Before coming back to business school, I used to think that nearly all of the post-MBA careers in investment management revolved around picking stocks. My experiences at Cornell and the exposure I've gotten to the industry have greatly expanded my view of the many different opportunities available for someone interested in asset management. Let me talk about the 3 biggest insights I've gained over the past year and a half...
- There is an enormous amount of money invested in asset classes other than equities. Although the majority of the on-campus job postings in asset management are for "equity analysts" (which is true for Cornell as well as any other top school), there are many opportunities to do research in other asset classes. Domestic equities actually represent a small piece of the pie when you consider all of the global investment opportunities in commodities, derivatives, fixed income, real estate, etc.
- There are multiple levels of career paths within the asset management world. Picking individual investments (whether it be stocks, bonds, options, or office buildings) is definitely an exciting, intellectually challenging, and financially rewarding career path. But if you're interested in looking at the bigger picture, you might want to work for a foundation, endowment, or pension fund where you make decisions regarding asset allocation. An equity anlayst, for example, decides if they should buy EBAY or GOOG, while an asset allocator decides if they should be buying Japanase real estate or agricultural commodities. It's two very different levels of investing. If you enjoy relationships and more personal interaction, private wealth management might be a good career fit. There is a whole spectrum of jobs in asset management that range from portfolio analytics to direct investing to institutional consulting.
- There is more than one way to pick stocks. Even if you come back to school with a clear goal of picking stocks , fundamental research isn't the only path. Quantitative investing has an enormous following especially in the hedge fund world. A lot of the "quant" funds will prefer to hire someone with a PhD in physics or stats compared to a less technical degree like an MBA, but I've still seen a number of job postings come through campus for quant positions.
