I have one comming up. Its a shop that focuses on ultra high net worth families etc (min investment is $25 million). I honestly dont know too much about these types of shops and was hoping someone could give me some advice/guidance. does anyone here work for a similar type shop?
I do yes. I would suggest that you dress immaculately. If you don’t own a high end suit, this is your opportunity to get one. I’m serious. If you are going to be in front of families with that kind of money you should be seriously dressed, shaved and groomed. In terms of investment strategies you could talk about charitable foundations - in the family’s name. I find that many of these families do things for vanity and that if you can combine street smarts, vanity and actual investment acumen you’ll do very well. Willy
I would second WillyR on the dress advice. I work in a 5 to 50 million target client wealth mangement firm and everyone even associates wear tailored/high end clothes especially on days where we are in meetings with clients. There is a segement of our department that does 50 million and up (sounds like what your interviewing for) and it only gets more “upscale.” We all know that expensive clothes don’t make you smarter but from what I have seen the intial perception can count for a lot. Thanks, -T
I used to work at a place like that. Aside from attire I found it important to really be aware of how you present yourself or how you they will perceive you in front of clients. Your ability to explain investment concepts and strategies in a smart fashion, teamwork(we would often work with trust/relationship people, tax, etc), and be able to talk general market conditions(ie-lots of volatility creating opportunities, etc). Depending on the role I guess…biggest things I saw were professionalism, appearance/ability in front of clients, and investment acumen.
I’ve heard this too. Ironically, when you are working on the institutional side, rather than the HNW side, you want to be a bit careful about dressing up too much. For the HNW clients, they want to feel that you make good money from your ideas and also could “fit in” with their crowd, understand their life and needs (and that you look good/smart/qualified if you ever show up and are seen by their associates). On the other hand, institutional clients look at immaculately dressed folks and may start wondering if you’re buying all those nice things on their dime. A friend told me about a relationship manager who serviced both HNW and institutional clients. She had a “dress up” wardrobe for the HNW folks and a “dress down” wardrobe for the institutional ones. The “dress down” wardrobe was still pretty dressy compared to other industries (MD’s seem very proud of their “scrubs,” and IT folks often like the khakis+polo shirt look), but definitely not as polished as the “dress up” one.
I like you screen name.
dress to impress? that’s why I cant succumb to this bullshit in the advisory/consultancy world. too much brown-nosing and schmoozing if you asked me. that’s why i rather do institutional consulting. lol. we just deal with lay unsophisicated committee members (well, excluding those from multi-billion-dollar accounts – some CIOs from there are intimadating).
this advice is only relevant if you are client facing. don’t waste the money on the big clothes unless you are on the front line. by the way, nice ties go a long way…most people cannot tell the differnce between a $900 suit and a $2500 one (proper fit is most important, not the materials); however crappy ties can be spotted a mile away…also , nice shoes are a good investment and will last forever (if cared for properly).
buy the suit for the interview, dont get it altered or hemmed. then return it.
that or stop worrying so much about the suit and start thinking about what you are going to say during the interview…looking cool in a suit and being a mental otherwise wont get you the gig either. Well, at least it shouldnt.
I worked for a wealth management group who worked with people in the 500 million to 10 billion range. Mainly families and my interview was very focused on two things. 1. being client focused and 2. strong understanding of what the firm offered. My job was very team focused and we only had about 40 clients. It was fun and I learned a lot. I also got to meet a lot of people within my company. I would say being team focused, working hard and a will to learn a little about a lot of things would be very helpful.
If you want to be prepared for the interview, know your market. A good start would be the book Global Private Banking and Wealth Manangement by David Maude, ex McKinsey & Company, a Wiley Finance book. It is very comprehensive. See reviews in Amazon. HNW’s want trust, competency and empathy, in that order. Display these in the interview and don’t worry about the suit.
HeathSS Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If you want to be prepared for the interview, know > your market. A good start would be the book Global > Private Banking and Wealth Manangement by David > Maude, ex McKinsey & Company, a Wiley Finance > book. It is very comprehensive. See reviews in > Amazon. > HNW’s want trust, competency and empathy, in that > order. Display these in the interview and don’t > worry about the suit. I can’t vouch for its accuracy, but this sounds like awesome advice. (About not worrying about the suit: I wouldn’t show up naked though).
It all depends on the shop’s investment style and how they attract clients. I used to work for a similar shop, but most of the clients we have are the portfolio managers and CEO’s friends and networks. I co-managed a few HNW accounts from people which my boss met in the Ferrari club or Porsche club. Having been in the investment industry for 30-40 years, most managers are pretty well off (they better be, its their job!) and they have enough friends in their circle to invest on them that they don’t need to advertise anywhere. Most advertisement efforts are done to attract ppl at the institutional level and IA with HNW accounts. That’s where most of the horse and pony shows occur. Edit: forgot to put int he point of this post 
, a nice suit isn’t really going to cut it. You must be able to “mimic” your client. On one of my investment meetings, we spent 10 minutes talking about the best place to get tires for the client’s F430. My boss was in a golf shirt and I was in business casual. I don’t think the mimicry was the part that sold them, but our superior investment process and principle.
thanks for all the advice. im going to try and get my hands on that book asap. i think im all set as far as suits go.
Just curious Dr. von Nostrand, what city is this job in?
TeepeMan- the job is in nyc.
Cool good luck, i’ve seen a lot of these types of jobs opening up recently in nyc area.