Assistant to the Traveling Secretary.
I have never seen anyone with the title of Jr. PM at a HF - you are either a PM or you aren’t…
if you arent making final decisions then you are just a research analyst
Choose something that people will recognize from outside. So either Portfolio Manager or Principal if you are feeling pretentious.
On a different note, my company has an automated system for making business cards. So, you just fill out a form, and the cards come in the mail. It’s probably possible to fill in absurd titles like “RoboCop” and get official company business cards…
HAIC was solid. Well done, guy who said that.
Here’s your chance to put BSD.
Grandmaster
Bsd or haic get my vote (depending on your ethnicity you could sub the a for a number of other letters).
PM Fluffer
What are people’s perceptions on the difference between Junior PM and Assistant PM? If you had to chose between the 2, which would you go for?
Aren’t they both back office work?
I hear mcap11’s point, but I think the OP has a chance to show career progression and would be foolish not to take advantage. In my due diligence on HFs I can say that this title is not unheard of…granted it is typically from a larger shop but the title should fit the job. If the OP is doing all of the work “as if,” then why shouldn’t he get the title? Perhaps Assistant PM is more fitting than Junior PM…I mean, hey, he’s assisting the PM, right?
CleverCFA, my perception (again, perception being the operative word) would be that the Junior PM has something more of a direct co-manager role and some undisputed portfolio pick authority, whereas an Assistant PM, I feel, is a title fitting more of a person who is being groomed for a PM role but not quite ready to pull the trigger as the final say. On the topic, I would feel Co-PM would outrank both, but I don’t think the OP is ready to go big timing and put that on his card yet.
If so, you’ve got seriously stringent requirements about what is considered FO (i.e. FO would be like 1 guy and everybody else is BO). If you’re involveed in the research and decision making process then that’s FO as far as I’m concerned, even if the final call isn’t up to you.
I would go associate PM over junior or assistant
Go for Portfolio Manager with the original Portfolio Manager promoted to Senior Portfolio Manager.
Have you searched about the titles in other similiar hedge funds?
CFAI certainly seems to portray Assistant PMs in a negative light. Half the time they mention someone making a stupid remark in the EOCs it’s an Assistant PM.
I like Associate PM though. Good call.
Yeah asisstment PM always makes the ethics violation and then it’s up to the main PM to rectify it, otherwise they too are in violation.
I think you are confusing associate PM with assistant PM. The former helps the PM with research and asset allocation, the latter reconciles accounts.
I don’t see the problem with just being called Portfolio Manager. If you go to a big hedge fund company, sometimes there are only two people managing a particular fund - the boss and his assistant. However, both have the title of “Portfolio Manager”. It’s not like you are doing operational work only. You said that the work is the same as what the boss does - only with some supervision.
If your boss does not think it’s right for you to have the same paper title as him, remind him that this is industry standard in many companies. Otherwise, suggest that he upgrades his own title so you are not the same. I suggest that he becomes the “Executive Boss” or “Supreme Ultimate Ruler”.
hmmmm…that’s not my experience but interesting to know that some people have this job with that title. I had this title at my last job at a small startup boutique fund manager which is why I was curious to know how it’s seen in the industry. I also has a choice between that and Jnr. PM. I let my wife decide though, she preferred Asst. PM for some reason. I was indifferent between the two. In such a small place, I did a bit of everything anyway from managing the portfolio/trading to doing recs to corp action processing to building our systems from scratch.
A lot of CFAI EOC questions involve “Mr. Smith, an Assistant PM” and this person is usually pretty involved in the research/decision process. Granted, they’re usually an idiot in these examples (i.e. they make incorrect statements that you’re meant to catch), but they’re in an FO position.
If you are in charge of water, then your title is Zanjero.
Don’t fret about the title. Chances of getting or losing anything because of it are slim. If it is an ego thing, as long as the others don’t care, go for PM. If not that, Associate PM sounds best to me.
As for the Analyst / PM difference, I always have more respect for the guy that crafted the gun than I do for the guy who simply pulls the trigger.