Buy-Side Fixed Income Research

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Gary Seinfield

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For those of you who work in or are interested in working in FI research, I'm interested in why you'd choose it over equity research. Does it appeal to more quantitative types who aren't as interested in a company's "story," or did you simply fall into FI research because of your prior experience? Did you find it too difficult to break into equity research, and that's why you chose FI research?

I don't work in either, but I have a good quantitative background. I know I'd like equity research, and that's been my primary goal, but some days I think FI would be cool too. Other days I think it might be horribly boring. The problem is that I'm not sure exactly what buy-side FI research entails. I know some FI traders, but nobody in research, and the Vault and Wet Feet guides to investment management seem to completely ignore FI research.

Any good career guides out there on FI research? Better yet, anyone here who can provide some insight?

Thanks,
Gary
 
Grunt, are you buy-side or sell-side FI research? (I could infer from the post, but I could be wrong)
 
cfa2grunt, just curious how you came up with your "attractive" moniker (somehow i gather that you are not a grunt, nor do you grunt...though i could be wrong).

btw did you see my post on the "music" thread the other day?
 
cfa2grunt Wrote:
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> Equity wouldn't have me, so here I am. Good luck.

Is is really that bad?
 
Is it more difficult to get into Equity research than FI? If anything, I would have thought it was the other way around. Any comments would be appreciated.

Off the cuff, I would have guessed that the analytical skills necessary for FI would be greater, thus raising the bar for acceptable candidates.
 
No, no, it's not bad, Gary. I'm on the buy-side (in structured finance) and really enjoy what I do. I'm quite happy being on the buy-side. I never considered equity, so can't speak to the differences between them a great deal. I feel like my particular area is quite a bit more quantitative than equity and like it because of that.

Numi, sorry for my lack of response. No, I'm not too much of a grunt (I hope)! I created my handle a couple of years ago, and was in a bad mood while prepping for level II. As for music, I had piano lessons for 3 years, which I loved. But I was forced to give them up when my parents sprung for private school tuition. I still played on my own a bit, but not seriously. I'm currently negotiating with my parents to get the piano from them for my house :-) I'd like to tune it and start playing again. And I'd love to have a piano for when my yet-to-be-born kid is little...

That's great that you played so seriously! I think it helps develop a real sense of discipline and it's great to have a creative outlet. Seems to be much more fun the better one gets.
 
FI research is more selective about education/quantitative background because fixed income securities are inherently driven by the numbers. Candidates need to demonstrate a high level of facility with numbers so many people are effectively filtered out before they even apply. There are more people in equity research from a variety of different backgrounds. However, I think there are also more applicants competing for these positions, simply because there is more visibility and focus on the equity markets for the average person, hence more "hype" surrounding equity research at least for positions with less than 3 years of experience.

Net/net, I think it's comparably difficult to get into either one. However, I couldn't say for sure since I've never worked in FI research -- my only knowledge of that field comes from people I know who work there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Friday, September 15, 2006 at 01:31PM by numi.
 
grunt or others, can you share some info on common backgrounds in FI research? buy-side FI research is my goal for now, and I'm wondering about my prospects. Right now I'm a credit analyst in risk management, I do fundamental credit research on our trading counterparties. We don't take the credit research to the next step, valuation, so that is an obvious difference. I've though of spending a few years at a ratings agency as a stepping stone to the buy side as well. Any thoughts are welcome.
 
What kind of FI research you thinking about here Seinfield? I definitely don't think equity research is harder to get into than say.....a hy/distressed group, or a credit derivative position, or a structured products position. They're all different though, so it depends what you're looking for.

Personally, I just felt there was more to FI than equity....more ways to play it, more optionality for future job prospects, more crossover to other products....and that's why I leaned towards it.
 
May be mathical can chime in - he is in an elite FI research group on the buy side.
 
Randall Wrote:
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> What kind of FI research you thinking about here
> Seinfield?

Not sure. That's what I'm trying to figure out. I'd like it to be something where I'm learning about individual companies and industries in addition to more macro issues. Any good books/articles/web sites describing the differences (pros, cons, day-to-day responsibilities) between careers in several different areas?

As numi said, equity research gets much more press. As a result, career info is much easier to find. Not true for fixed income research.

Thanks to all for your responses.
 
Has anyone not read the book "Liar's Poker" by Michael Lewis
 
I work as a credit analyst at one of the three agencies. I kind of got here by luck shortly after college. I think I am getting useful experiance. Excel, writing, presenting, and everything else you have to do at any research position. If you have a hard time breaking into Equity, you just might like credit analysis. You can specilize in any sector and then transfer your skills to buy-side or IB. I like it.
 
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