located in Melbourne. i do plan to move to Sydney, not only bcs there’s more global IB & asset mgt firms there, but also bcs i can have a ‘better reason’ for jumping out from custodian: relocation…
Why not make the move now?
Interesting thoughts, the reality is, there are many asset managers based in Melbourne. If you are interested in working for a super fund, there are even more industry funds in Melbourne. For most of the major IB and asset managers, they have office in Mel… I guess I just don’t understand where this “more global IB…etc” thoughts coming from. And you certainly don’t need a reason to get out of custodian, because everybody does so…
i wan in FA now in UP and looking forward to move to performance and the move out to asset management side btw BNP certainly the better one … i know that for sure coz i’m in it
well, thanks!!! i dont want to spend time on job hunting this season since i want to focus on Dec cfa level 1 study now and to be honest, i dont feel confident to move up now in terms of my experience and explosure. In terms of global IBs, I have limited knowledge on them, but i do think Sdyney has much more opportunities as most of them (eg. MS, JP, DB,etc) are based there, isnt it? i had a vedio conference (although i did perform bad) with MS, i feel i really like the firm. In Mel, only ubs is interested in me while the position offered was not that exciting. I am looking for brand name not because it sounds good but bcs i want to work in Shanghai/ HK few yrs later, i want some credibility on my resume. that’s only my self-made-thoughts, must be very naive, welcome correct and please correct!! Thank you very very much!
Since when is UBS NOT a brand name?
yeah… since when is UBS not a brand name? actually, maybe after so many senior PM had left… something is going on… but mcthorp, if you can shed some light why there are like 5+ senior managers left within this year from UBS AM, will be much appreciated. cfalombok - good luck, have fun. I just got out of there not long ago, but it’s certainly a nice firm. with IB, there’s JPB, DB, “UBS”, GSJBwere, ML, MS, CS… you name it. They all have office in Sydney. I don’t know much about IB, rather leave the question to someone else.
I believe he was implying that UBS was the only brand name that seemed interested hence the “only UBS is interested” and then goes into why he likes brand names…
oops, i mean, in Mel, only ubs is interested in interviewing me… i received a consultant’s telephone from Sydney today, i expressed my current situation and my willingness to leave custodian. He said even if i go to Sydney next yr, 90% of my chance is still working in custody cause by time i just have 15-16mths experence… is it true? only 10% chance to get into IB??
Takumi, what was you position in BNP any position in BNP that you know of related to the CFA course? thanks for the advise
10%… did he mention that’s the high end? It’s not the end of the world, and it’s not like it’s impossible. It’s just…close to impossible. Drop me an e-mail if you really want to know. slow.takumi@gmail.com In short, position does not exist anymore and for your 2nd question, no.