How to switch to finance? MFE worthwhile?
Worked at Google and financial institution as developer. I feel like dev job kind of boring thus would like some change with more fun. And here in nyc I worked on portfolio analytics team and developed strong interest in finance and seems buy-side or portfolio manager earn way much more in a long run. So how to build portfolio manager career from tech/software/quantitative background? I guess the first step is to get "real finance" individual contributor role (like quant)? Then would MFE /master of financial engineering a good option for career switch, or at least be a quant? Thx
MFEs are pretty useless IMO. It's not that the material is bad, the problem is it's primarily used by foreigners to get visa preference just like a lot of big CS masters programs. The quality of graduates from e.g. Columbia MFE is pretty poor from my experience, and they can only get an entry level role. You already have experience in portfolio analytics, that's super relevant. You'd probably drop a level relative to where you are at Google if you tried to go back to that but I think you can easily get your foot in the door. Right now the demand for strong developers is much higher than for quants who aren't as versatile SWEs like me :/ When you get to the job, absorb knowledge from the veterans and you'll be able to break into portfolio management.
Thanks so much. Being immersed at such team exactly arouse my interest in developing a "real finance" career. Yes it's relevant but my title is "software engineer" at portfolio analytics team and that's still quite different career track (tech career) from real finance. Actually I should clarify more on my question. In my opinion portfolio manager is quite a senior position, which serves as long-run goal. So I should break this plan into two steps: First, break into real financial industry esp. buy-side/portfolio, but still as individual contributor (for example as quant, or other titles?) ; Second, develop managing skills and become portfolio manager. As for the first step to be potentially a buy-side quant (P-quant), how can I achieve this? That's why I'm considering MFE.
A portfolio manager is a terrible career. You are much better off staying as SWE.
You’re already in portfolio analytics. It’s ax close as it gets to portfolio management without actually being pm. Talk to the head trader and express your interest, be patient. One day one of the traders will leave, or they’ll need someone to help with... anslytics at the desk. They’ll reach out to you
Wait, right now my title is "software engineer", so you mean I could seek chance to be trader/quant by internal transfer? Sounds like I just need self-study and maintain my good performance and express interest later on? And further education is not necessary? (Of course even for education, it'll be just part-time degree) Also actually I'm asking about "long-term" career plan to be portfolio management, because I think this is senior position requiring management experience of many years. Such role should be quite different from individual contributor tech role (SDE/quant), right?
I’ve seen people doing this transition several times. It worked exactly like in my reply: they first expressed interest and they were working with traders in other capacities I’m sure I could easily switch if I wanted. Education is good but not strictly required