Finance Careers Quick Sheet

 

Possible Career Paths:

Accounting

 

Commercial Banking

Builds profitable relationships with clients based on a broad range of financial products that require three basic skills: interest income generating credit/risk assessment and loan arrangements, provision of fee-generating non-loan services, like cash management, and investment analysis.

 

Industry Finance (also sometimes referred to as Corporate Finance)

Finance within a corporation (ex. Microsoft, American Airlines, Heinz, etc.), but most positions require frequent interaction with other areas such as marketing and operations. Positions include Treasury, Financial Planning & Reporting, Strategic Planning, and Corporate Development Finance.

 

Investment Banking

  • Corporate Finance – works to raise money for corporate clients and public institutions in the form of equity, debt, convertible, or other derivative securities through a public issue or private placement.
  • Mergers and Acquisitions – generates proposals for and advises companies seeking to sell or purchase whole companies, divisions, or certain assets
  • Merchant Banking – Investment bank acts as a principal in a transaction, either by buying or selling a stake in an M&A transaction or by purchasing newly issued securities of a firm.
  • Advisory/Financial Consulting – Advisory is linked to all of the above. Includes capital structure analysis, comparable analysis, industry research, and various forms of fairness opinions.  
  • Sales & Trading – Distribution arm of the investment bank; look to create a market for the financial products created on the investment banking side of the firm. Sales & Trading jobs are primarily on the sell side (Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, etc.) but there are trading floors on the buy side (ex. Fidelity)
  • Private Wealth Management – Assisting high-net-worth individuals with meeting their individual and estate planning objectives. Private Wealth Management associates look to build a book of clients and serve as the primary point of contact with clients, pulling on the resources of the entire bank.
  • Research – Analyze company and industry fundamentals, predict earnings and cash flows, determine valuations, and recommend investments to buy-side clients. (from Vault Guide to Investment Management). Research professionals can work on the sell side (Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, etc.) or buy side (Fidelity, Wellington, etc.)

Private Equity

Private equity is a type of alternative investment that involves investing in privately held companies or the activity of buying a public company and transferring it to private ownership. Investments in private equity most often involve either an investment of capital into an operating company or the acquisition of an operating company.

 

Career Exploration/Industry Perspective:

                        Accounting                                                 

                        Actuarial Careers                                      

                        Hedge Funds

                        Investment Banking

                        Investment Management

                        Leveraged Finance

                        Middle Market Investment Banking

                        Private Equity                                            

                        Private Wealth Management

                        Sales & Trading

                        Venture Capital

Investment Management Specific Resources:

·         Warren Buffet’s letters to shareholders (http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html)

o    30 years of thinking from the most successful investor in the world

·         Oaktree “Memos from Our Chairman” (http://www.oaktreecapital.com/memo.aspx)

o    More Buffet-type wisdom

·         Schloss Archives at Columbia University (http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/valueinvesting/sclossarchives)

o    Even more Graham, Buffet, Schloss, etc. E-mail them for a password to access protected material

  • CFA Institute (Sitting for CFA Certification is important for anyone interested in investment management or sales and trading http://www.cfainstitute.org/)
  • Valley National Bank stock pitch – available from MBA Career Services
  • Security Analysis and The Intelligent Investor by Ben Graham and David Dodd
  • Margin of Safety by Seth Klarman
    • Hard to find, but easy reading and tons of useful info
  • Value Investing: From Graham to Buffet and Beyond by Bruce Greenwald
  • You can be a Stock Market Genius: Uncover the Secret Hiding Places of Stock Market Profits by Joel Greenblatt
    • In-depth introduction to spin-offs, options, etc. Strategies used by a lot the big name “value” hedge funds
  • Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and the Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
  • Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Phil Fisher
    • How to access the quality of the company and perform “scuttlebutt”

Recruiting Cycle:

  • Full-time Interviewing Season begins – early October
  • Internship Interviewing Season begins – Early to mid January

Job and Internship Sites:

Networking:

Interview Prep:

Finance Contacts:

Career Services  Melissa Kantrowitz

Club Leaders       Abhishek Manjrekar, Andrew Trapuzzano, Drew Labanoski, Jonathan Petrie, Ross Thompson, Sanjay Rathore

Peer Mentors     Robert Berdanier (accounting), Kyle Fisher, Afua Gyasi, Justin Huff, Mike Jennings, Alona Reva, Tina Sheen, Andrew Trapuzzano

Faculty Advisor   Andrew Washburn