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First of all... I'm aware that uni grades, degree are not the only factors that land me a job at IBs. but still need an advice on choosing what to study. I was initially doing Actuarial Studies, planning to transfer into straight economics course(ANU). I vaguely thought that Econ/Law combo is maybe the good option only because many people say that straight econ is a bit risky in terms of getting a job and the law degree is well respeted by many non-legal sort of employers because it is one of the most difficult degree to get in and to study. but then, I got this thought that if I'm really good at economics - which I love, there would be a way for me to get into the IBs, my ultimate goal. I may do the honour yr and may study applied economics, i.e econometrics and guess that this may show that I got some quant skills as well as finance students. I'm willing to do the further studies as part-time, PhD or MA in economics, once I get a job b/c I really want to practise as a proper economist. I have burning enthusiasm for economics while wanting to work for the IBs. Advice anyone? please let me know if I was being unrealistic. |
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One thing you should be aware of is that trading and M&A are two completely different worlds with two different required skill-sets. I can't really speak for project finance / M&A but regarding trading: From my experience, the trading desks who used to hire pure business / finance students have been more and more moving towards scientifically trained people as the level of complexity in the products that they trade rises. Law is not really a plus for a trading desk although I guess it is a huge asset if you want to move into M&A. Actuarial studies is an excellent background and if you seriously consider trading, then I would either stick to this or focus on econometrics, time series analysis and statistics in econ. |
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One more comment regarding your part-time study aspirations: I did a MSc. in Quant. Finance while working at an equity derivatives trading desk. Although it was nice to be able to apply the theoretical concepts right on the job and of course to earn the money, personally I would not do it again. At work only few people do care if you are a student or not and especially if you are being paid some bonus, they will expect you to work as hard and long as everybody else. Maybe that is different in departments with lower overall pressure. If you either want the practical exposure or the money and not stay at the uni in the first place, then I would still recommend doing your honours now. This will at least keep the PhD-door open in case you change your mind. And finally - I would not do a part-time PhD. Especially when you are completely enthusiastic about the topic, there is nothing better then investing the time and digging into it for some 3-4 years. Do not expect to get a full compensation for this when you start working afterwards. I personally quit my old job to enroll into a PhD end of 2009 and I didn't regret it for a single second so far. |
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An Economics degree will be useful especially if you are keen to be part of the Research divisions of Investment Banks. Each IB has their own research teams to formulate strategies based on macroeconomic trends. Having said that, you may consider working in economic research houses to gain some experience and then move into IB research team. |
Please tell us what area of investment banking you are interested in - it makes a huge difference! Do you rather want to get into M&A / corporate finance or into markets (trading, sales)?
Areas like Trading/M&A/project finance are appealing to me.