What to do now?

Question

I'm a M26/730/5 Years WE/3.1 from Top 20 Undergrad. After this being the 2nd Season where I did not get in anywhere, I'm trying to decide what to do next. I was a Reapp at Booth,Kellogg,CBS and Haas this year. I got WL'd at Kellogg and CBS then recently dinged at Kellogg (still waiting on CBS but assume thats a ding). I want to get into Investment Management, probably doing an Equity Research stint before getting into portfolio management. I currently work in finance, but not traditional IB or anything like that. So, what I'm trying to figure out now is whether I apply to some lower ranked FT programs, NYU, Michigan, Darden, etc or just go for the PT programs at Booth or Kellogg? Does anyone have any insight into people making semi-career switches from PT programs or is the FT really the only way to go? Does anyone have any good PT success stories? Most of the people I see who did the PT programs, have done nothing with them. Any/all advice is appreciated!
Thanks!

milias · Answer

One thing business schools look for is whether you will be employable in your target industry post-MBA. Since you come from a non-traditional finance background, it's far from guaranteed to get into the highly competitive fields you mentioned, even after going to a top b-school, and that makes admissions wary. I think applying to lower-ranked schools will help, but it has to do to a larger extent with your career goals and how you plan to achieve them. Best of luck!

geenski · Answer

So that's kinda a question I have as well...How hard is it to get into Equity Research -> Investment management? I don't see those fields discussed much on here and am wondering if people always come from the Sell-Side first? What I currently do is CDO Trust services, so it's a related job but we do no assset decision making. I should also mention that I'm about to take the CFA Level 2 and should have the CFA by the time I finish school.

milias · Answer

I'm not a finance person, so take it with a grain - or a pound - of salt. IB is probably the "easiest" thing to get into post-MBA, since business schools are big feeders to that industry. PE, VC, HF are pretty tough to get into, unless you have previous experience and/or go to H/S. I'm not sure about IM. As far as CFA is concerned, it may help, but it's not a big factor.

geenski · Answer

Anyone who is a finance person care to shine some light on the subject? I'm not looking to get into a HF,VC or PE, just looking to do Equity Research for an asset management firm or large bank.

Noodles · Answer

I'm from a BBIB (though admittedly real estate) so will give you my thoughts about equity research.

At major Ibanks, I can't imagine its that easy to get into. On the one hand an MBA would prepare you well to do the "actual job", learning how do value companies, doing PE ratios and all that jazz. On the other hand.......equity research teams tend to be small and you will have a lot of competition for the open spots.

I think the bottom line is......equity research is not easy to get into.

The CFA is actually probably quite useful for equity research, a fair proportion of research analysts have them or are in the process of taking them. So if you can get the level 3 done that would be a positive.

An MBA is still a better route in though. When you write your essays about wanting to do equity research you really need to craft a coherent story about which particular sector you want to cover and how your previous experiences made u realise this........and how an MBA will enable you to make the transition. Having done CDO Trust Services........Im not sure how this story would go (!) but Im sure if you ask yourself why you want to do ER/IM you can craft a compelling story.

Xerion · Answer

I agree with Noodles. Equity or FI research is not easy to get in, however getting an internship at buy side research seems far more difficult than sell side. I am looking to transition into credit research on the sell side myself and I think that CFA/MBA is a good combo. 
Regarding your essays, I will make sure that you explain clearly why do you want to do research and how your current job helped you to reach that decision. (it worked for me)
Good luck in any case!

Noodles · Answer

I forgot to mention, research teams really like it when you bring something to the table. For example, whether its a couple of years working at BP/Shell + MBA and then doing oil & gas equity research. Or working for Amazon + MBA then covering the internet & media sector.

Having done CDO work you are in kind of a tough spot (and GS/Paulson/the media arent helping you out too much at the moment!) Have you worked anywhere else previously that you can leverage? Or maybe you can write a story about wanting to do credit research.........?

bonethugnhominy · Answer

As far as I know, sell-side equity research isn't that glamorous of a field. I'm surprised the perception is that it's that difficult to get into.

That's just my outside perspective.

geenski · Answer

Well, I'm not sure what you guys do or don't know about CDO trust services but I'll give you the gist of what I do and be curious to see what you think. In particular, I work on CLO's, so 95% of the loans are Syndicated Commercial Loans. The portfolio reads as basically a list of companies, most of them public, but also plenty of private. We are privy to a lot of information about these companies, esp debt outstanding, payment terms, private ratings etc. As trustee for the CLO's, we are responsible for all reporting, payment and handling of the collateral. We see company loans purchased and sold and the prices being paid for these things. We also have to deal with Moodys and S&P for rating issues. I think this has given me a pretty unique perspective on the derivatives markets as well as an insiders view of how companies are financed and how their ratings are determined. So that is basically the story I told/plan to tell. After being rejected from a few of my top Schools (Haas,Kellogg,Booth, WL'd at CBS), I'm just trying to figure out if I should try NYU or Michigan or just settle for a PT program at Kellogg or Booth if I want to get into ER. I am also open to doing FI research or Credit Research, I just think ER is much more prevelant.

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