Hi Folks,
Career advice, here we go. Here is my background thus far:
-I'm 27, single & mobile.
-I have a BA in Music w/ business minor. I worked as a musician just long enough to realize that I didn't enjoy doing it for money.
-I just passed the Series 7 and Series 66. I've been working for 8 months in a junior role at an investment advisory firm. This firm is the investment arm of a large regional bank with many lines of business. I work closely with several well-established financial advisors. They're not shysters and I respect the work that they do, but I'm pretty confident that I don't want to go that route. I am very interested in finance and the markets, but I have no desire to spend my life on the phone trying to bring in clients.
-Prior to this job I worked in retail banking part-time for three years while I was playing music.
Now that I have the baseline licenses to work in finance, I'm curious in what direction to take myself. My current job is intended as a professional development program for future FAs, so one way or another it's not a good long-term fit for me. I plan to stay until I feel like I'm not learning anymore and then look elsewhere.
My instinct is to seek a back-office job at a fund company like Fidelity or Vanguard. I like the idea of working in actual asset management rather than as a middleman putting clients in third-party investments. That said, my main goal is to work in a capacity that is more knowledge-intensive and less sales-focused.
As a side note, I'm currently studying the fundamentals of value investing as per the many reading recommendations of Josh Kennon.
I want to continue to educate myself, but I need to decide on what my ultimate goal should be. My current firm will most likely continue to pay for further licensing, so I'll take advantage of that if possible. I'm not opposed to getting an MBA, but of course I will only do so if it's for a specific job and if the firm pays for it.
Fire away with any questions. I really appreciate any input you can give me!