Can a second lower get into investment or asset management industry
 

I'm currently an undergraduate from a local university, graduating in December this year.

With a less than ideal GPA, I will graduate within the second lower honours band.

Is it possible for me to get into the investment or asset management industry?

If yes, what should I do to increase my chances?

You need to be lucky.

What undergraduate course? What JC? What internship u had?

At final year, only can increase your chances by joining case competitions and do well in them.

Alternatively, join the industry as contract staff, toil through the initial years and seek for transfer/opportunities.

Main thing is not to lose sight and keep trying

Kennut larh u shoo chui

Depends on what is your definition of "asset management" industry. There are a lot of SME style micro boutique funds that ply various niches that are open to average degree grads as analyst. Drawback is of course lousy pay & long working hours, still some people are willing to slog out for 3-5 years in the hopes of getting connections and moving into better firms.

If you mean things like investment banking, global hedge fund management, good trading houses or buy side analysts etc., then I'm afraid the chances is close to zero. In theory you can still try to get an internship in June before graduating, but without a good academic track record or earlier proactive action right after you start uni, the chances of landing here is also minimal as you are too late into the game.

In summary, very little chance as you are simply not operating at the same level that your competitors are. Your only hope is to make sacrifices to take off-beaten paths, but bear in mind though the possibilities are there, it remains pretty much low probability. I had a friend who went through this route for 3 years, got no where and now doing consumer banking ops in OCBC.

Bro, thanks. I ask. How do you differentiate between SME style micro boutique funds, the worse option, and buy side analyst, the better option?

Is it by AUM? Like if the fund > US$500m considered good? Or is it the pay, like S$4k / month starting.

I, second lower, can get to either fund with a few hundred mil AUM or starting S$4k?

There is no hard and fast rule I'm afraid. The thing is the particular fund you look after might be small, but if the company manages a broader range of funds, it might actually be a large setup.

$4k is on the high side for a 2:1 w/o any relevant internship or extra achievements. Most of the boutique funds generally pay ~$3-3.5k for basic analyst. Technically you can say they are buy side, but I would think they are really more like generic financial analyst supporting certain operations.

Some of these setups can wind up anytime and working conditions and benefits are generally much worse than what you can get in bigger banks, so think carefully before jumping. Other than certain firms and individuals with 'star power', even experienced fund managers are paid lower on average than what a lot of laymen expect.

Dude. People are realistic. Money issue is even more realistic.

Ask yourself this question: do you want a guy with second lower or 1st class to manage your money? You know the answer. Please move on.

If the money is good all the very smart people will go apply for the job already

Smart is not solely determined by grades
TS is a second lower
TS can be a smart person
TS can be looking for good jobs to apply
Be like TS

Sometimes I wonder what some people are thinking. They want to join highly competitive industries at good pay, but put in no effort on their end landing with no good internship and average grades. Then final year to graduation just post simple question online expecting easy answer.

When I was studying in SMU 3/4 of my peers are going for high banking/finance. I was not interested but even then I also know this is not the industry you just lepak with average grades, sit around without extras and then apply to get in.