<p>ok well I've read alot about people going into IB for the exit oppurunities (Particulary the Buy Side) and I must ask how it offers oppurtunitues for the Buy Side.</p>
<p>I see the two fields complete opposites, I am particulary interested in StockBroking, so if I did investment banking for a few years how would it help me with being a broker? Or actually the buyside in general as well?</p>
<p>You can become a stock broker or a position leading down that path right out of UG.</p>
<p>Generally, most positions on the buyside are not available straight out of UG and require previous experience first. This is a main benefit of investment banking analyst positions because they don't require previous experience, but attaining such a background can make those qualified who go into it 2-3 years later for positions on the buyside (i.e. hedge funds, mutual funds, other asset management firms, private equity firms, etc.)</p>
<p>When investment bankers generally talk about the buyside, they are referring primarily to hedge funds or private equity shops. Of course, the buyside can apply to multiple different asset classes (as gellino mentioned) but by and large bankers will try to jump ship to the top HFs and PE firms. </p>
<p>Gellino nailed it on the head -- it's simply very difficult to build a thorough skillset applicable to HF or PE without any initial sell-side investment banking experience. I think about it intuitively: if you're running the sell-side M&A process you're working on a high volume of deals, whereas in private equity, the process is much slower and much more in detail (due diligence is deeper, modeling is heavier, debt negotiation is a factor, post-acquisition involvement component, etc). The overall effect is less transaction experience on the buyside relative to the dealflow you would get as an analyst at a BB. It's in investment banking where you develop that analytical and technical skillset that you will need in PE.</p>
<p>Are you in college yet? I just get the feeling that you aren't particularly familiar with finance yet.</p>
<p>senior in HS.. Trying to learn the business, I want to go into finance</p>
<p>Gotcha, don't worry too much right now. Just try and get some exposure and see what you like. You will have plenty of time to think about that once you become more familiar with the roles and type of work involved.</p>
<p>alright thanks</p>
<p>If you go to a target college you will have lots of opportunities to attend presentations and brown bag lunches with industry professionals of all sorts. Between that and your classmates, you'll learn everything you need to know quickly.</p>
<p>I know but my HS GPA was not that strong =[, I'm heading to Baruch this fall.. Do you think there's hope for me and IB?</p>
<p>In terms of PE: having solid transactional experience in banking is a must to get a career at a top PE shop</p>
<p>I don't think, feel free to disagree, that banking experience is that transferable to HF... I personally think Equity Research or Asset Management is much more relevant...</p>
<p>sophomore12, I wouldn't say it's a "must" to get into PE -- a lot of top shops hire directly out of undergrad. Though suffice it to say, it's exceedingly difficult to land a gig at Silver Lake, Blackstone, Bain Capital, Cerberus, etc. out of college.</p>
<p>As far as your second point, it depends on the fund and its strategy but the valuation background from investment banking certainly helps.</p>
<p>IB will not help you be a stock broker. A stock broker is really "sell side", not "buy side". You are selling investments to a client, not buying investments to put into a portfolio.</p>
<p>If you really want "buy side", then try to get a job as a research analyst for a fund company, an insurance company, etc. . Rating agency also works.</p>
<p>PureAdvisory - agreed, but I think I have to emphasize just how exceedingly difficult to land a gig at a top PE shop out of undergrad...</p>
<p>I highly recommend this article (of sorts):</p>
<p>Private</a> Equity Recruiting in 2,550 Words | Mergers & Inquisitions</p>
<p>The powers that be should make that article must reading for entering this board.</p>
<p>Stock Broker on the sell side??
Okay I really don't get this.. I always thought a broker was a person who bought and sold stocks for a client, a money/portfolio manager did this but also handled commodities and currencies, and a hedge fund manager handled everything to make money for his clients.
Perhaps I have this wrong.. But I thought they were all interconnected.. God Im do confused</p>
<p>Stock brokers are generally in a separate area all together- private wealth management (or "retail"). for firms like goldman and morgan stanley, brokers are a separate business and don't qualify as "sell-side" or "buy-side". while brokers are somewhat connected to ibanking in that they deal with the same companies and one's actions affect the markets and therefore the other, have little to no interaction. s&t is different (it can in fact be many different things), as it generally speaking handles institutional clients, large funds, and in some cases, the firm's own money (proprietary trading). brokers generally only handle equities, whereas "money managers" can mean a whole lot of different things depending on size and scope. hedge funds managers can do a lot of different things, i believe not limited the main financial markets (i.e. real estate). i think your main confusion goes back to size and scope and differing retail stock brokers from, say, goldman's equity desks or blackrock.</p>
<p>someone else correct me if i'm wrong, as i know i don't know everything either, i'm just trying to be as helpful as i can</p>
<p>
[quote]
Stock Broker on the sell side??
Okay I really don't get this.. I always thought a broker was a person who bought and sold stocks for a client
[/quote]
</p>
<p>A stock broker RECOMMENDS the purchase and sale of securities to a CLIENT. Can also RECOMMEND currencies, options, commodities, anything else he is licensed to SELL.</p>
<p>Hence, they have to SELL the stock/bond/etc. to an investor. It is the INVESTOR that decides whether to buy or not, or to sell or not.</p>
<p>
[quote]
a money/portfolio manager did this but also handled commodities and currencies
[/quote]
</p>
<p>A Money/Portfolio Manager has discretionary authority, and can buy/sell for the client without asking the client for permission. i.e. manage a mutual fund of stocks, bonds, commodities, etc.</p>
<p>
[quote]
and a hedge fund manager handled everything to make money for his clients.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>A Hedge Fund Manager is a money/portfolio manager of an unregulated Hedge Fund. Nothing more, nothing less.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Perhaps I have this wrong.. But I thought they were all interconnected.. God Im do confused
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Interconnected in as much as they are involved in the purchase and sale of investments. Differences are: Autonomy and what they manage.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't think, feel free to disagree, that banking experience is that transferable to HF... I personally think Equity Research or Asset Management is much more relevant...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Those at a hedge fund are doing the same thing as those in asset management - deciding what companies to invest in. The only difference is at a hedge fund they may be shorting as well as going long or investing in other asset classes in addition to more traditional debt and equity.</p>
<p>hmm so i get it a bit now, a broker sells stocks to a client, a portfolio manager buys stocks for the client, and a hedgefund manager buys them for his hedgefund. so are they not all realted because they all call for extensive knowledge of the stock market. So if i start out as a broker, can I switch into hedge funds later when I am well experienced?
Or if im a broker, can I also do portfolio management at the same time? buy stocks and sell at the same time? and where does investment banking come into play, i dont see how it is a stepping stone into these fields..</p>
<p>Hedge Funds are typically for sophisticated investors (i.e. Ultra High Net Work Individuals and Institutional Investors) only, where as your Private Wealth guy may cater to individuals with less wealth...</p>