Asset management or investment Banking
For ambitious, high-performing economics and finance students, investment banking and asset management offer lucrative career paths. Entering either of these fields often means making a lot of money right out of school, and it confers a great deal of clout, as well. The term "master of the universe" was coined during the 1980s to describe young, wealthy finance professionals, and while the fallout from the Great Recession has somewhat reshaped the public perception of Wall Street, the fact remains that investment banking, asset management and related financial fields retain plenty of prestige, particularly in big cities such as New York.
Though investment bankers and asset managers are ultimately cogs in the same machine, their job duties and day-to-day lives vary greatly, and the two careers cater to different personality types. The starkest difference is that, for the most part, investment bankers operate on the sell side, while asset managers are on the buy side. Investment bankers sell financial products; asset managers buy them to manage for their clients. Often, the two professionals are on opposite ends of the same transaction; an asset manager, on behalf of his client, purchases an investment product from an investment banker. Typically, investment banking requires greater sales skills, while asset management requires greater quantitative and analytical skills. That said, the most successful professionals in either career have a good mix of both traits.
Education Required
Unlike medicine, law or public accounting, neither investment banking nor asset management imposes rigid, across-the-board educational requirements. An advanced degree is seen as an asset in either field, but many successful investment bankers and asset managers begin their careers with only a bachelor's degree. On occasion, you can find someone who did not even finish college, though these people are the exception, not the rule.
Whether entering with an advanced degree or a bachelor's degree, a common characteristic among new investment banking and asset management hires is the vast majority come from highly prestigious schools. The Ivy League schools, The University of Chicago, Duke: these schools all serve as fertile recruiting grounds for investment banks and asset management firms. Second-tier universities and party schools, by contrast, rarely attract these kinds of companies to their job fairs.
While schooling is flexible, licensing is often mandatory depending on job duties. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) requires anyone engaged in the sale of securities to maintain specific licenses for each security. These licenses include the Series 7, the Series 63 and the Series 3. Beyond this, the individual firms doing the hiring for each career may impose their own educational and licensing requirements.
Skills Needed
Investment bankers must have strong people skills, a tireless work ethic and a love for the markets. While many of the big banks have worked to reshape their corporate culture since the Great Recession, making it less cutthroat and more family-friendly, the fact remains investment banking is a demanding career best suited for aggressive, high-energy professionals.
Because 80- and 90-hour weeks are an investment banking norm, particularly during the first few years, new hires cannot be scared of hard work and long hours. Phone conversations with a diverse mix of client personalities are constant during these long hours, so good people skills and the ability to establish rapport and speak persuasively are a must. Investment bankers need a strong quantitative acumen and a keen understanding of, and love for, the markets.
Asset managers are tasked less often with selling and more often with the technical work of managing clients' portfolios. While people skills are still important, as clients want to be comfortable with the person managing their vast sums of money, more important is an almost preternatural ability to track the markets and spot lucrative investment opportunities. For students who excel in math and statistics but may not have elite sales skills, asset management often confers an ideal fit in the finance world.
Starting Salary
As of 2015, the average starting salary for an investment banker is between $75, 000 and $85, 000. Bonuses, most of which are based on performance, frequently bring a first-year banker's total income to around $140, 000. Keep in mind the hours required to earn this money are often more than double what a typical office employee works, so an investment banker's pay broken down by the hour is not as lofty as the annual figure makes it sound.
Asset manager salaries, as of 2015, range from $55, 000 to over $100, 000 based on the type and size of assets under management (AUM). Many asset managers are fee-based; the bonuses they earn on top of their base salaries represent a flat percentage of the money they manage and do not vary based on the performance of that money. A reputable asset manager with a lot of money under management makes several hundred thousand dollars per year.
Work/Life Balance
Investment bankers, as previously mentioned, are expected to prioritize work. This is not a Monday to Friday, nine to five gig. Employees who are not okay with 80-hour weeks rarely last long in the industry. Almost every Saturday is spent at least partly at work, and even Sundays are not guaranteed off days for an investment banker. Work/life balance is a misnomer in investment banking, because work is life.
Asset managers keep more reasonable hours. While a person's exact working hours vary based on his employer, 40- to 50-hour weeks are pretty standard in the industry, with occasional Saturday work required but weekends off for the most part. Anyone who places work/life balance at the top of his priority list for choosing a career has an easy choice between these two careers.
Which One to Choose
Both careers are lucrative, prestigious and selective. Receiving an offer in either field means you have done something right. Which career is a better fit between the two comes down to your skill set and priorities. Professionals who are more aggressive, have great persuasive skills and live for their jobs tend to do better in investment banking. Those who are more cerebral, quantitatively inclined, affable but not natural-born salespeople and prioritize a healthy work/life balance are probably better off as asset managers.
