For those who want to break in, survive/thrive, and break out of Equity Research, below are all the articles I have written:
- Networking: Network (In)to The Sell-side
- Deciding on offers: Deciding on your next sell-side research job
- Surviving / Thriving, Part I: Advice for Equity Research Associates - Part I
- Surviving / Thriving, Part II: Advice for Equity Research Associates - Part II
- Surviving / Thriving, Part III: Advice for Equity Research Associates - Part III
- Breaking into the Buy-side from Sell-side: Breaking Into the Buy-side
- When things aren't working: What doesn't work in buy-side job search
Thank you so much!
Is that possible to skip the sell-side and get a job on the buy-side directly in the US? Since my college, I keeps doing fundamental research at a buy-side hedge fund in China, now I'm pursuing a master's degree in the US. I just want to focus on investment research itself.
You are welcome. Anything is possible. However, I think it's safe to assume that everyone who wanted to do buy-side directly did not want to go through sell-side, but yet many did. That tells you how hard it is to go direct. Your best bet is to go for a US-based fund that invests in China (A-share or ADR). Otherwise, based on your profile, it's hard.
Thanks for your prompt response.
Yes, definitely the best bet is a US-based fund that invests in China (A-share or ADR). Actually, my ex-boss is a foreign investor who lives in Shanghai and manages money for foreign(US and Singapore, etc.) pension funds. But based on well-known geopolitical reasons, many of such funds are pulling out of money, or become dubious on investment in China, which I think it's wrong. Anyway, I will definitely keep an eye on this way.
I started doing in-depth fundamental research by doing internships in the small-team hedge fund whose founder is an established investor. So far I've accumulated several in-depth investment memos with DCF models for Chinese public companies. Since I want to get a job in the US, I applied my past methodology to analyze US companies since last December. I also won the first prize in a stock pitch with my analysis on Sallie Mae (SLM). What I'm doing is basically to analyze and recognize good business. I'm going to get more exposure to US stocks by deliberately picking good firms and doing well-prepared stock pitches, as you instructed.
Thanks so much for your posts, which clearly provide me with a guide.
Looking at things on a quarter-to-quarter basis would suck so much. That is all what I have to say on this.
I agree. It's a good thing to know what we want, but the market needs different investment philosophy and time horizon to function. If every market participant thinks the same, whom do we buy from and whom do we sell to?
Adding recent posts:
Thank you very much for the effort on your posts, ive been able to learn a lot.
I would like to pursue a career in ER but im pretty behind on the whole process (non target, no relevant internships, currently have a little over a year left in school). I plan on giving it my best shot to try to secure a summer internship, but due to the competitive nature of this field I know it will be very tough to land. My major is finance with an emphasis on corporate finance. What do you think would be the best entry level position in my situation to try to eventually land a job in ER down the road? Ive seen that CorpFin and FP&A are decent options here(correct me if im wrong). I just want to be able to set myself up as well as possible down the road. What do you think would be the best path to pursue as an undergrad set to graduate in Dec 2023? What advise do you have on which internships I should look for for next summer? (I know its already kinda late, was pursuing trading majority of my college career before I decided ER). Once again, thank you for all the valuable information you add to this forum
CorpFin and FP&A are fine options. Corporate strategy and any internal / external consulting role that impacts business strategy would be great too.
The key is to continue to develop the core skills: accounting, financial modeling, valuation and business analysis.
You could consider a strategy role in a growing sector, that creates a perception that you have expertise in a hot sector.
If you are interested in learning more about how to land a job in the profession, give my career articles in my signature a read.
You're the man Dick, thanks for your reply and recommendations. Would corporate strategy be an obtainable entry level job, or would I need a prerequisite such as management consulting to even break into corp strat?
Also, does any one of these roles (CorpFin, FP&A, CorpStrat, or Consulting) focus on the key skills you listed more than the others? (accounting, financial modeling etc.). I would assume corporate strategy since you mentioned it more than the others, but correct me if im wrong.
Once again, I appreciate your time and effort spent on helping out us young folks. Hope to schedule a coaching call with you soon, but want to do my due diligence / research on the industry and my potential path first in order to more effectively use our time.
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