Equity Research career trajectory.

Just to add in ER, doesn't it go Associate to Analyst? Don't they have it the other way round in terms of career progression titles?

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I wouldn't count on moving from ER to PE, you might have heavy modelling knowledge but transactions are king if you want to go into PE. They recruit banking analysts, not from research.

However, for a career in HFs, I'd say ER prepares you much better than banking. You'll be modelling, covering several sectors and breathing markets everyday.

You're right headcount is much lower, and compensation at the analyst level will be similar but bankers will usually make more as they go up the ladder at a bank.

Thanks for the reply.

Would you say then that it's harder to get a SA offer in Research then IBD considering the difference in headcount?

I wouldn't necessarily want to move to the buyside etc, but wouldn't like to go into a role with no exit opps.

Do you know of any apparent downsides to Research? Having spoke to people from the division, It seems like the hours and 'doing real work from day 1 is why they chose it over IBD.

Tough decisions to make..

Hi all.

I've just done a SW in IBD (M&A) which I didn't enjoy as much as I'd hoped and have another coming up.

In all my research, I've found myself becoming more and more attracted to Research. I had one interview for a SW in that particular division (Goldmans) and was unfortunately unsuccessful. However, after speaking to business representatives, I'm beginning to feel like my skill-set is better suited to research.

The better work-life balance is also more appealing and the work seems genuinely more appealing to me especially at the junior levels.

I'm curious as to whether anyone knows what the typical career progression is like. I'm aware that for IBD, typically it's analyst > associate/PE/HF. How much does it differ for sell side equity research analysts? Is the Business School and then progression onto a Hedge Fund still available?

After the analyst stint, what are your options likely to be? Also, I'm struggling to find much information on compensation.

I would try and get some experience in equity research, however, it's proving hard to come by. I'm also aware that in terms of headcount, Research is extremely competitive which makes me wary of putting all my eggs in one basket when it comes to applying for summer internships. Does anyone know roughly how many interns are likely to take per summer in Research?

Thanks!

Hi all.

I've just done a SW in IBD (M&A) which I didn't enjoy as much as I'd hoped and have another coming up.

In all my research, I've found myself becoming more and more attracted to Research. I had one interview for a SW in that particular division (Goldmans) and was unfortunately unsuccessful. However, after speaking to business representatives, I'm beginning to feel like my skill-set is better suited to research.

The better work-life balance is also more appealing and the work seems genuinely more appealing to me especially at the junior levels.

I'm curious as to whether anyone knows what the typical career progression is like. I'm aware that for IBD, typically it's analyst > associate/PE/HF. How much does it differ for sell side equity research analysts? Is the Business School and then progression onto a Hedge Fund still available?

After the analyst stint, what are your options likely to be? Also, I'm struggling to find much information on compensation.

I would try and get some experience in equity research, however, it's proving hard to come by. I'm also aware that in terms of headcount, Research is extremely competitive which makes me wary of putting all my eggs in one basket when it comes to applying for summer internships. Does anyone know roughly how many interns are likely to take per summer in Research?

Thanks!

It's very common for people to fall in love with ER after they've spent some time in other FO fields. Options are fine, exit opportunities-wise ER is up there, although IBD is still king in that regard, but ER easily triumphs S&T/Structuring etc. when it comes to exit opportunities.

You can go to the buy-side (both AM and HF), although transitions to PE are very rare, but doable (mostly to sector-specific shops where your in depth knowledge is valued and lack of transaction experience is overlooked a bit more). You can also go to IR of the companies that you've covered or other companies normally within your sector. Strategy and Corporate Development is also on the table whilst it can also prove to be a nice launching pad to executive positions at small-to-medium-sized companies within your space. MBA recruitment is also not a problem with an ER background.

Compensation is irrelevant at the junior level in the sense that everybody is making the same (any differences are normally trivial). This is especially true when you consider that ER people have quite a nice work-life balance (relatively). Once you go up, it is very variable as with all other FO roles. If you make the jump to Analyst and become II-ranked, it's 7 figures there.

Within ER, a lot of people gun for buy-side exits, so it's normally:

Associate for 1.5-4 years, then straight to AM/HF. You don't need an MBA for HF recruiting in most places and rarely will you be encouraged to get an MBA if you want to go down the HF route. An MBA for the mega-large AM shops like Fidelity, Wellington, T Rowe etc. is more common. Once again though, ER will not hold you back when it comes to gaining admission for B-School.

Headcount wise it is indeed very tough, some large places (think BAML, JPM) may take only 2-3 interns whilst much smaller places sometimes gearing up on recruitment, some won't take any at all for the year. May not be the smartest move to solely target sell-side ER, but if that's the field you want to go into, that's how you maximize your chances as you'll be 100% focused and you'll increasing your chances of absolutely killing it at interview/AC stage.

Equity Research Compensation (See Point 5): http://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/177939/top-bankers-target-schools-earn-less-banking-pay-information/

Thanks, this post was very helpful. Planning to split my applications between IBD/Research and possibly Asset Management, largely to do with the headcount issues.

Out of interest, any opinion of what kind of individual research tends to attract in your experience, or is that too general a question?

Cheers!

I wanted to ask about this career path:

How likely is it for me to get a job in ER with:

1) Big Four Audit and ACA qualified
2) 0.5-1.5 years in Corporate Finance or Business Modelling within the Big Four
3) CFA Level 1 and possibly L2 under my belt

Would that be a decent setup to get into ER?

Thanks, this post was very helpful. Planning to split my applications between IBD/Research and possibly Asset Management, largely to do with the headcount issues.

Out of interest, any opinion of what kind of individual research tends to attract in your experience, or is that too general a question?





Cheers!

I'm planning to do the same. In terms of applying for AM at BB, will you apply for AM and ER or just one of them? Also, any idea when AM apps open?

x

Very helpful, thank you.

You seem to be past the summer recruitment cycle, so just wondered generally speaking how technical do IBD summer interviews get?

(Assumed that you're on the IB side, apologies if this is not the case!)

Not overly so, but it depends from place to place. In short, if you had a look at the WSO Technical Guide, that covers more than enough technical knowledge wise.

There are places that would grill you a bit more, e.g. GS PIA, GS Investment Partners, some elite boutiques.

For IBD technicals, do you think that you'd need to run through numbers/calculations? or would the theory suffice?