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sguazza

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Hey dudes

I have a question. What do you think about starting a career with Ernst & Young in their asset management branch during one or two years, passing level 1 and 2 of the CFA and then try to find a job as a research analyst????

Thank you
 
Do you have an offer with E&Y? What are your alternatives?

This sounds like it would be a pretty good way to start.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Tuesday, September 18, 2007 at 03:43PM by XSellSide.
 
Yes, i have an offer as a junior auditor and advisor in the asset management branch of Ernst & Young

I have also an offer from HSBC Private Bank as a credit officer for lombard credit

but i really think that the offer of ernst & young will be more useful for my future career if I want to become a research analyst or if I want to work in the fund management industry

isn't it?
 
If you are doing auditing of asset management companies at earnst and young and then transition to an asset management firm they will likely want to place you in a portfolio administration / investment accounting role for a year or two.

It will be hard to get into an analyst position right away at a big firm. Maybe it's doable in a RIA or other small AM firm. I would suggest going straight into operations at an asset management firm and work your way from there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at Tuesday, September 18, 2007 at 04:01PM by Danteshek.
 
maybe you're right but i saw many job descriptions for research analyst position where they were asking for experience in audit of 1 to 2 years + enrollment in the cfa program

but it is clear that i mustn't stay centuries in this position. one or two years maximum

and collect as much possible contacts from the asset management industry
 
thank to all of you for your answers
if someone else has an advice, don't hesitate
 
As a general rule I would advise against starting in operations as a path to get into research. It is possible (I did it), but it was an uphill battle. Of course different shops will have different policies on moving people up from the back office to research, but in general it is a difficult transition to make. I think making the switch from auditing, although also no walk in the park, is probably less of a hurdle.
 
i second that... i moved from operations to equity research as well and it was a nightmare. i landed more interviews straight out of college than i did with 6 months of operations experience on my resume. a lot more.

going straight into operations and working your way from there is not a very viable path towards becoming a research analyst. maybe ops to trader's assistant to trader... but there is no interaction between operations and research.
 
Great point at the end there stylemog. Research has to be the most detached, isolated area of an asset management firm by far (I'm talking buy side as that is what i know). We talk only to traders and PMs and live in our world of earnings calls, 10-qs, and news flow with no real contact with the nuts and bolts stuff that allows the investment process to function. I had to contact someone in ops recently to get some holdings information, and literally no one in research had any idea where to start, who to talk to, where those people sit, or if they were even in this building (or this state for that matter). I had to ask our trading desk to point me in the right direction.
 
so why can I see job description asking for investment management audit experience and enrollment in the CFA program?

look at theses job descriptions:
1. http://jobs.efinancialcareers.co.uk/job-4000000000300662.htm/keywordAny=cfa%20audit/

2. http://jobs.efinancialcareers.co.uk/job-4000000000305247.htm

.......

and also many articles saying that taking one of the many accounting jobs currently available while working on the CFA is a terrific possibility:

http://news.efinancialcareers.co.uk/ADVICE_ITEM/newsItemId-6061#goToPoll

who should I trust?
 
i have no idea how useful audit is...

job 1) is for fund of funds.... you're not analyzing investment opportunities, you're doing diligence on financial managers and hedge funds so you can see how audit would be more applicable.

it's a completely different skillset from being an equity research analyst on the buy or sell-side (though closer than ops or audit).

2) is really vague. but it seems very entry-level. doing audit to get a job like that would be like a stepping stone to a stepping stone. if you're hungry enough maybe its worth it.
 
ok so the best thing will be to get my level 1 in december
and change my job
 
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