I’m a new poster, but I have relied on AF for motivation and study help through level 1 and 2. It’s a great place and I always recommend it to people in the CFA program. I’ve been having this discussion with a few colleagues and would like to hear from anyone who transitioned from investment sales to analysis, or anybody who hired someone internally from the sales team. I’ve worked for 3 companies so far, all in the investment sales roles, and so far my impression is that if you are hired to do sales, you are expected to stay in sales. In fact, 4 of my former colleagues (from mutual funds sales/investment advice background) have now become CFA charter holders, but are all stuck in sales (I’m not sure if there way any effort on their part to transfer though). My colleagues’ argument is this: it’s easier to get into sales, build your reputation with the company, and then transfer internally a few years later…. Good plan, but does it actually happen?
It’s funny you posted about this. I am actually mid-interview process with 3 or 4 mutual fund companies for inside sales positions. My motivation is to eventually switch over to an analyst role (after some hard work and ass kissing). I would be interested in anyone else’s input.
By the way, I have met a few people who have made the switch, although it’s obviously rare.
So I’ve worked at 4 sell side firms now, and it’s really rare to see sales -> research. In the sales role, you don’t really get into the weeds ,and you don’t learn modeling. You focus on a lot of sectors and a lot of clients which makes gives you a broad view of things and makes the transition to research difficult because your skill set just isn’t there.
You see a lot more research -> sales
I will agree that sales is much easier to get into. a good personality and a nice smile can get you in. x2 if you are a good looking female.
I’ve personally never seen that switch be made, even if one obtains the charter.
Sales doesn’t seem that bad to me. Airline and hotel miles, generous expense accounts, getting to socialize with people, and if you’re good at it, huge potential paychecks.
“You can make a lot more money in sales… not sure what all the rush is to get to the other side of the fence.”
Well, sales can be interesting depending on who you cater to. I used to work as a mutual funds sales rep, but the company had a reputation of catering to very knowledgeable investors - this was an interesting job, that required to keep current with the market and to be able to interpret how market events affect client’s funds, etc. However, this is rarely the case with most companies that sell investments to the public - and after all, in sales they expect you to sell (read: BS). While there are a lot of people who enjoy sales, there are some who enjoy technical work more. While a lot of it is about money, you can hardly expect someone to do a job they don’t like for the rest of their life just because there is more money in it.
I have a family friend who is 27, went to a second tier undergrad (notch or two below ivy) and now earns $700 k base working institutional hedge fund sales for BlackRock a top firm.
^ There’s a conceit on this board that sales is hacksaw and equity research is the path to greatness. A lot of that is a function of what the CFA curriculum is, obviously.
My point is just that sales can be very lucrative–something that usually goes unmentioned (or unrealized, perhaps) on this forum. Also, whereas the charter is more a prerequisite as a research analyst, it’s a rarer (and thus more valuable) thing in sales.
I guess it’s different depending on where you are. Here CFA is really not valued for sales positions at all. In fact, if are applying for a sales position, you are better off not mentioning CFA at all (I could be wrong, but this comes from my perosonal interview experience). On the other hand, a lot of people in Toronto are charterholders, and it looks like you need one just to compete. A lot of these charterholders are doing sales, and from talking to them, they don’t use any of the skills or knowledge in their day-to-day work (hardly a surprise).
As for the entire subject of internal transfers, I guess it’s no more different than regular job search - it’s all about who you know. You may get a shot if you are lucky enough to be able to network within the company and get on good turns with whoever can give you a job you want, but don’t count on the internal job board to do the magic. Thanks for the input guys!
You can take your exact quote and replace it with plumbing and college, and it fits just as well. If you want to convince hordes of CFA candidates that they should do sales because “you know” of a 27 year old kid, attending a hacksaw school, that makes 700k base as a normal thing, go ahead. but I doubt you’ll sell many people on that logic
In private banking and wealth management you get to network with the big sharks and potentially have them as your clients. These clients will contribute to the growth of your AUM and will go with you wherever you go hence major institution will be sucking you balls to get you on board, this is how you progress to become a C level executive and eventually a BSD .
Individuals who want to penetrate IB because they think they are the best in financial modeling and equity research are in oversupply. Show me a guy who can raise funds and sell mandates successfully and I’ll show you a success story. Show me a guy who claims to be the godfather of all technical analysis skills and I will show 500 more.