| Topic Name: |
Equity Research |
| Message Name: |
Equity RA --> Associate is possible! |
| Date Posted: |
08/31/2006 |
| Message: |
Dear dbow4d4,
In my humble opinion, I definitely think that being an RA is a good enough route to PM, or at the very least, a "real-deal" Research Associate position. I have interviewed for many RA positions with BB firms. It is true that the work load will be approx. 80% admin and 20% analytical. However, I met a guy that switched over to Research Assoc. after being a RA for 1 year! And he didn't have all that much work experience. Of course it will depend on the firm staffing needs, but switching from RA to Research Assoc. is a common career path. It is much tougher to land a Research Assoc. position straight out of school, and an alternative path is 1 - 2 yrs as a IBD analyst. But the easier route to PM, in my opinion, is to get experience in sell-side research (which has more available opps than buy-side research at the entry-level), and a fast route to Research Assoc. is a Research Assistant position with any of the sell-side firms. On top of that, you will have enough time to pursue CFA, and after you pass Level 1 (and with 1 to 2 yrs experience in RA), I am convinced that you can make the switch to Research Assoc. And being a Research Assoc. is good feeder into becoming PM (I know of at least 2 top tier buyside firms that start people off in Research and the end goal is to become PM). Another option is get whatever experience you can, get into a top-10 B-school, and then you will be able to get a Research Assoc. position with any sell-side, or even buyside for that matter, firm. Through on-campus recruiting you can have a shot at Junior PM positions, too. I knew a Wharton grad that did a summer internship at Fidelity in PM, but he ended up choosing to become an MD in IBD.
Good luck. Don't count yourself out. RA position is not all that bad. At least you won't be sleep deprived like in IBD (no disrespect to those that work in IBD).
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