Best chance at a Job, low GPA
(long post, so bear with me)
I have an amazing appetite for investment/trading related literature and have recently found success by sticking to certain industries and a strategy. I started trading mostly stocks (sometimes options) in 2009 using my parent's account and compounded money at a startling rate. I know that a rising tide lifts all boats, but I was determined to demonstrate that my method wasn't just "luck driven."
From the period of Aug 2010 to March/April 2011 I had approximately +140% performance mostly trading tech companies and clinical stage biotech companies. Knowing that this sort of outperformance is a little "unbelievable," I decided to track my real trades using a couple of sites, most notably Covestor. Additionally, I believe a similar performance is replicable barring any sort of market wide Fama-French-esque epiphany that the sector I trade in is deeply undervalued in terms of risk/reward. Most of my 2010 performance is verifiable via such sites (and of course my brokerage(s) provides a sufficient history of all activity).
I think the operative factor in my success is not the "trading" (although that does add value), but rather because I research the "correct" event-driven catalysts that move the equity price in the interim. I think I'm more of an investor at heart, although I don't think it's fair to classify what I do as either trading or investing. It's more of a hybrid of trading and event driven/value investing. As of market close yesterday the value of my "fund" is just under 80K USD. I also think a more realistic expectation/extrapolation would be compounding to the tune of 20-30% per year.
.....
I graduated from Mccombs (utexas) with a 2.5 GPA in Finance. I had a job prospect from networking but it fell through/wasn't what it was seemed to be. Rather than justify the low GPA, I would rather say that I think I have a high level of interest in investing/trading/finance and mathematics and was contemplating going for a Masters in Finance.
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Would I be able to get into a program, and if I received good grades, would this give me a chance at S&T, Financial Advising or career dealing with investments in some capacity? (i.e. would my low undergrad GPA still make me "unhireable?")
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Is their any segment of S&T, FinAdvis, Investment related job that I could currently break into? I'm not adverse to hard work, research or procuring meaningful results. I don't mind going without pay (I have enough money to easily survive if need be) until I prove myself?
Sorry it's unclear to me, is the trading you have done real money or paper?
Huge difference.
So you graduated magna cum academia probationi
The 140% is real money.
When I say 80K, I mean real money.
(basically everything I mentioned above is real money)
financial advisory is likely your best move from this point.
WM really isn't difficult to break into, but be prepared to be doing more cold calling than investing, at least initially...
and a 2.5 from UT likely will not open many doors to graduate level target schools, which again will make it hard to break into FO positions at BB's (S&T). but if you can kill the gmat and write some outstanding essays, im sure some mFin programs will take you...
So I should be aiming for a middle-tier mFin program? I guess part of my query is whether my undergrad grade will still reflect extremely poorly even after I have the mFin?
An additional thought, would it be likely to break in to PWM currently (with the 2.5, if I was able to demonstrate a real interest/drive)?
And If I wanted to break into a hedge fund eventually, would the mFin set me up to do so? I know private accounts basically add nothing to a person's candidacy but what if I could (over the course of 5-7 years) demonstrate consistent alpha and amass something to the tune of 500-600k using my strategy?
Dude, you're pulling in 140%, spend the next 12 months investing that 80k and see how you do.
Quick question,
If I put on my big boy pants and went back to school (and made a high GPA this time around) what should I study (a hard math undergrad, MSF/Mfin, or some graduate program - assuming I could get in)?
I was thinking of putting my portfolio money into getting another degree since I botched the last one in terms of GPA - anything that would make me more attractive a candidate for hedge funds/trading...
Anyone have any suggestions?
I'm not an expert but I wouldn't go back to get another undergraduate degree...You clearly know what you're doing and have great success thus far. I think that you should try to leverage that while continuing trading, instead of dumping all of your money into another undergrad degree...The graduate program could be good, but if you're not getting it at a major target school I think your time is better served trading and networking while showing people your results...Maybe try to intern somewhere and make mention in your cover letter your success in trading/investing, and how that relates to why you want the position.
dude 80K and you're doing 140%? assuming that is not a troll statement, I would take some somewhat relevant 9-5 (pwm, stock broker..) job for security and keep trading like a baller. last thing i would think about is going back to school
You come across as motivated and intelligent and you clearly know enough about finance. You'll get PWM easily.
Thanks for the feed back!
Regarding the 140% - I'm by no means confident that I can shoot out the lights like that every year. I am however fairly confident that (risk-adjusted) I can handily outperform a relevant benchmark. I'm currently using the composite of a couple of biotech indicies and the Nasdaq as a bogey.
I'm still currently applying for "relevant jobs" so I suppose we'll see how it goes.
The thing is, I've always wanted to see how institutions handle investment decisions/trading. I would really like the opportunity to see if there's anything I could incorporate into my own style...
EDIT: I just got off the phone with my dad. He is a mid-level executive at an international conglomerate (not very salient in the U.S. more well known internationally). He's saying he could get me what essentially amounts to an engineering job - but the pay is somewhat higher than PWM/Broker (I'm guessing). It's 75k - no bonus.
Pass or take? It's a good base but I fear it would make breaking into finance eventually impossible - even with good performance in my PA.
take job invest more money profit?
what kind of engineering :? do you have a high level of math? a big name can be good for leveraging things in the future for an MBA so id say its better to take the engineering job, wait 3-4 years go into MBA and come out doing asset management stuff rather than being a cold calling slave.. just make sure you do very well on your gmats as well
Have you scoured the black market to see if someone can change your gpa? I suggest doing so. Start in India and work your way west...
oh an continue your trading while youre working obviously
Think something like Du Pont/Formosa Group/Lydonell Basell
I'd start off helping out a director doing some chemical eng processes. It would be interesting to explain how I went from BBA to something like that lol.
Ad rerum qui ratione minus. Laudantium aut alias ad praesentium autem natus.
Et facere eum enim qui. Suscipit tempore numquam repellendus.
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