If you could work for any of the top equity LO AMs, which would it be?
Benefits of each
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D&C - strong "team" decision dynamic, very much a partnership / collective decision making feel
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Capital - able to run your own sleeve and be more independent by shopping your ideas around to PMs, bigger
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T Rowe - seemed very academic and deeply value focused
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Fido - not sure
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Welly - not sure
Which would you pick? Which are the "top" of the top tier?
Comments ( 39 )
Capital if I am a west coast guy and I am
Wellington is my east coast pick
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Why Capital over D&C?
Thanks in advance
Absolutely nothing against D&C.
It's just my mental model for investing (well now I just don't invest in decliners) in declining industries - pick the scale player with cost leadership.
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East coast - Wellington and it's not as close as you might think
Could you expand on them vs. T Rowe and Fidelity?
Long-term comp potential + strong culture put Welly in a league of its own. The least "sleepy" of the LOs, lot going on there
Like others have said, Capital Group, Wellington, and Fidelity are the top players.
Wellington by a mile
What you have under D&C - I guess it depends on your personality but I would view as a negative. Really annoying having to go through a formal investment committee once you get used to the autonomy and more casual nature of the mega LOs
Noticed that no one has mentioned BLK. Is it below all these, possibly because it focuses more on passive products and ETFs ?
100%
So how are BLK's active funds and products viewed within the industry, both from a returns and a careers perspective?
Where did you get the idea that T Rowe is 'value-focused'?
He might be meaning "corporate values" or like culture, since that's something we promote a lot.
We're definitely a Growth oriented shop tho
What about a place like MFS vs Wellington ? Seems like MFS has very low turnover
MFS is a good shop but not in the same league as Wellington, which is the most prestigious asset manager on the east coast
Talked with all but Wellington about post- MBA roles recently, so can give my 2 cents. At this level most people are planning to build a long career at whichever firm they join, so top pick(s) are sometimes just driven by location. Wellington sounded the most attractive to me based on the limited info I heard (combo of culture, private partnership / comp upside, AUM, etc.) but that may be because I dug into Wellington the least since they didn't come to campus & had no formal recruitment this year. So I'll put Wellington the side.
West Coast:
East Coast:
Do you know the comp trajectory? Curious how it compares to other post-MBA buyside roles.
The honest answer is that it's really hard to figure out, even with offers in hand. Limited firms at the top-end, limited data points at any given firm, and individual comp can vary materially.
I'm not sure how much of this is firms just selling, but within this group of 5 I've been told comp starts around mid 300s (excl. benefits) and stair-steps the first 2-3 years at a moderate level towards mid+ 6 figures . Year 3/4 is when a ramp can begin dependent on performance, and the pitch to me was that top performers are close to, if not at, 7 figures by year 5-6 post-MBA. I caveat that this is what firms in sales mode said was potential comp for top performers at the top funds.
Which LOs based in NYC are considered prominent?
Dodge and cox -- if very long time horizon value investing is your thing
This thread is from 2010 but it seems that nothing has changed since then:
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/asset-management/top-asset-management-firms
A major factor that often gets overlooked when making comparisons of the mega LOs is ownership structure. Which has a MATERIAL impact on long-term comp, particularly in the second half of the career. One shouldn't stop at AUM or AUM / investment professional.
For instance: Capital and D&C are privately held by the employees - effectively private partnerships. Fidelity is too, but half owned by the Johnson family. T. Rowe is publicly held. Wellington is privately held but I don't know the particulars of their ownership and if they have an established succession process - if anyone knows and can shed some light.
Believe the Johnson family still owns 51% of Fido with employees holding the other 49%. My understanding is comp at mid-/senior-level is heavily skewed towards shares that pay out over a few years, which means that you are leaving a lot of $ on the table by leaving. Would imagine the other privately held mega-LOs have a similar comp structure (designed to help retention)
Does anyone know why Blackrock is never mentioned here? A recent FT article said 3/4 of their assets are passive, but that would leave 2-3 trillion in active. Maybe it's all just Fixed Income
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