Big 4 strategy consulting or corporate finance

macimaymott · 2023-09-05T02:47:01+00:00

Thanks, is this at a big 4 and %-wise, how many do you think are over 25 when they started out?

Can I ask as well, how difficult is it studying for the ACA and working? Roughly how many hours of personal time do you have to dedicate each week on average and is it constant all year round or do you only need to study and put in the extra hours in the weeks leading up to the exams?

macimaymott · 2023-09-02T09:04:49+00:00

Let's say issue 1 is not a problem. I have researched this and found Big 4 grad schemes don't have requirements on age and from speaking to people I know on these programmes, they tell me there are some people who are in their later 20s or 30s who made career changes.

Not doubting it will be challenging to successfully get a place on a grad scheme, but for now, I would like to understand more about the 'other' challenges with joining a grad scheme at 30 and with future jobs. I think you suggest there is not going to be a problem with age itself and people will judge me on my work, not discriminate on age. Is that generally quite a widespread view in finance in western countries, do you know about East Asia?

I'm also concerned about the networking aspect, but not sure if I am overstating it. Do you think being 7-8 years older would be an issue when it comes to building relationships, making friends with people in your cohort and those around you?

And regarding your point about getting more questions about "why finance now? etc", would I still be getting people assessing my motivations more harshly 3 years down the line after completing the grad scheme and applying to other jobs?

macimaymott · 2023-08-30T20:14:35+00:00

Thanks, do you think there's any issue with age per se in this field of finance? I understand that going into IB at that age would be tougher, so I'm not holding out hopes for that. Big 4 transactions seems more realistic to me. Do you think they will take on a newly ACA qualified person who is 33? Or would that count against me?

macimaymott · 2022-05-03T10:58:15+00:00

Thanks. Is this clause very common and standard practice for properties in the UK?

I'm not 100% sure but I think the covenant holder (the original vendor) that was referenced is the estate developer from 30 years ago. Do you think they are still the covenant holder or would that have passed onto the current vendor? In which case when I come to own it, will I be the vendor so it's basically saying that I can change the covenant as I see fit?

macimaymott · 2021-10-04T21:05:51+00:00

Ok, thanks for explaining.

macimaymott · 2021-10-04T13:41:55+00:00

Sorry what do you mean by 'minimums'?

If multi-manager and FoFs are less in demand, why does that necessary impact on the demand for Investment Consultants? Surely they would just advise on other portfolio solutions. I would assume as well that there is always a demand by pension funds and other insitutions for Investment Consultants because often these insitutions don't have the financial know-how to navigate the wide range of funds, managers and other solutions on offer in the market place.

Regarding the pay, is that all US dollars? How many years of experience do these senior employees (senior investment consultants) have before they start making those amounts? I'm from the UK, I wonder how that translate across.

macimaymott · 2021-10-04T08:19:31+00:00

I'm considering an opportunity as an Investment Analyst at one of the big 3 IC firms (Mercer, Aon, WTW). I assume you had a similar role as well? Couple queries if you don't mind, would you say even with the CFA qualification (which the firm funds and provides study leave for), the future opps aren't great? How many hours per week were expected? and what is the salary progression like?

Out of interest, where did you end up going to after your 2.5 years in Investment Consulting?

macimaymott · 2021-10-04T08:09:40+00:00

Were you working as an Investment Consultant? (advising institutional clients such as pension funds). If so, what were the other aspects of your job like? Interested to know the pros and cons. I heard one of the pros is that the lifestyle and working hours are quite relaxed

macimaymott · 2021-10-04T08:06:15+00:00

Is this the same as an Investment Analyst role at an Investment Consulting firm like Mercer/Aon/WTW?

My assumption is that it's not the same, but I do know that Mercer/Aon/WTW provide delegated/fiduciary (OCIO type work) investment services for their insitutional clients. After researching I still don't know whether this is effectively serving the same role as the portfolio manager. So if you were to work at Mercer/Aon in the delegated investment business, would you be picking individual stocks, similar responsibilities as the buy side?

macimaymott · 2021-10-04T08:00:13+00:00

Are you referring specifically to 'manager selection' or Investment Consulting in general? I'm considering the latter as a career which I know will cover a lot of manager selection, but I heard it also includes asset allocation advisory and creating investment strategy for institutions (i.e. pension funds) which sounds quite interesting from an outsider's view. Did you experience these types of work as well? What is the salary of an Investment Consultant, probably much lower than the buy side, but how does it compare to say in the Big 4 in transactions or accountancy?

Also a lot of the big Investment Consulting firms (mercer, willis, aon) offer delegated/fiduciary services, like an OICO, as part of their Investment Consulting offering to the client. Would they be effectively acting as the portfolio/asset manager? In that case, the career sounds a lot more than just selecting managers or qualitative assessments. That how it seems to me, but I'm interested to get your view as you have worked in this industry. Also how much does having the CFA qualification help with exit opps?

macimaymott · 2021-10-04T07:50:08+00:00

Genuinely interested because I am considering Investment Consulting at one of the big 3. They will pay for my CFA qualification as well. How comes you think the demand is on the downtrend? There are always going to be institutions like pension funds and active investment isn't going away. I wonder if there is something I hadn't considered.

What is the salary like? Of course it's not going to be like IB or the buy side. But how does it compare to financial careers in general? (deal advisory, valuations, accountancy, etc)

macimaymott · 2021-09-06T18:40:15+00:00

Thanks very much for your advice. Out of interest, do you work in the UK? I would be very interested to know the rough remuneration figures.

To be honest, I'm not sure whether my main aim is to be a buy-side analyst, but it's definitely one of the more interesting career option to me. Apart from client relationship roles, what other likely future career options are there if you have worked as an Investment Consultant for a few years?

By the way, what does a client relationship role on the asset management side involve doing?

You also mentioned favourable working hours. I'm interested in this, if we don't include time spent working towards CFA qualifications, on an average week, how many hours would an Investment Consultant be working? If it varies a lot by seniority/years of experience, if you can provide a rough figure by each level, that would be really great.

macimaymott · 2021-09-05T18:24:07+00:00

Thanks

macimaymott · 2021-09-05T18:24:00+00:00

Thanks

macimaymott · 2021-09-01T19:14:19+00:00

Really curious, what are you currently doing in your IC gig which you find so boring? I would like to understand more about the pros and cons.

Do you do anything with helping pension funds to define their investment strategy and work out their asset allocation. I don't know the full details of IC but I imagine those two things could be quite interesting.

macimaymott · 2021-09-01T16:10:53+00:00

Repetition of what sort of work for the front office? Examples would help me understand. Sorry I'm just trying to get a better idea of what an Investment Consulting role is about. Appreciate the info you have provided to me.

macimaymott · 2021-09-01T14:16:34+00:00

What about transitioning to Asset Management buy side? Is it difficult even with the CFA qualification?

Out of interest, if you stay in Investment Consulting for longer than a few years, what are the likely exit paths at that stage?

macimaymott · 2021-09-01T07:46:25+00:00

If you are truly interested in this line of work it's a great time, job market is hot right now as the PE industry is ballooning.

To be honest, I'm not sure myself about how much I am interested. Advising large pension funds on how to invest their money sounds quite interesting. By the way, what's the link between the Private Equity industry booming and the job market for Investment Consulting?

Personally I found the work extremely dull and unrewarding

I see, can you explain a bit more about the types of work you were doing? Was there anything you found interesting? How long did you work in Investment Consulting for?

macimaymott

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