Tomorrow I will be interviewing for an associate position at a top wealth management firm and I am a little nervous because it will be my first interview such a position. I was hoping to get some pointers and opinions regarding how the interview may play out. To begin, I am a recent graduate with a strong GPA from a division one school (not a very competitive one) with a double major in personal financial planning and economics. I was awarded a scholarship from my school’s chapter of the CFA institute that payed for my level I testing (June 2008), from which I don’t have my score yet. I also have about 9 months of experience as a division manager at a small (<20 people) real estate company where I coordinated the repair and resale of foreclosed home and provided real estate appraisal services. I have been reviewing my notes, textbooks, and CFA material in preparation for the interview but I remain very unsure as to how what the nature of the interview will be. I am expecting your standard interview questions, “Tell me about your job experience at …”, “Where do you see yourself in five years?”, ect. but I don’t know what to expect regarding questions pertaining to my knowledge of portfolio management, asset valuation, economics, accounting, and so on. The process has also been unique to me in that it I am being referred though a recruiter, been 2 months long and I have been though at least 2 rounds of “eliminations” based on my resume and cover letter, one more more based on a personality test, and I am now for the first time meeting face to face with the principals of the firm. I am confident in my ability to interview and knowledge, it’s just my lack of experience with the specific industry that is making me a little nervous. As I mentioned it is a great firm with an average client AUM of over 10 million so I would appreciate any advice or pointers from anyone experienced in the field on how to best prepare myself and make it hard for them to say no.
Be personable. . . people hire people they feel will be easy to work with. I don’t think that you are going to get drilled on any advanced topics in your initial interview. Your resume looks good for someone fresh out of school. Tips: maintain eye contact, smile, be polite, well dressed, etc. Iwould highlight the fact that you are passionate about investing and have a strong work ethic. . . demonstrate this by your talking about your accomplishments. Obviously, in this position relationship skills are going to be important. Good Luck!
I would anticipate questions like: How would you explain current market conditions and future expectations to a client? How familiar are you with (blank) investment vehicle? ie-HFs, PE, stockpicking, etc. Experiences with deadlines, multiple tasks, high net worth individuals, handling stress and confrontational conversations, etc will probably be in the mix too. I just did this about 10 months ago, if you want more info or wanna throw some more info my way hit me at tjvedder at gmail dot com. Good luck
do you know a lot of high net worth individuals that can translate into accounts? unless were talking about a private bank WM position where you aren’t expected to bring in accounts, i’d say having a plan as to how you would bring in new assets would be among the most important things you plan for.
Good point oskigo-this totally depends on the type of position and the type of firm…if you are expected to be a business generator (which I would be suprised fresh out of school dealing with UHNW people) then I guess it would be better to focus on your relationships skills, tenacity, connections, and all that schmoozy crap.
tvPM Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Good point oskigo-this totally depends on the type > of position and the type of firm…if you are > expected to be a business generator (which I would > be suprised fresh out of school dealing with UHNW > people) then I guess it would be better to focus > on your relationships skills, tenacity, > connections, and all that schmoozy crap. in my experience most wealth managment firms expect you bring in some accounts if you are directly dealing with HNW individuals rather than being an assistant or something. this is why they tend to not hire people diretly out of college to manage these assets. but as you say it very much depends on the type of firm.
cchampion-this is probably a good point for you to interview them on…client acquisition, clarity around the role you are interviewing for, goals/duties, etc…I let it be known that I did not have any desire to sell anything, other than my abilities and why the firm is the best place to do biz…but thats easier to believe in than some annuity or product in my opinion. And if that cancels you out for the gig, who cares you wouldn’t be happy there anyway, if not then everyone is on the same page. Anyway, I think its important to remember to interview them as well…
I appreciate the pointers thus far. The description says the duties of the job include client communication, portfolio and financial analysis, research, and more so I would be pretty surprised if I would be expected to being in clients with such a high net worth just out of college. Also the firm has less than 50 clients so I don’ t believe acquiring new clients is as much of a priority as acquiring a specific breed.
50 clients ~10M each makes it a top WM firm? must be pretty amazing in its niche. Good luck to ya, you will do just fine I am sure
tvPM Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > 50 clients ~10M each makes it a top WM firm? must > be pretty amazing in its niche. Good luck to ya, > you will do just fine I am sure *
yeah with 500 mil under management my guess is they would want him to bring in some assets eventually at least if this is a PM position rather than support. even charging 1% overall (which is probably unlikely considering i’m sure there are bond portfolios) is only $5mil a year in revenue.
CChampion, I would imagine the only technical questions they would ask would be simplified (but since there easier, you better get them pretty much all correct): For example, if inflation rates go up, how will that affect your investment. How is the rise in energy prices going to impact security prices? Just take a deep breath and before you start rattling off answers, pause a moment to really consider the answer (thats what Bill Gates does).
CChampion, I would imagine the only technical questions they would ask would be simplified (but since there easier, you better get them pretty much all correct): For example, if inflation rates go up, how will that affect your investment. How is the rise in energy prices going to impact security prices? Just take a deep breath and before you start rattling off answers, pause a moment to really consider the answer (thats what Bill Gates does).
I substantially low balled their figures. its over 1 billion in assets average AUM of ~30 mil per client. I probably should have clarified that to begin with.
no worries cchampion. there are hundreds of firms that fit that description so i wouldnt’ worry about people picking up on which firm it was (if that was your concern).