FRM 2020-05-1414:12

From distressed brokerage researchers to seemingly tall investment bankers to glamorous trust managers and PEVC investment managers, the work done is actually not as glamorous as it seems.

One of the compulsory reading series for choosing a job in the financial industry: brokerage researcher

How difficult is it for a small brokerage researcher? After asking, he replied: "The monthly salary was 2,500 three years ago, and now it has doubled!"

This embarrassing situation is inhuman. Last year, a researcher told me that he wrote a report in the company at night. "Why don't you go home and write? At least comfortable. " "There is no money to install the network at home." I am silent. It is also said that the Shanghai research department of a securities company has laid off employees, and a researcher has not found a next home. In order not to worry parents who come to Shanghai for the New Year these days, they still insist on going out to work every day. Tears streamed down her face.

I have only experienced such a thing seven or eight times. Sometimes I feel that the financial services industry in Shanghai is not quite what I expected. Speaking of finance, it should be the highest-end job, hot and spicy, and senior white-collar workers. I never thought it would be harder than dogs and earn less than migrant workers. No wonder everyone calls themselves "financial migrant workers" and even "secondary dogs" (the stock market is a secondary market).

There is a passage that can prove it: "A second-class dog walks around with unique skills. Listed companies are busy with research, burning the midnight oil to write emails. Get up early and have an early meeting, sleepy, the leader asks for advice, and replies that there is no urine spot. There are four or five roadshows a day, and I feel ashamed when I come back from a business trip. Without pushing the ticket, the stock price soared and began to fall. The fund manager asked why, and you said bargain hunting. I have worked for many years and have unlimited experience. High throwing and low sucking, band operation, has finally become a universal motto. "

Jokes may be exaggerated, but the truth is always so cruel. The brokerage research institute is a fully competitive institution, which is dying of drought and waterlogging. There are more than 90 brokers in China, with an average of 30 people in each brokerage research institute, and there are also two or three thousand people. The total number of listed companies in China is only over 2,500, almost one per capita.

In recent years, the research institute has expanded greatly, and the production capacity is seriously overcapacity. It can often be seen that a small conference room is full of researchers when IPO promotion meetings and research of listed companies are held. In this context, due to the continuous downturn of A-shares, the trading volume of the whole market has dropped very sharply. Since 20 12, the average daily turnover of the Shanghai Composite Index has been below10 billion for a long time, which is about 40% lower than that of 2010/201.

Since the income of the brokerage research institute mainly comes from the sub-positions of the fund, the decline in trading volume will inevitably lead to a linear decline in the income of the research institute. The research department of big securities firms can still be used as brand investment, supported by the profits of other departments. For small brokers, if they can't generate income, the research institute as a cost department will inevitably face business adjustment.

For researchers, the biggest motivation is to select the ranking of new wealth analysts. Once on the list, it shows that the stock you pushed has been recognized by the seller, creating value for customers and winning credibility and commission income for the company. Some top researchers may create tens of millions of commission income for the company a year. In this case, there is no pressure to get a million wages. For researchers who are not on the list or have no performance at all, the result is likely to be sitting on the bench or even layoffs. The ecology of this industry is very similar to that of real estate agents.

To be famous, a researcher needs extraordinary efforts besides luck. Overtime is normal, and not overtime is abnormal. A friend described a typical day to me: getting up at six o'clock in the morning, having an early meeting at seven o'clock, answering the phone all morning until my ears buzzed, and being scolded by my customers if there was a big gap. Writing reports, writing emails, running the company and going to roadshows are too busy to even have time to drink water and go to the toilet. At six o'clock in the afternoon, I went downstairs to eat in Lamian Noodles, Lanzhou, ready to come back and continue to work overtime. When I met colleagues from other departments, I was asked: Oh! ? I only work for half a day today?

The hardship of second-class dogs lies not only in money, but also in the reflection on whether work creates value. In the past few years, stock research has been called value investment. Buffett, Peter Lynch, Graham, and all the investment masters who can name them are all very popular in the circle.

The study of second-class dogs, talk about valuation for a while, and talk about growth for a while. The pushed stock fell, creating a good buying opportunity. Stocks that have not been pushed have gone up, and the bubble is crazy. Unfortunately, A shares have been too weak in recent years. Those who make value investments are usually not ready. Chasing hot concepts, unexpectedly soaring.

A second-class dog wrote to me: "I don't believe my research." Now I recommend stocks, first complete a round of top-down research, then complete a round of bottom-up research, and finally choose a bottom-up one. " At the end of this work, I doubt myself more and more. Do you find it difficult to work hard?

Those who can survive such a hard life must be the warriors among the warriors. As the saying goes, it is good to have fun in pain. The second-class dog is lucky and will turn over one day. It's a pity that some people turn over by insider trading, and of course some people lose money by doing insider trading, so this is the only way.

The second series of compulsory reading for financial workers' career development: investment bankers

What is the style of investment bankers? Customized dark suit jacket, non-ironing shirt, pleated sleeves (stitched with initials), Italian handmade leather shoes? All wet.

In China, investment bankers (mostly brokers) usually wear ill-fitting uniforms issued by the company when they go to work (each set of tooling costs 2,000 yuan, and employees have to pay some fees when they leave), while on business trips, they are all kinds of Taobao goods. Decoupling without ironing? That's a fable. My clothes are not pleated, and I am embarrassed to say that I am on the court.

Investment bankers are not born. When I was in college, I was brainwashed by Goldman Sachs and Morgan at the seminar, eating free snacks provided by these foreign investment banks, and chatting with seniors and sisters working in big investment banks. "Hello, I'm from Shanghai Securities Investment Banking Department." They envy the pure London accent.

This is the style! This aggressive momentum, as long as one day get the investment bank's offer, that is, other mountains are dwarfed. Say goodbye to the floating spring!

I didn't understand the endless difficulties of this industry until I really entered the post. Freshanalyst (some are called analysts, most of the time they are called salesmen) is wearing a suit, carrying a computer bag and dragging luggage to start a business trip. When you go out and look at the empty office, the leader will encourage you. This business trip is very short and only takes half a year. Due to the shortage of funds, I need to travel by train most of the time. The company is considerate of everyone and can take the high-speed train, but the reimbursement can only take the second-class seat.

But never mind, I am very lucky to have a project as soon as I get to work. Old colleagues have been waiting for the IPO to open for several years, and they are all hungry and miserable.

The due diligence of the project is over, and it is over in spring, summer, autumn and winter. The newcomer was deeply touched, as evidenced by a poem: "A first-class dog dragged his luggage all over the country. The projects are all in the ravine, and the tractors are full of energy. Due diligence is actually calculated in the workshop; Executive interview, maybe smoking in the conference room. Jiangsu and Zhejiang private placement is not an international fund; The bandit team, the sentences are all in English. " Because onfield is too long, I didn't bring a change of clothes. When I came back, I wore the cheap goods bought in the small commodity city in the small county where the project was located. When a group of people came out of Hongqiao Railway Station with big bags and small bags, they had the feeling of going to Shanghai to work after the Chinese New Year.

After coming back, there are all kinds of PPT, Excel and overtime. There are fewer and fewer female employees, and then there are only three kinds left: divorced, single and divorced. The quality of life is a mess and the career is bleak. With the dream of becoming a "local investment banker", I fell into the endless pile of sponsor qualification examinations and application materials. Busy until midnight every day, writing materials on my desk and adjusting the text format. The materials were reported at the meeting, because the corners of the clips were crushed after packaging, or the plastic film was uneven and sunken, and they were sent back to buy clips to queue up.

Investment bank migrant workers have gained weight and their physical condition has gone from bad to worse. After a few years, my back aches and my legs cramp. Walking outside looks like a beggar at a distance and looks like a hospital at a close distance. By the way, you used to be an investment banker.

Recalling the recruitment of that year, there was something wrong with it. What on earth made HR take a fancy to me? Investment bank migrant workers thought. Think hard, think hard, and finally have a little vague memory. It was a sunny afternoon, and there was such a conversation in the conference room of Four Seasons Hotel near the school. "What did you do in college?" "Play games." "Often?" "Every day until 3 o'clock." "Is there a class?" "Go ahead." "What time is the class?" "8 o'clock." "Are you in good health?" "Very good." "Well, we think your quality is very suitable for working in an investment bank. Congratulations, you have been accepted! "

The third series of compulsory reading for financial migrant workers' career development: trust manager

"We don't produce RMB, we are just porters of RMB."

Thanks to the rapid development of shadow banking and the continuous downturn of A-share market in recent years, many people in the securities industry have turned to the trust industry. Take the author as an example. Several private investors and public investors around me have done well in various trust companies and subsidiaries of fund companies, and they are euphemistically called: trust migrant workers.

Most of the predecessors of trust migrant workers are account managers of bank enterprises, who are engaged in the work of pulling relationships, and no one has been called Gao Da. Since the real estate financing was forced to shadow banking by the policy, the trust industry suddenly shines. Trust migrant workers have engaged in all kinds of bank-trust cooperation and creditor's rights trust cooperation, from buying and selling back to investing in trust beneficiary rights, financial innovations emerge one after another, and business models are dazzling.

For a time, the trust industry, once regarded as a suspended spring, suddenly became the Gao Fushuai of the financial industry. In newspapers and on the internet, those unfamiliar terms directly confuse people, and even financial tycoons who come back from Wall Street can't understand them. Now, the time when one person sold the trust and the whole family managed it is gone forever!

So, how can we be a qualified trust migrant worker? In my opinion, a qualified trust migrant worker should have the following qualities:

First of all, we should be experienced and comprehensive. I know all kinds of industries and can do all kinds of business. Only customers can't think of it, and you can't do it. The trust migrant workers I have met have done real estate catering, steel trade retail, and even recently started to do the Internet. As for what works of art, red wine and so on. That is even more obvious. Just open your mouth and say one, two, three. This kind of quality, the general brokerage industry researchers simply can't compare. Whether these industries can understand it or not, as long as the collateral is real estate, there is no problem, and there is still confidence in trusting migrant workers.

Secondly, efficient and scary, on call. Not to mention that after receiving the channel business, you have to go through the process without sleeping. This is a general self-operated business. That is, as long as you control a phone call, you immediately squat on the edge of review and run before and after, giving various explanations and writing various instructions. All the responsibilities will be mine and everyone will be divided. Before lending, people decorate their grandchildren, and there are n bosses in a process. Service has no bottom line, no moral integrity. After five passes and six generals, I was exhausted when I arrived at my destination.

Finally, we must have a wide range of contacts and be able to pull projects. Trust migrant workers to know how to hang out in various forums and conferences, send business cards everywhere, and say to everyone, "Is there a project? Do you have money? " Telling the project side that there is money and telling the fund side that there is a project is a basic skill. You must keep a straight face and keep your heart from beating. Although there is nothing in fact, you are just a money broker, but you should also be full of energy and make customers feel that you can give orders. Of course, you must remember to leave early after all kinds of social gatherings, or you will miss the last bus home.

Satisfy the above points, and you can become a qualified trust migrant worker. Wait, don't rush to submit your resume. It is said that the industry is not very good now, there are many people running, and some projects may default. It's common to leave without pay when something bad happens. I can only remind you here, you see, there are risks in entering the business, so you must make careful decisions.

The fourth series of compulsory reading for financial workers' career development: PE investment manager

PE investment manager is a kind of financial migrant worker category that has gradually emerged in recent years. Imported goods, foreign private equity investment managers, foreign investors are generally called associate managers, and many domestic investors are called investment directors (the title is inflated, but there is actually no one below). In the financial industry, PE is the king of kings, KKR and Blackstone are both in this department. Who are those people? Thousands of years old trees make demons.

Generally speaking, the PE industry is difficult to enter. You haven't worked in an investment bank for several years, and you haven't worked in industry for several years. Who believes that you have the experience of seeing, understanding and managing enterprises? Foreign PEs are first-class investment bankers, plus the second generation of officials, which is the perfect combination of capital and power and the essence of capitalism with American characteristics!

However, who told you to be in China? China specializes in all kinds of disobedience. Here, if we engage in private equity investment, we are betting on listing. As long as we can go public, even if you sell something, it can become gold. The industry calls this business model "valuation arbitrage". Anyone can do PE as long as they master the trick of this model.

In China, any industry will inevitably become labor-intensive. PE industry is no exception. Recruit more people and sweep goods in third-and fourth-tier cities across the country. I can always find a few reliable ones. Anyway, we are not short of people. It is said that the starting salary of graduate students is only 3000 yuan! Xiaomi plus a rifle can also fight the regular American army.

Although it is recruited with a starting salary of 3000 yuan, it must not be reduced. PE migrant workers must go high when talking about business, and lose at the starting line when talking about finance and valuation. What the hell? After drinking some wine at the dinner table, I casually revealed a business card of the leader of the CSRC and the boss, and casually said lightly: "This thing, money, five words floating in the sky, that's nothing. The key is that we can integrate resources and provide value-added services. " Fill the boss's glass with wine and add: "The leaders of the meeting and our leaders were bunk beds when they were in college. Let's go to Beijing together another day and get to know the leaders. " Do you think this domineering can scare poor entrepreneurs and local tyrants?

After all, there are still a few high-end occasions such as wine tables and dining tables. The daily life of PE migrant workers can generally be summarized in the following paragraph: "PE dogs earn 3,000 yuan a month. The basic salary is low and the commission is high, and the company recruits well. When can Carry get it? There will be less in five years. Outsiders call him Gao Fushuai, but in fact he is an overtime dog. Behind the project is often chicken ribs; The internal subscription was actually framed by the leaders. On the surface, it is the peak of my career, but I am afraid I am anxious inside. Success depends on Fukai; Success or failure is at stake. It is the right way to do some part-time work and earn some extra money. "