The Buy-Side vs. The Sell-Side: The Worst Way to Categorize Finance Firms?
“Yo, you’ll make bank when you move to the buy-side! Screw this stupid investment banking job.”
“Yeah, I heard everyone at hedge funds makes at least $1 million and gets a castle as their signing bonus.”
“So when’s your interview?”
Ah, yes: that classic debate about the buy-side vs. the sell-side. Although the conversation above is fictional, similar exchanges are taking place in cubicles across the world as you read this.
You hear about the buy-side vs. sell-side distinction everywhere, whether you search online, browse through you message boards, or even (gasp) talk to people in real life.
The only problem is that “buy-side vs. sell-side” is the worst way to categorize financial services firms.
Buy, Sell, or Hold: How to Break Into Equity Research and Pitch Stocks Like a Pro
So I was looking at the most popular search terms on M&I the other day, and reached two conclusions:
- You really like that silly little cover letter template I created.
- It seems a few people might want to hear about this thing called “equity research” – I guess that might be a good idea one of these days?
We’ve already been through everything else on the list to the right, so now we’re going to apply the magical process of elimination and focus on equity research: what it is, how you break in, and how to dominate your interviews and land offers.
You’ll get to learn all of that straight from the source: a reader who has worked in equity research at both boutiques and bulge bracket banks and seen the market in the best of times and the worst of times.
Let’s get started.
From Big 4 Restructuring to Investment Banking: How to Make the Leap
“Help! I hate my accounting job and want to move into banking, what do I do?”
“What group should I transfer to if I want to get into finance?”
“My Big 4 salary doesn’t give me enough cash for bottles!”
If you’re at a Big 4 firm right now, you’ve had one of the thoughts above before – maybe multiple times.
We covered how to move from accounting to investment banking before, but this time around there’s a different twist - an interview with a reader who moved from a Big 4 restructuring group to investment banking.
Here’s how he made the leap, and how you can do the same:
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