best degrees for getting into investment banking??? (2 Viewers)

[Omnidragon]

Best advice I can give you kids, is follow your dreams. The money will come.

That said hedge funds/ibank/trading does give you the opportunity to make your first puny little bucket of gold. If you use it well, could do good for you. Off to HK next week to pick up a few more properties now on the downturn.

 

[knightsfan2707]

not if you have market experience m8. if you could show that you've traded with real money for the past couple years at a consistent roi it'd be pretty hard for them to not at least grant you an interview. all they care is whether you can make them money. if you can't deliver they'd just fire you and hire someone else who can.

it's hard but not impossible. an average student might go the ib>trading route but you're not planning on being average are you?

Most hedge funds/PE firms (at least in aus) are small operations with few staff. They rarely (pretty much never) hire graduates straight out of uni. And it completely depends whether ur talking about hedge funds or PE coz they are two VERY different things. How would "market experience" in trading real money help in private equity? Staff in PE firms are almost 90% ex-bankers, consultants and the odd corp fin accountant.

Also, I don't think an "average" student can take the IB/trading route. You yourself might be a superstar but anyone who has gotten into IB is definitely not "average".

 

[abbeyroad]

Most hedge funds/PE firms (at least in aus) are small operations with few staff. They rarely (pretty much never) hire graduates straight out of uni. And it completely depends whether ur talking about hedge funds or PE coz they are two VERY different things. How would "market experience" in trading real money help in private equity? Staff in PE firms are almost 90% ex-bankers, consultants and the odd corp fin accountant.

Also, I don't think an "average" student can take the IB/trading route. You yourself might be a superstar but anyone who has gotten into IB is definitely not "average".

what the hell you're aiming for a small firm in aus I mean really? that's like an aspiring supermodel hoping to get her big break by signing up with a no-name agency.

how would real world experience not help? assuming you're a value investor all the due diligence you've put into your firms' balance sheets gives you an edge. to you fundamental analysis isn't merely a theory you learned about in lectures but an applied concept that you've successfully utilised to make $$$. when you look at a firm's financial statements you don't just see numbers and ratios anymore, you see opportunities, opportunities you've successfully exploited in the past. you know how to tell the bad deals from the good deals and they don't have to teach you how to apply theory into practice. you combine that with a major or even minor in mathematics/science and you'd be unbeatable. notwithstanding the issue of 'prestige', a graduate who is well versed in applied quantitative, fundamental and technical analysis is as employable as an IBer with 1-3 years experience under his belt. let's face it most of the stuff you do in your first years as an IBer are grunt work.

seriously are your standards so low? an average banker who takes home 250k a year is still average compared to a hedge funder who takes home millions. getting into investment banking doesn't magically eliminate your mediocrity any more than moving to the western world would make you a millionaire.

 

[Earl Luper]

$250k/year is not very impressive given the 30 years experience and total hours worked over each of those years

 

[Earl Luper]

Earl, goddammit, I'm still in my damn pajamas

 

[knightsfan2707]

what the hell you're aiming for a small firm in aus I mean really? that's like an aspiring supermodel hoping to get her big break by signing up with a no-name agency.

how would real world experience not help? assuming you're a value investor all the due diligence you've put into your firms' balance sheets gives you an edge. to you fundamental analysis isn't merely a theory you learned about in lectures but an applied concept that you've successfully utilised to make $$$. when you look at a firm's financial statements you don't just see numbers and ratios anymore, you see opportunities, opportunities you've successfully exploited in the past. you know how to tell the bad deals from the good deals and they don't have to teach you how to apply theory into practice. you combine that with a major or even minor in mathematics/science and you'd be unbeatable. notwithstanding the issue of 'prestige', a graduate who is well versed in applied quantitative, fundamental and technical analysis is as employable as an IBer with 1-3 years experience under his belt. let's face it most of the stuff you do in your first years as an IBer are grunt work.

seriously are your standards so low? an average banker who takes home 250k a year is still average compared to a hedge funder who takes home millions. getting into investment banking doesn't magically eliminate your mediocrity any more than moving to the western world would make you a millionaire.

mate i dont know what ur problem is really.

All im saying is that it is extremely difficult to crack into ANY investment bank/HF/PE firm in Australia. Getting into an investment bank isnt "setting standards low".

When I say "small firm" i mean small in size. Can u name 10 LARGE firms in Aus? Just because these small firms are small in size does not make them a "no-name agency". E.g. Lazard (one of the most reputable banks in the world) has a 20 man operation in Australia and many would kill for a position there.

If anyone is able to crack into any of these industries they should be extremely proud and they are by no means average.

U make it sound as if its so easy to crack into banking and that everyone should be aiming to be multi-million dollar a year hedge fund manager. I'm sure ur a smart guy and might be able to do it...but this isn't an AVERAGE aim for an AVERAGE university student.

 

[abbeyroad]

mate i dont know what ur problem is really.

All im saying is that it is extremely difficult to crack into ANY investment bank/HF/PE firm in Australia. Getting into an investment bank isnt "setting standards low".

When I say "small firm" i mean small in size. Can u name 10 LARGE firms in Aus? Just because these small firms are small in size does not make them a "no-name agency". E.g. Lazard (one of the most reputable banks in the world) has a 20 man operation in Australia and many would kill for a position there.

If anyone is able to crack into any of these industries they should be extremely proud and they are by no means average.

U make it sound as if its so easy to crack into banking and that everyone should be aiming to be multi-million dollar a year hedge fund manager. I'm sure ur a smart guy and might be able to do it...but this isn't an AVERAGE aim for an AVERAGE university student.

yea it's extremely difficult so you shouldn't even try right right?

learn to read. I've never said that those small firms in aus aren't prestigious, all I said was that aiming for a small firm in aus is like an aspiring supermodel wanting to sign up with a no name agency. if you wished to make it in the world of high finance you should be prepared to move to a major financial centre such as London, Hong Kong, or New York. I'ts not a question of prestige but a question of job availability and career opportunities. Aiming for a position at a small firm in aus, even a prestigious one, would limit your chances at securing the job for the reason that they are small and probably can't afford to hire you.

I've never said that it's easy to get into a hedge fund/PE blah blah. quite the opposite, i've expressly stated that IT"S HARD - a majority of (read the average) com/econ graduates can get into IB right out of uni, but only the best can get into the buy side straight out of uni, which is why it's a goal one should aspire to if one wished to challenge oneself. You affirm my point when you say that you have to be "a gun investment banker to even get an interview in a PE/HF/Prop shop", so what is it you're trying to argue here?

english mfer do you speak it

 

[knightsfan2707]

yea it's extremely difficult so you shouldn't even try right right?

learn to read. I've never said that those small firms in aus aren't prestigious, all I said was that aiming for a small firm in aus is like an aspiring supermodel wanting to sign up with a no name agency. if you wished to make it in the world of high finance you should be prepared to move to a major financial centre such as London, Hong Kong, or New York. I'ts not a question of prestige but a question of job availability and career opportunities. Aiming for a position at a small firm in aus, even a prestigious one, would limit your chances at securing the job for the reason that they are small and probably can't afford to hire you.

I've never said that it's easy to get into a hedge fund/PE blah blah. quite the opposite, i've expressly stated that IT"S HARD - a majority of (read the average) com/econ graduates can get into IB right out of uni, but only the best can get into the buy side straight out of uni, which is why it's a goal one should aspire to if one wished to challenge oneself. You affirm my point when you say that you have to be "a gun investment banker to even get an interview in a PE/HF/Prop shop", so what is it you're trying to argue here?

english mfer do you speak it

lol whatever man i don't really care what u think.

I think we should just agree to disagree and that our opinions are different and i respect that.

No need to "mfer" etc buddy

 

[lyounamu]

best degree would be the one where you will enjoy and do very well in (given that it is related to business).

But if i have to decide on that, I would say comm/law or comm/maths or comm/eco. make sure you have some work experience in one of reputable firm such as big 4 bank, big 4 accounting firm or any firm (tbh any firm would really help). Corporate role experience would be BIG PLUS. Mark wise, I know very few people who got into IB with 75 WAM but they can talk very well and present extremely well. (also his IB firm is not one of big bulge bracket like JPM, GM, DB or UBS). Realistic WAM would be 80+. It's definitely achieveable with B.COMM. Even 85WAM wouldn't be stretching too far given that you work consistently.

 

[xxsupababexx]

yea it's extremely difficult so you shouldn't even try right right?

learn to read. I've never said that those small firms in aus aren't prestigious, all I said was that aiming for a small firm in aus is like an aspiring supermodel wanting to sign up with a no name agency. if you wished to make it in the world of high finance you should be prepared to move to a major financial centre such as London, Hong Kong, or New York. I'ts not a question of prestige but a question of job availability and career opportunities. Aiming for a position at a small firm in aus, even a prestigious one, would limit your chances at securing the job for the reason that they are small and probably can't afford to hire you.

I've never said that it's easy to get into a hedge fund/PE blah blah. quite the opposite, i've expressly stated that IT"S HARD - a majority of (read the average) com/econ graduates can get into IB right out of uni, but only the best can get into the buy side straight out of uni, which is why it's a goal one should aspire to if one wished to challenge oneself. You affirm my point when you say that you have to be "a gun investment banker to even get an interview in a PE/HF/Prop shop", so what is it you're trying to argue here?

english mfer do you speak it

TBH, if you were really motivated, you'd be aiming for president of the world.

 

[abbeyroad]

president of the world? why do that when you can be the guy bankrolling him

 

[Newbie]

yoyoyo so much hate in this thread
omnidragon = massive hater LOL how are you man!? doing good?
HK property - NOWAI!.