Investment Mgmt Internships

Question

Any other 1st-years looking at investment mgmt internships? I'm talking equity or fixed income research for a mutual fund, hedge fund, or perhaps the asset mgmt arm of a bank or insurance company. Not wealth mgmt. Also, staying away from PE and VC for now.

Let me know and perhaps we can team up and share resources. These guys don't recruit on-campus as much as i-banks and consulting firms do, so we need to do a lot more of the work on our own.

gmatclb · Answer

What do people mean when they say wealth management?

Is this the retail side of IM?

I'll be looking for IM internships next year, so I'll follow this thread closely.

naturallight · Answer

I think of wealth mgmt as something closer to financial planning, not something like research. So you'd be working one-on-one with rich folks, helping them manage their portfolios, account for taxes, handle estate planning, that sort of stuff. So in some cases it would be the retail side of IM, but there are also independent shops.

For investment mgmt, I'm talking about working as a research analyst for a fund, perhaps covering 15-20 companies in a certain industry or being more of a generalist. So you're doing things like looking through SEC filings, building financial models, listening to earnings calls, etc, all in an effort to value the stock.

The thing is, investment mgmt is a very scalable business, so these funds can take on tons more assets without adding new people. They make the same amount of decisions, they just buy bigger positions. For example, I've been talking to a well-respected mutual fund with over $200bn in assets. They only take 2 interns per year. Makes you want to resort to i-banking

gmatclb · Answer

Which mutual fund is this?

What time of the year are they recruiting for internships?

forcefeed · Answer

This is what scares me about IM, plus the fact that the recruiting is later in the year compared to everything else. I might be tempted to go IB for my internship and first job out of school, and then make the transition to IM after that. Do you have any tips on how to prepare for IM before heading to bschool?

baer · Answer

Network.

gmatclb · Answer

Here's another biggie...

One of the exit opportunities out of IB is to get into IM. In fact, some of the best IM jobs aren't available to fresh MBAs and are only open to seasoned MBAs/CFAs.

But the only (typical) entrance into IB is either out of undergrad or MBA....So do you get that top tier IB job and then jump ship to IM after 1-2 years or try to gun for IM on the get go.

I'm thinking of IB just because of the simple fact that I won't be able to land an IB job if I don't get it right out of B school. Do IB for 1 year and then jump ship to greener pastures.

forcefeed · Answer

I can't recall where I saw this, but I have heard some people state that networking isn't  as  important for IM. I've bought a couple of books that GSB's IMG recommends, but am always looking for more advice.

naturallight · Answer

I think I wrote a big post on this last year, but here's the short version:

- read as many books on investing as you can
- build your own stock portfolio
- write up a long and a short stock pitch
- look into the cfa program
- read the wsj each day

baer · Answer

My experience would support the contrary. My brother works in IM (fixed income), and it's a very small community of people, who all know each other (at least in NYC). He got his job straight from networking out of undergrad, he's not an MBA or CFA either. 
 A common perception about IM is that if you lose money, you'll be quickly fired. Though this is true, no one ever mentions that other desks are very quick to hire axed traders. This is because of the networking you will do at work and after work. It not a coincidence that his firm is entirely composed of Columbia MBA's.

naturallight · Answer

yeah, I think it just depends how you define 'networking'. it isn't like schmoozing at the events the banks have. it's more like getting in touch with alumni on your own and building a relationship.

Praetorian · Answer

Here is naturallight's excellent post on asset management: 103-t46310 Some other information can also be found here: 103-t46380

baer · Answer

Exactly... we we're talking about two separate things... lol.

bsd_lover · Answer

Good to see you're still around baer. Sent you a kudos for this post. Very useful info for an aspiring trader like myself

gmatclb · Answer

So should I take the CFA Level 1 before I start this Fall?

Have you guys noticed any CFA level 2 candidates getting noticed more for interviews or is the Level 1 pretty much nothing?

I'm weighing the option of chilling and goofing around or being serious and studying for level 1.

naturallight · Answer

It's a pretty brutal, time-consuming process, so I would think carefully about it. The failure rates for each level are 40-60%. It's primarily designed for a research/PM job function, so if you think you might want to do i-banking or corporate finance, it won't be as helpful. If you did decide to do it, you should start studying right away.

Lots of people sign up for level 1, put it on their resumes, and don't really follow through with it. So being able to put "Level 2 candidate" on your resume would help, but it probably isn't huge.

naturallight, CFA

cbreeze · Answer

naturallight, do you have official CFA designation? Or you've just taken and passed all levels?

gmatclb · Answer

What were you doing before B school?

And what were the job prospects like with just the CFA on your resume?

naturallight · Answer

Yep, I have the official designation. It was quite a relief to be done. Getting through the program required some genuine sacrifices, most notably in the areas of boozing and playstation.

Before b-school I was working for an investment firm that is fund-of-funds (aka a manager of managers). FoF's are a great business model, but not too exciting to work for. I want to work for a firm that is actually making the investments, like a mutual fund or hedge fund.

I think the CFA definitely helps with the job search, but it's not a magic bullet. Since b-school has so many career changers, having a CFA is a good way to show you're serious about the industry. Also, there are some firms that really like the CFA and require all of their analysts to be working toward it, so obviously it's helpful at these firms.

However, some firms could care less. This is especially the case at smaller firms where the main guys don't have CFA's. Also, if you want to work in a finance area but not inv mgmt, it's not really a boost.

But in terms of getting the coveted on-campus interview invites, I think there's a lot of other factors that make more of a difference, such as past work exp, networking (including attendance at all company presentations and the like), how you show you're really dedicated to the industry, and probably a few other things that I'm forgetting.

cbreeze · Answer

So, if you are a chartered CFA, that means you had 4 years of relevant work experience ? I hope you don't mind my asking why you are pursuing an MBA if you have the official charter? 
I have a friend, a sell side analyst, is a CFA but does not think an MBA is necessary.

Investment Mgmt Internships

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