IBjobs2

Equity and Fixed Income Research:

Security analysts are usually assigned to an industry or region. You could be responsible for making buy or sell recommendations to investors about a stock or bond. Your duties would involve visiting companies and heavy telephone contact with institutional investors. Investment banks often like to hire people with industry experience into analyst positions (as opposed to fresh MBAs or undergrads). For example, if you were a restaurant executive you could probably get hired as a restaurant industry analyst with a healthy pay raise. Knowing the business, being able to talk to clients well and having good forecasts are key in this position. You want to help your firm avoid the dreaded Worst Analysts list. Analysts are often referred to as either quants or fundamentalists. Fundamentalists

make recommendations based on what's going on at a company--how's the CEO, what are the earnings etc? In contrast, quants look at computer programs that identify undervaluated securities, markets or even whole countries. There are fewer quant jobs, but they often pay more because the required skills are greater.




		Ricardo Suarez Latin America Analyst Mergers & Acquisitions JP Morgan

International Sales/Emerging Markets:

A rapidly growing area is in international sales. Despite the Asia crisis, investor demand for securities issued in emerging markets is strong. Firms are meeting this demand by providing sales personnel and analysts specialized in these markets. Another area of high demand is in emerging markets such as Thailand or Mexico. Firms are looking for people with specific language skills, a willingness to travel and knowledge of these emerging markets. You can often rise very quickly in this area, even if you are quite young.

Public Finance:

The market for municipal bonds is very large and calls for analysts, municipal advisors and traders. Positions in public finance are usually difficult to obtain but offer high rewards. Persons with previous experience in public administration would be attractive to investment banks in this capacity. A major growth area in municipals is in the project finance area. For example, Senior VP of public finance at Tucker Anthony, stated in August 1995 that his area has moved from 15% project finance before to 60% today (Bond Buyer, 8/15/95).

Retail Brokerage (Stockbroker):

Stockbrokers are in the business of selling stocks, bonds, insurance and other investments to individuals. Some brokers specialize in high net worth individuals while others span a variety of clients. This is a tough business to get started in (especially if you are much younger than your clients), but the rewards to a good people person with great sales skills are high. The Securities Industry Association reports that the average retail broker earned $128,553 in 1993. And many brokers earn upwards of $500,000. Try to start with a firm like Merrill Lynch that has a good training program. A good web page to look at if you are interested in being a broker is the Syndicate.

Institutional Sales:

In institutional sales you would be responsible for conveying information about particular securities to institutional investors. You would be likely to have heavy contact with portfolio managers and your own firm's analysts and traders. Sales skills and product knowledge are crucial in this area as is the ability to get through to busy institutional investors. Working in sales for an investment bank (on the sell side) is often good preparation to move over to the buy side (insurance companies and mutual funds). Both types of jobs can be brutal and subject you to abuse. A common Wall Street Joke: What's the difference between a sell side and a buy side player? Answer: On the sell side they curse you only after they hang up the telephone. Taking abuse can be lucrative. The average salaries in institutional sales in 1995 exceeded $300,000 according to the Securities Industry Association.

Computer Guru:

Some of the best jobs in computers and information systems are on Wall Street. A firm with good trading software, pricing software, or back office software can get a strong competitive advantage. In 1994 and 1995 the big headhunters and firms on the Street have been scouring the country for people who can develop UNIX-based workstation software and financial mainframe applications. Six figure salaries are not uncommon for really good systems people.

Ratings Analyst:

One way to break into investment banking is to start as a ratings agency analyst. The pay is relatively low and advancement opportunities aren't great, and the investment banks know it and use the agencies as hunting grounds for new analysts. Moody's rates $5 trillion worth of securities and has 560 analysts. Standard and Poors rates $2 trillion worth of securities and has 800 analysts. These agencies are highly profitable and grade the credit quality of companies and sovereign entities accessing the markets. Most revenue comes from issuer fees. There is high demand for persons who can rate structured finance and corporate bonds intelligently. "We are not auditors and we don't use lie detectors, so it's up to our analysts to be smart enough to ask the right questions," says Edward Emmer, executive director and head of S&P's corporate ratings department.


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