Product Analyst @ Global Asset Management Firm

Water Cooler Careers
#1

Hey guys,

So I have an interview today at a major global asset management firm today with the title of product analyst. It looks to be of good potential as I currently work in back-office operations and trying to seek a career in equity research. So with that, do any of you have experience with the job description below? And is back-office operations-related? It sounds like it’s not because it’s actually dealing with a revenue-generating function. Thanks for your input guys.

JOB SUMMARY:

Our Analytics & Reporting team is currently seeking a Product Analyst/Portfolio Analyst to work in our World Headquarters in Baltimore, MD (Harbor East).

The Product Analyst is responsible for leading, or partnering with investment or product professionals on developing and delivering investment related insights to be used for sales and marketing initiatives, and conducting product development or management research, and representing the Product and Analytics Group on cross-functional initiatives with corporate technology and sales analytics groups on data and analytics needs. Finally, it is assumed the individual is capable and prepared to have client-facing opportunities.

Key Responsibilities & Duties Include, but not Limited to:

  • Will lead, and/or partner with product specialists, in the production of analysis on current investment themes that can be utilized by sales associates and in product training and marketing collateral. The scope of investment research can be broad, ranging from asset allocation topics to specific investment sub-asset classes and across Legg Mason and competitors’ products. These insights will also be utilized in support of Legg Mason’s product management functions, especially illustrating Legg Mason’s investment proposition versus competitors in any given market environment.

  • Providing investment analytics service offerings, which primarily supports Legg Mason’s Sales Organization, is of primary importance and includes not just assessing the efficacy of current offerings but also introducing new ones and providing solutions based analysis to our clients. Included in this responsibility will be integrating metrics to measure product efficacy – both from an internal and client point of view.

  • Responsible for leading the effort to improve the quality of Product and Analytics group competitive investment analytical templates, which could include integrating risk and factor analysis into the templates, financial planning or retirement concepts, or forecasting, monte carlo simulation, or scenario analysis. The position will also allocate time/resources to product development and management initiatives, including the analysis of: competing investment portfolio construction approaches and/or tactical allocation approaches, investments styles, and industry flows.

Ideal Qualifications and Experience:

  • CFA or MBA highly preferred
  • CAIA a plus
  • 3-5 years experience working in an asset management or investment advisory firm with specific responsibilities in building asset allocation models, and/or risk analysis, and/or investment due diligence
  • Experience researching and/or delivering competitive intelligence a plus
  • Excellent communication skills across a broad audience, especially Senior Management, Sales, Marketing and support areas
  • Research and analytical skills and focus
  • Previous experience using Morningstar Direct, SimFund, Lipper and Factset preferred
  • Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint
  • Good organizational and project management skills
  • Passion for investments
  • Able to be present in the office during regular business hours unless otherwise authorized
#2

Seems like a fun job. I wouldn’t get too hung up on whether it’s front, middle or back office, but it looks more like a middle office role to me, unless they actually end up putting you directly in front of clients. It looks like you are supporting the product specialists, who are the ones they put in front of clients when a salesperson doesn’t know the answer to specific product features.

#3

Yea looks more middle-back officy.

#4

thx guys,

I just got out of the phone interview and i believe it went great. they definitely utilize and value the CFA charter, two of their team members are current charterholders. looking forward to the next round of interviews.

questions were pretty techincal.

how do you estimate growth within a firm? within an industry?

if there were 5 mutual funds, what are some signs you would be looking for if you were a value investor?

sorry too excited haha can’t remember the rest haha.

easy questions…

How much equity research have you particiapted in?

Why are you pursuing the charter.

#5

charterholder and backoffice is an oxymoron.

#6

i wish that was the case… =(

#7

I agree with bchad’s take on the job.

You will be supporting internal product management, sales, and consultant relations staff for client reporting, including: quarterly reports, monthly factsheets, quarterly board meetings, one off presentations, internal meetings, etc.

As for a career path, this job may provide you with an opportunity to move into product management, sales, relationship management, marketing (RFPs), etc. Solidify your skill in eVestments, Morningstar Direct, Lipper, Bloomberg, Factset, Barclays POINT and whatever internal tools the firm uses.

To get ahead in the job, you should have: (1) great attention to detail, (2) a never say “no” attitude, (3) great interpersonal skills to build relationships between different groups (product, PM, analytics, marketing, etc) , (4) knowledge of your funds inside out, and (5) CFA would be extremely helpful.

If you have 2-4yrs of experience and passed level 1 or 2, I would expect this job to pay anywhere from 45-65k+10-20%. If you have 5-10yrs of experience and the CFA, I would expect this job to pay 80-100k+20%.

Good luck.

#8

thanks for your response. it was really helpful. i will hopefully look to transition from this position to an equity research position once i pass level 2 soon. i don’t, however, think this position will lead me into a portfolio manager position later on in my career so it will be stepping stone into something different. if granted this opportunity i will probably need to do some networking with the PM’s that i’m working with and hopefully hop on-board with them after this career is over. please advise. thank you.

#9

What makes you want to be in equity research / portfolio management? Answer that question truthfully before you read the rest of my answer.

No, this job is highly unlikely to lead down to a portfolio manager or equity research position. This job at a smaller firm could provide some opportunity to wear a couple of hats, and down the road move into a portfolio mangement career path. But Legg Mason is a large and structured company, so I really doubt they will move somebody from the analytics department to the equity research.

Equity portfolio management is a tough job - I sort of view it similiar to being a lawyer back in 2002. You see back in the day, the giants of asset management use to be active equity firms, Fidelity, T.Rowe Price, Janus, Putnam, etc. and through the years people started aging/retiring and sold equity for safety in fixed income - so came PIMCO, WAMCO, etc. Along the way, people didn’t want to pay 55bps a year for a volatile equity fund anymore, so they went with index funds. Now Vanguard, SSgA, BoNY, iShares, etc. replaced the old guard. After 2013, its tough justifying paying 55bps when you could pay 8bps to own the index which returned 30%+.

Of course there is still demand for emerging market and int’l equity funds, but now there is a shorter shelf life in a career in equity research. Quite simply, there is a steadily declining pool of money searching for active equity management.

#10

Hi,

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I’ve always been pretty active with doing research work and excel modeling has always been my forte. This and coupled with the CFA, I’ve always thought this would be the direction in my career I would be heading to.

I have noticed that the pool of equity research positions get smaller throughout the years after the crisis, even though back then i was still in undergrad. Now, it’s pretty slim to even get into a mom-and-pop shop for equity research it seems. The job market has definitely changed i feel as people have felt the flight for saftey effect with fixed income products over equity. hmm…thanks for the info. It’s really informative.