Folks: Any thoughts on pros and cons from a long term career perspective? Are ‘regular’ investment management positions available to those with experience in a non-profit setting? Thanks.
pro-work/life balance, long term you will be a consultant or run an endowment/foundation/pension etc, probably on boards of similar groups. con-you wont be doing company level analysis most likely (if thats your thing), dealing with a committee, limited upward mobility as most endowment staffs are somewhat small (ie-analyst to CIO is a short ladder). non profit or for profit I dont think it matters. Taxation will be different possibly but you can always learn that quickly.
Agree with tvPM . I work at a university, however my office manages the pension and endowment assets . If you are not very experienced like me , its a great learning oppurtunity . Our office is very small so I’m involved in pretty much everything i.e performance and attribution , manager due diligence , risk , asset allocation , asset class research , custody operations …etc etc . I cant really think of any cons …well I may not make as much as somebody in ER or @ an asset management firm but I do ok and I work about 50 hrs a week . In my view this experience could lead to various other roles within the buyside ( maybe not ER ) depending on what you want to do . Just wanted to mention that I’m in Toronto .
Thanks guys. Appreciate your insights. I havent worked in investment mgmt so this helps. The absence of company level analysis that tvPM pointed out sort of speaks to the ‘macro’ nature of the work. Would moving on to say, a hedge fund be difficult given that exposure to core strategies is limited? Maybe a FoF is more feasible. Rudeboi, can I contact you offline? Thanks.
My understanding is that this is a good track. Endowments are able to set aside a huge sum for staff compensation because as a percentage that amount is a small percent of the total endowment. Its a secure job albeit a bit boring. But in terms of job security and comp, I think its a good track.
I dont think moving to a HF or FOF would be necessary undoable…its the role at the shop that would be different. You will not be an security analyst at a HF coming from that type of role. You could definitely do HF manager research for a FOF, or work at a HF in a different capacity (fundraising is what comes immediately to mind as you will have a large network). You may find that endowments do quite a lot of work with HFs, and your knowledge of them will grow pretty quickly and become rather robust. You get a nice view of what is out there, dif strategies, how dif funds are setup and structured, etc and all of that is good knowledge for switching out to them someday if thats what you choose. If anything your connections you may build provides you with many dif job opportunities in the future, a rolodex on 100+ hedge funds you have met with and know people at is a resource most would kill for. Again, just my opinion.
cfaatsb Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Thanks guys. Appreciate your insights. I havent > worked in investment mgmt so this helps. > > The absence of company level analysis that tvPM > pointed out sort of speaks to the ‘macro’ nature > of the work. > > Would moving on to say, a hedge fund be difficult > given that exposure to core strategies is limited? > Maybe a FoF is more feasible. > > Rudeboi, can I contact you offline? > > Thanks. It is very macro in nature as you would rarely do any company level analysis .A FOF is definitely more feassible than a hedge fund however if getting into a hedge fund is what you really want to do I’m sure you can figure out a way to parlay that experience into a hedge fund job . Sure : sjdc0706 at gmail dot com
Thanks for all the inputs. Happy New Year! Rudeboi, I’ve written to you. Please take a look when you get a chance.