Introduction

The buyside has a myriad of opportunities for college graduates and full time professionals. While the offerings are not as diverse and abundant as on the sellside, we encourage you to consider the merits of working on the buyside. In this lesson, we will mainly discuss the opportunities available from the perspective of those who wish to enter the industry for the first time. Making a career decision is tough, so it is important to be aware of what we are getting ourselves into. We will display two charts that have a focus on the technical aspects of work, and the qualitative aspects like work-life balance and career progression.

Opportunities Part 1

Below, we will outline some of the common opportunities availabe on the buyside of finance. Included are the types of firms these opportunities will be found at, the name of the position/title, skills that will probably be needed, and some of the day to day tasks the job will entail. Note that AWM stands for Asset and Wealth Management. AM and WM are abbreviated similarly.

Firm	Position	Skills	Day to Day
Bank AWM Branch	AM Research Analyst	Microsoft excel. Accounting. 3 Financial Statements. Asset Valuation. Bloomberg. Market Awareness.	Conduct buyside research. Equity or credit or other depending on type of fund. Create research reports not for the public, but for portfolio managers to aid in making investment decisions. This can come in the form of equity/credit valuation models, talking to sellside research analysts, attending conferences and events. Buyside research is geared towards aiding investment decisions.
	AM Trader	Microsoft excel. Bloomberg. Market Awareness.	Execute trades for the investment decisions that portfolio managers make. Update trading books and record keeping tasks a couple hours before and after the trading day. Execution of trades is primarily for getting the best price available with minimal market impact. Usually the process is: research analyst suggests investment idea, then portfolio manager makes an investment decision, then traders execute the trades necessary to act on that investment decision.
	WM Relationship Manager	Salesperson Mentality. Know How to Identify Client Needs and Provide Solutions. Market Awareness.	Having meetings with clients to go through their financial needs, identifying possible solutions, and introducing products and services that the firm can provide and that the client needs. The relationship manager also helps clients with long term financial planning, perspective on the investing environment, and important life events.
Various Institutions	Sales	Salesperson Mentality. Microsoft excel. Powerpoint. Market Awareness.	Maintain existing and help find potential new clients. At buyside institutions, clients are other investors that wish to invest their money with the salesperson's fund. Whether this is mutual funds, private equity, hedge funds, etc, the sales team's job is to attract new investors and keep the existing ones. This is done through phone calls, in person meetings, roadshows, and other events. The day to day includes communication with clients in various forms including answering their questions and relaying information between fund managers and investors.
Mutual Fund	Research Analyst	Microsoft excel. Accounting. 3 Financial Statements. Asset Valuation. Bloomberg. Market Awareness.	Conduct buyside research. Equity or credit or other depending on type of fund. Create research reports not for the public, but for portfolio managers to aid in making investment decisions. This can come in the form of equity/credit valuation models, talking to sellside research analysts, attending conferences and events. Buyside research is geared towards aiding investment decisions.
	Trader	Microsoft excel. Bloomberg. Market Awareness.	Execute trades for the investment decisions that portfolio managers make. Update trading books and record keeping tasks a couple hours before and after the trading day. Execution of trades is primarily for getting the best price available with minimal market impact. Usually the process is: research analyst suggests investment idea, then portfolio manager makes an investment decision, then traders execute the trades necessary to act on that investment decision.
Endowment	Investment Analyst	Microsoft excel. Accounting. 3 Financial Statements. Asset Valuation. Bloomberg. Market Awareness. Knowledge of Asset Allocation.	Because Endowments do not necessarily need to attract assets in the same way that other buyside firms do, there is less of a need for salespeople. Also, many endowments operate as a fund of funds instead of investing directly into capital markets. Due to this, there might be less of a need for specialized research analysts. For an endowment acting as a fund of funds, the investment analyst and portfolio manager work together to do research on which funds they want to invest in. The upper level fund is the endowment fund itself, while the lower level fund can be a variety of assets from real estate, private equity, hedge funds, mutual funds, etc. Investment analysts primarily talk to the management of other funds to determine whether the fund fits with the endowment's investment profile and preferences.
Private Equity	Research Analyst	Microsoft excel. Accounting. 3 Financial Statements. Equity Valuation. Bloomberg. Market Awareness.	Conduct buyside research. Equity valuation oriented. Creating buyout models, similar to those of investment bankers, of acquisitions of target companies and trying to assign a value and profit projection for that acquisition. Because private equity is in the private sphere and not for publicly traded companies, there is less information available and they have to rely more on company management and doing field research.
Hedge Fund	Research Analyst	Microsoft excel. Accounting. 3 Financial Statements. Asset Valuation. Bloomberg. Market Awareness.	Conduct buyside research. Equity or credit or other depending on type of fund. Create research reports not for the public, but for portfolio managers to aid in making investment decisions. This can come in the form of equity/credit valuation models, talking to sellside research analysts, attending conferences and events. However, depending on the type of hedge fund and its strategies deployed, the type of research can vary greatly. It could be anywhere from traditional fundamental analysis to technical analysis, quant analysis and models, alternative investing
	Trader	Microsoft excel. Bloomberg. Market Awareness.	Execute trades for the investment decisions that portfolio managers make. Update trading books and record keeping tasks a couple hours before and after the trading day. Execution of trades is primarily for getting the best price available with minimal market impact. Usually the process is: research analyst suggests investment idea, then portfolio manager makes an investment decision, then traders execute the trades necessary to act on that investment decision. However, depending on the hedge fund, sometimes this process is not so rigid. At some hedge funds where trading strategies are adopted, the traders call the shots instead of portfolio managers. It all depends on the strategy the hedge fund uses.
Independent WM	Financial Advisor	Salesperson Mentality. Know How to Identify Client Needs and Provide Solutions. Market Awareness	Having meetings with clients to go through their financial needs, identifying possible solutions, and introducing products and services that the firm can provide and that the client needs. The relationship manager also helps clients with long term financial planning, perspective on the investing environment, and important life events.

Opportunities Part 2

Below, we will outline some of the common opportunities availabe on the sellside of finance. Included are the types of firms these opportunities will be found at, the position type, work-life balance, compensation trends, and career progression.

Firm	Position	Work-Life Balance	Compensation/Career Progression
Bank AWM Branch	AM Research/Trader/Sales	Work in the Asset and Wealth Management side of banks are generally not as grueling as in the Investment Banking Division. Schedules in Asset Management can roughly match Sales and Trading and Sellside Research in terms of predictability, and hours might be slightly less depending on the strategy and firm.	Junior analysts get paid roughly the same across roles, maybe slightly less that the same roles on the sell side. However, compensation growth mirrors assets under management, so if you land in a good fund with a large AUM, compensation can be much higher at the middle and senior levels, and still get to keep a solid lifestyle. Opportunities outside the firm include other buyside firms.
	WM Associates	Wealth Management has similar number of hours as Asset Management, but it depends on when clients need something and where the client is geographically based. It is client facing, so if a bunch of client requests come in at once, there's a lot to do. However, it is by far more predictable than investment banking, and one would usually have evenings and weekends off.	Junior associates are paid roughly the same compared to those in Asset Management. Advancement and performance at the senior relationship management level depends on number, quality, and size of clients being advised. Opportunities outside the firm include moving to other wealth managers or starting an independent office.
Various Institutions	Portfolio Manager	By the time one becomes a portfolio manager on the buyside, work schedule is generally pretty favorable. Of course this depends on AUM and how well the fund is doing, but if the performance is solid, then things are going well. At the portfolio manager level, the work is mostly making investment decisions, so the difficulty and stress of the work is related to investment performance.	Since one usually becomes portfolio manager after several years as a research analyst or trader, and occasionally sales, by the time it comes, compensation is already solid. Additional compensation would depend on AUM and investment performance.
	Sales Associate	Sales Associates at different institutions play roughly the same role, so their schedules are rather predictable, barring clients that just won't be satisfied in requests. If client relationships are good, then there is not a lot to worry about.	Sales compensation at various institutions is determined by the quality of existing relationships and amount of investors brought in. If more assets of different investors are brought under the firm's management, then sales is doing well.
	Trader	Traders at most buysider firms serve as the people who execute a portfolio manager's investment decisions. They are mostly responsible for getting good pricing during the trading day and may stay an hour or two before and after when the market is open. Work schedule is fairly predictable and reasonable.	Compensation is usually pretty good, but advancement might be limited because at most buyside firms, it is the portfolio manager that makes the tough decisions and get paid for it. This is can be different at hedge funds.
Hedge Fund	Trader	Traders at hedge funds have work schedules that vary depending the type of strategy that the fund uses. If the fund is heavily focused on trading strategies, there might be more time spent on thinking about and developing strategies before and after the trading day. If the fund is focused on more fundamental analysis, the trader plays a more transactional role and might not stay for as long. Hours are more or less the same to slightly shorter compared to traders at sellside firms.	Compensation varies a lot depending on the fund. If it is a trading focused fund, there is dramatic upside if the strategy works and the fund performs well. If it is a fundamental analysis oriented fund, room for progression is limited since the portfolio manager makes the decisions.
	Research Analyst	Research Analysts have work schedules that vary depending on the strategy type used and the culture of the specific firm. At a trading focused hedge fund, there might even be little to no research analysts in the traditional sense. If the fund is doing well, analysts can afford to spend less time. If the fund is struggling, they better work to make sure their future investments perform well.	At the junior level, compensation is more or less the same compared to research on the sellside. Over the years, if the ideas are good, there is much more upside in getting compensated for profitable investment ideas. After a period of good performance, one might become a portfolio manager and shift to a more senior, decision making role.
Mutual Fund	Research Analyst	Work-life balance is pretty reasonable at mutual funds. Better performance is of course ideal, but most people do not expect mutual funds to drastically outperform the broader market, but instead more or less mirror the market with maybe a little extra return. As with hedge funds, it is mostly performance that matters.	At the junior level, compensation is more or less the same compared to research on the sellside. Over the years, if the ideas are good, there is much more upside in getting compensated for profitable investment ideas. After a period of good performance, one might become a portfolio manager and shift to a more senior, decision making role.
Endowment	Investment Analyst	At endowments, analysts are responsible for picking good funds to invest in, assuming it operates as a fund of funds. Hours are pretty reasonable since there is not a large amount of analytical work on the underlying companies themselves, but more so on the portfolio of funds and their management.	Compensation is more or less the same compared to other buyside firms at the junior level, but portfolio managers that make good fund investment choices are rewarded.
Private Equity	Research Analyst	Private Equity analysts probably have on average a more intense work schedule than the average buyside firm analyst. This is partially due to the nature of the work that is modeling intensive, and also partially due to the culture of the industry, since many of the junior level employees come from investment banking backgrounds. Lifestyle probably falls somewhere in between investment banking and other buyside research analyst roles.	With the harder work schedule comes higher pay, except the hours on at PE firms are self-determined compared to in investment banking, which revolves around the client. Pay is generally pretty good, comparable to mid-level investment bankers. Analysts that impress might progress to senior level roles that actually take care of the investment decisions and earn the huge bonuses.
Independent WM	Financial Advisor	Independent Financial Advisors work mostly for themselves and therefore have the most flexible schedules. However, if you strike it out on your own, that means you are also in charge of bringing in your own business, and how much you earn is directly related to how much effort you put in.	Compensation is directly reflected by the amount of effort put into selling yourself as an advisor, and the quality of services provided to clients. If successful, career progression is not getting promoted, but possibly starting a local wealth management business with more clients and several advisors.