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Equity Research future

I'm in my first year, interested in equity research. However I'm worried about the future of the industry. I've spoken to an analyst at a BB and he said that the future is a bit uncertain at the moment because of MIFID II. Just wondering if there's anyone else thinking about applying to research and what people's opinions are? Obviously I want to apply to what I'm passionate about, but wondering whether it is best to apply to other areas as well.

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passionate about equity research, jesus
try to go straight into AM if your passion is stock picking. mifid & passive investing has blunted sell side ER.

if your end goal is sector expertise, keep in mind corporates would prefer to hire a consultant/corporate financier/accountant over a equity researcher. as they have tangible operational/transactional experience
Original post by Table dust
try to go straight into AM if your passion is stock picking. mifid & passive investing has blunted sell side ER.

if your end goal is sector expertise, keep in mind corporates would prefer to hire a consultant/corporate financier/accountant over a equity researcher. as they have tangible operational/transactional experience


You'd still have the same corporate exit opps open after a stint in ER.. On top of the traditional exits to AM.

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Original post by Table dust
try to go straight into AM if your passion is stock picking. mifid & passive investing has blunted sell side ER.

if your end goal is sector expertise, keep in mind corporates would prefer to hire a consultant/corporate financier/accountant over a equity researcher. as they have tangible operational/transactional experience


Original post by Princepieman
You'd still have the same corporate exit opps open after a stint in ER.. On top of the traditional exits to AM.

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Thanks! Thinking about applying to straight AM too, but don't know whether it's worth it to go for AM division instead of ER at banks. Agree with princepieman though, I thought that exit opps were pretty decent for ER?
Original post by mdo
Thanks! Thinking about applying to straight AM too, but don't know whether it's worth it to go for AM division instead of ER at banks. Agree with princepieman though, I thought that exit opps were pretty decent for ER?
Surely the two would be pretty much the same, what exactly is the difference between an equities role in the AM division and a role in ER, aside from the former being buyside?
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Original post by Terry Tibbs
Surely the two would be pretty much the same, what exactly is the difference between an equities role in the AM division and a role in ER, aside from the former being buyside?


I’m still learning so someone correct me if i’m wrong, but I believe at the analyst level there’s not much difference between ER and AM. Sell side ER is more focused on specifics and writing a lot of reports, whereas AM would be more decision making (although not sure about this to begin with). I would be interested in both, but have read that there are less internship/graduate opportunities in AM and it's a lot harder to get in to. I’m also not sure how AM in an investment bank is perceived? I’ve always thought that working in ER would help to land a job on the buy side in the future
Original post by mdo
I’m still learning so someone correct me if i’m wrong, but I believe at the analyst level there’s not much difference between ER and AM. Sell side ER is more focused on specifics and writing a lot of reports, whereas AM would be more decision making (although not sure about this to begin with). I would be interested in both, but have read that there are less internship/graduate opportunities in AM and it's a lot harder to get in to. I’m also not sure how AM in an investment bank is perceived? I’ve always thought that working in ER would help to land a job on the buy side in the future


In AM you would focus on the potential downsides as well and emphasize on risks, the former being almost never covered by ER reports.
Original post by xtrembob
In AM you would focus on the potential downsides as well and emphasize on risks, the former being almost never covered by ER reports.


i'd argue against - if you give a company a sell rating, you'd ofc have to justify why
Original post by gr8wizard10
i'd argue against - if you give a company a sell rating, you'd ofc have to justify why

Downside to your investment for l/s strategies, if you give a sell rating, the ER report would not go on about the company possibly outperforming targets and peers.
Original post by mdo
I’m still learning so someone correct me if i’m wrong, but I believe at the analyst level there’s not much difference between ER and AM. Sell side ER is more focused on specifics and writing a lot of reports, whereas AM would be more decision making (although not sure about this to begin with). I would be interested in both, but have read that there are less internship/graduate opportunities in AM and it's a lot harder to get in to. I’m also not sure how AM in an investment bank is perceived? I’ve always thought that working in ER would help to land a job on the buy side in the future


You're right that SS ER is more specific and short term but the core of what you're doing is the same as buyside ER (recommending securities, writing reports). The only ones making decisions are the portfolio managers.

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Given SS ER firms take interns in the single digits, do you guys think its the most competitive div to acquire an internship... or maybe they don't get that many applications, so no
Original post by LengmanSachs
Given SS ER firms take interns in the single digits, do you guys think its the most competitive div to acquire an internship... or maybe they don't get that many applications, so no

Certainly competitive as any front office division. Some banks take single digits, GS take 20-30, so it very much varies, if you show passion you should get it, in most cases its more of a backup for people.
ta
Original post by xtrembob
Certainly competitive as any front office division. Some banks take single digits, GS take 20-30, so it very much varies, if you show passion you should get it, in most cases its more of a backup for people.


Do you know how many other banks take?
Original post by LengmanSachs
ta

Do you know how many other banks take?


JPM/BAML/CS less than 10
UBS less than 5

otherwise no clue
Original post by xtrembob
JPM/BAML/CS less than 10
UBS less than 5

otherwise no clue


rip my chances at UBS

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Original post by Princepieman
rip my chances at UBS

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Are you strictly applying for ER?
Original post by LengmanSachs
Are you strictly applying for ER?


nope. mainly IBD, consulting and top tech. just a few ER/buyside programs that have piqued my interest.

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Original post by Princepieman
nope. mainly IBD, consulting and top tech. just a few ER/buyside programs that have piqued my interest.

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That's a lot, is there summers for tech and do you know when they are recruiting?

Why UBS in particular for ER? JPM/BAML are usually know for being the top ones. In ER it pretty much depends on your analyst as well. Some shops, no name for people only prestige driven (ie Berenberg/Kepler Chevreux...) have the best analyst for some sectors.
Original post by xtrembob
That's a lot, is there summers for tech and do you know when they are recruiting?

Why UBS in particular for ER? JPM/BAML are usually know for being the top ones. In ER it pretty much depends on your analyst as well. Some shops, no name for people only prestige driven (ie Berenberg/Kepler Chevreux...) have the best analyst for some sectors.


Tech would be some software eng stuff as a hedge against not getting anything in finance/consulting and the true role that I want (APM at Google/similar companies).

Would rather do IBD at JPM/BAML than ER at JPM/BAML. Logic is UBS/Barclays are sufficiently less strong enough in banking to warrant considering their ER departments. I think Berenberg is on my list.

The internship I'm doing right now is really nice because I can twist it to be finance, tech, consulting or quant experience (literally, this internship is the perfect internship for me). So CV wise it should be decent.

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