Possible move to Investment Banking

[Colonel Smoothie]

Wanting the title isn't so bad in this case, especially since the job has the higher income to back it up. My eyebrows would only be raised if OP were going for a pay cut and the title were the main reason for the switch...but that's not the case at all.

[Westley]

Originally Posted by PeppermintPatty

This is better than income. It takes into account relatively low-income but high-status jobs, such as priests and artists. People whose voice matters have status, just as much as people whose wallet matters.

Doctors make a good income, but maybe it's just because my family is lousy with them, I never felt like doctors had significantly higher status than I had. I have more trouble getting my carpenter to take me seriously than my doctor.

Can't parse that last sentence, are you saying "I have more trouble getting my carpenter to take me seriously than getting my doctor to take me seriously", or "I have more trouble (than my doctor has) getting my carpenter to take me seriously". Neither seems to match up with the previous sentence the way I read it.

[PeppermintPatty]

Originally Posted by Westley

Can't parse that last sentence, are you saying "I have more trouble getting my carpenter to take me seriously than getting my doctor to take me seriously", or "I have more trouble (than my doctor has) getting my carpenter to take me seriously". Neither seems to match up with the previous sentence the way I read it.

Sorry, I was trying to say
"I have more trouble getting my carpenter to take me seriously than getting my doctor to take me seriously"
And the issue with my carpenter is that he's sexist, and assigns me low status in his books due to my gender. I don't usually have that problem with tradesmen, but I do with him.

I have dealt with a large number of doctors, both personally and professionally. The only time I really had status troubles with a doctor was dealing with one who didn't know me at all, and was treating my mother. In theory, doctors are supposed to take every patient seriously, but if you look at outcomes (especially outcomes that are influenced by listening to the patient) it's obvious that many don't. And, of course, I hang out with a lot of doctors socially.

[KernelMustard]

I have an opportunity to get into institutional investment consulting in research. I'm interested to get AO's thoughts on investment consulting as it compares to OPs situation in IB. If they are the same then just say so and I can go back and read this entire thread.

I'm a recent ASA and looking to move into investments and this seems like a great opportunity to do so. I've been in consulting my entire career (4 years) so I'm accustomed to the consulting environment.

[Westley]

Originally Posted by KernelMustard

I can go back and read this entire thread.

Probably worth reading regardless, if you have an interest in moving to investments.

Institutional Investment Consulting is a vague term and I don't know what that means. I've seen positions similar to this:
http://www.orionria.com/institutiona...ent-consulting

which are geared toward the investment side but also very actuarial, basically trying to match up ALM and other issue related to optimizing pension plan results. They aren't nearly as focused on the individual asset decisions as the OPs position.

Would certainly say it's more investment-related than a traditional actuarial position. Whether it's what you want depends on why you want to move in that direction. If you think you'd be good at picking individual stocks, I doubt that's what you'd be doing. If you want to understand more about financial markets and how they work, it would probably be a good fit.

[KernelMustard]

Originally Posted by Westley

If you want to understand more about financial markets and how they work, it would probably be a good fit.

Pretty much exactly this. I'm pretty tired of strictly actuarial work. This firm has a couple of former actuaries who I've talked to that have very similar career tastes and aspirations to my own. This move would be a slight promotion and good bump in pay + bonus so I'm happy with the financial aspects of it. I have a very deep interest in investment and financial markets on a personal level outside of work. I feel like combining my personal interests with my career interests would make me enjoy my job more. Though I may be wrong.

[jas66Kent]

Just to update, decided not to go down this particular road.

[nonlnear]

Originally Posted by jas66Kent

Just to update, decided not to go down this particular road.

Still congrats. It's a good exercise working through the process of building a personal valuation of a new option.

[Westley]

Originally Posted by KernelMustard

I have a very deep interest in investment and financial markets on a personal level outside of work. I feel like combining my personal interests with my career interests would make me enjoy my job more. Though I may be wrong.

Can't remember if I posted ITT or PM to the OP, but I think a lot of actuaries - who are used to decisions based on facts and data - are traumatized by the extent to which financial markets aren't driven by facts, data, objective truth, etc. I would encourage you to spend some time thinking about the extent to which that will (would) bother you.

Guy comes into a pension plan as an 80-year-old participant and says he's going to live for another 50 years, you just laugh. Sometimes in the finance world, he manages to sell that.


As for the quoted portion, I would have said that at one point. Didn't work out for me, doesn't mean it won't work out for you. Good luck.

[Spice Adams]

Originally Posted by jas66Kent

5. I would probably not be coming back to Actuarial after this move most likely (this bothers me a bit as I spent a lot of time obtaining the actuarial qualification).

As a self proclaimed economist, I assume you've heard of the concept of a sunk cost?