Any thoughts on working in prime brokerage with institutional clients for a BB in greater NYC area. I know this not FO; MO actually, and likely won’t get me closer to CFA or analyst/PM positions, but still, is this a complete dead end, or can I realistically leverage some contacts and get into a strong MBA program in a copuple of years and then make a transition to FO? Bear in mind that I’m still pretty young and have a lot of vinegar in me. I’m still on the fence about this, and leaning towards no, because I do want to do FO work at some point. That being said, I am going nowhere now in BO and accounting, and this seems like a step at least in the right direction. Or is this just a false hope shinny tiled yellow brick road, taking me in the wrong direction? Thoughts?
anyone?
prime brokerage is as valuable as product control and auditing
You’ll presumably interact with a lot of people you might want to work with one day. The trick is whether they will think that being the executor of their trades is enough to want to hire you later on.
At least it’s not SUBPRIME brokerage! he he he
-1
damn
Halifax- you have an email I can hit you up at? I work in prime brokerage- happy to chat offline.
prime brokerage is something that looks good on a resume but doesn’t teach you a damn thing you need to get to front office. you get to ‘meet’ the people running the funds, but they don’t really care to much about you as you’re just hte person executing their administrative needs. that said, prime brokerage is better than BO but if you have other options, i would strongly consider those…as a stepping stone, prime brokerage isn’t all that bad, but the point of my rant is to convey the long road ahead if this is the next step. still can be done.
how do prime brokers get paid? based on experience or performance, etC?
I would think prime brokerage would be good experience for Capital Introductions etc???
“Berlin, this is Paris…” “Oh, I see you’ve met before!” 
just shot you an email
Thanks bannis. I’m still shoping the market, though a PB would be better than what I’m doing now and the company (GS) would be nice to work for, I’m not sure I’ll take it. It will come down to dollars and cents. I’m just getting frustrated after applying for a ton of FO jobs up here with no response
I’m supposed to interview for a position in prime brokerage at an investment bank in NYC. I’m graduating in May with my bachelors degree and this would be an entry level position. I was just wondering if I get the job what type of career opportunities could arise from this position later on. Maybe you could help me bannis since you work in PB, or maybe halifax if you took the job maybe you could give me some insight. Anyone in PB or used to work in PB could tell me what they’re doing now after working in PB. Thanks.
would totally depend on what type of position it was in prime. google any big firm’s prime site- take morgan stanley for example- prime brokers essentially provide a bunch of services, mostly to hedge funds. clearance/custody (if you were entry there you’d probably be in ops, not ideal but i guess everyone has to start somewhere), client service/relationship mgmt (if entry at a big IB you’d probably be a glorified customer service rep, but maybe it could give you skills to do something more meaningful in RM), securities lending (stock loan is an interesting business, a bit old school tony soprano-ish, but a big $$ maker for firms), cap intro (if you’re more salesy/marketing), execution (if you’re more on the trading or electronic/quant side), reporting (if you’re good at accounting and/or computer stuff), etc… it’s a big business- lots of areas to it. i think the big picture as a recent grad would be to get into a good named firm to get that on your resume, and learn some stuff about the institutional markets in general, more specifically how hedge fund conduct business. a lot of people look at prime as a backdoor into the buyside- you definitely get good exposure and talk to a lot of higher ups at funds. if you want to chat more, post up an email address and i’ll drop you a line. what kind of job in prime is it?
Thanks bannis for your response. My biggest concern was whether this was a good idea as an entry level job that could lead to other opportunities later on. I’m very interested in hedge funds and I’d consider a move into buy side. I know this is off into the future and I don’t even have the job yet, but it’s good to know I’m heading in the right direction.