<p>I'm a senior next year in HS, and i want to find out more about this career. it seems to be very popular around here. is it like easy + good money or what?</p>
<p>The belief that one can make millions by the time he/she is in their thirties. Is it easy? Probably not (I haven't really looked into this area, although I'd imagine the competition is cut-throat and one would have to work long hours). Is there the potential to make lots of money? Yes.</p>
<p>Lots of money? Yes. Easy? No. Even if you're lucky/smart/connected enough to get into this kind of position, you work insane hours. :o</p>
<p>people are obsessed with ibanking because 1. it is a prestigious career (ibanks solely recruit from ivy/stanford/mit/etc. essentially it is the most prestigious career one can start straight from UG) 2. there is the possibility of making a lot of money (I knew bankers who retired at 35-40 and never really had to work for the rest of their lives) 3. They think it is easier than it really is</p>
<p>In reality Ibanking is grueling work...you work 100+ hrs/week, it is extremely hard to make it up the ladder, & you have no life whatsoever to enjoy all the money you're making. A popular route also is to go do ibanking for a few years, then MBA, then private equity/venture capital...</p>
<p>bern, is there any way to go into private equity and venture capital out of wharton? I read Monkey Business and I will not do ibanking, but I want to do investing and money managmenet and hedge fund stuff, can I head to that out of Wharton?</p>
<p>Yes it is possible hard but possible. Blackstone is in the top 10 recruiters at Wharton.</p>
<p>skier: various hedge funds recruit at wharton UG. Also some, although fewer than hedge funds, PE & VC firms recruit here. The most common paths at wharton though are ibanking & consulting...many get into these fields and then go straight into hedge funds, PE, or VC (some go back and get an MBA but only about 30% of Wharton UG end up getting one, most just go straight into those other fields or they continue up the banking or consulting ladders).</p>
<p>Because it comes with money and prestige. But I mean, there are dozens and dozens of other careers out there that make a lot of money minus the prestige and hours. I bet if the people who wanted to do IBanking simply for the money were siphoned off, we'd have oh about 10 people left on this board who'd still want to do it.</p>
<p>Are PE and VC higher pay/lower hours? I know hedge funds are, but they're incredibly hard to break into. I'm guessing that these post-IB fields are intensely mathematical compared to IB. Can anyone confirm this?</p>
<p>I dunno about PE, but I know that venture capital is notoriously difficult to break into because of the large amounts of start-up money that's involved and the fact that investors don't want a novice handling that kind of money. That's why experienced i-bankers are hired for venture capital firms. It's a very risky business, but the potential rewards are enormous.</p>
<p>Its not about low hours/high hours. Yes it is hard to get into. Generally you would work for the firm as an analyst and move up the ranks. View the blackstone website and take a look at their team setup. Most PE and VCs are setup like that. Its not about managing money its about your analytical skills and of course connections.
PE and VC are as hard to get into as hedge funds. The best will always be hard. Average guys arent going to earn dough. And no PE and VC work is not incredibly quantitative. Its all about making profitable deals. Its more technical in the sense that you need to KNOW the working of the industry. For example if you work in the technology dept (very broad but works in this example) then you need to know your stuff about the sector. Its all about finding your speciality and concentrating in that. Again head to Blackstone's website and take a look. (interestingly almost every single direct undergrad hire is from wharton)</p>
<p>For the PE folks read the book Barbarians at the Gate. Top notch.</p>
<p>Which parts of finance are the most quantitative? I've seen courses at my school about financial mathematics, and they go beyond linear algebra. I thought calculus I was all that was needed.</p>
<p>Quantitative finance often times requires mastery of a very high level of math. Not even talking about calculus. Take a look at the courses taught at Pton's undergraduate financial engineering course. Quant. finance is a field which houses phds in math and sciences and sometimes even nobel prize winners.</p>