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Old 30-07-2008, 09:51 PM
James---
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I made $500-600K/year in investment banking. Senior guys make even more than that, more than US$1mil/year during good years. Only top tier firms make that kind of money though, I am in a mid-tier firm and will never make that much but I don't need that much anyway.

Unfortunately, switching to an investment banking career at mid-level is almost impossible unless you do an MBA with a top MBA school. I don't have an MBA but I switched much earlier in my career and having an accounting degree helps.

Forget about headhunting firms if you don't have experience in investment banking. For mid-tier switch, it is easier to get into equity research. Some investment banks do not mind hiring research analysts with domain experience. For example if you were in URA, you could possibly make a good property analyst or if you worked in LTA or SIA, you may make a good transport analyst or maybe you worked in a minerals MNC, you may make a good commodities analyst. Having domain knowledge gives you insights and connections into the industry which other analysts will never have, I have seen many real life cases of such switches. Equity research don't pay as well as investment banking, but top equity research analysts in top tier firms get paid $300-500K/year. Mid-tier firms pay S$150-300K/year, still pretty decent.

My advice is:
1. Figure where your competitive advantage is? ie what is your current job and how do you use that experience rather than start fresh. Pitch yourself that way, you can maybe start as a research assistant/associate to an experienced sector analyst.
2. Get a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) first, it shows that you are serious about switching careers. If you pass it, it shows you have the aptitude to embark on a finance career. If you can't pass the CFA, keep trying. But if you continue to fail, I think its better that you drop your dream as you may not be suited for finance.
3. Read about investment banking and equity research/valuations. There are lots of books of these topics
4. Send out your CVs to all the research houses/investment banks
5. Speak to as many headhunters as you can

It will be hard work and you need to invest time, I did all of the above when I wanted to switch careers. Timing and luck is critical, 2007 was a year full of new hirings as many investment bankers/analysts switched to hedge funds and private equity funds. So was 1999/2000 when many also switched to dot-coms. I suspect that 2008 will be tough to switch to banking as there will be retrenchments and hiring freeze this year. But it is perhaps something you can work towards in the next couple of years. Nothing is easy, I took almost 1 year before I found my job and having some luck is crucial.

Hope this helps. Good luck. James.
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