It’s not a good time for graduate jobs. Therefore if you see a graduate job in finance that pays $120k in year one, $200k by year three and $750k on average thereafter, then why not apply? If there are hundreds of these jobs, even better.
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Not all shiny things are the sun though. In a long investigation into the reality of “financial advisor jobs” at Northwestern Mutual, a Fortune 500 company that features on Forbes as a best place to work for graduates, the Guardian suggests that some jobs pedalled by big companies to desperate students are a bit like exhausting Ponzi schemes.
Every year, Northwestern Mutual advertises hundreds of its advisor jobs to US college students eager for a job in the banking industry. Students think they will be learning how to provide financial and wealth management advice. In fact, they will be selling life insurance. And they will be doing so to their families and friends.
Northwestern Mutual likes to hire students because they ‘they provide access to college-educated parents, relatives and friends who would otherwise put the phone down,’ says the Guardian. At interviews, students are reportedly asked about the finances of their network. On their first day in the job, they’re asked to load 200 contacts into the system. Then they’re asked to make 40 calls a day to “friends, cousins, ex-roommates, teammates.” If someone doesn’t answer, they’re allegedly encouraged to leave 20 missed calls so it looks urgent. If someone does answer, they try and sell them some expensive life insurance.
None of this is easy. Most students drop out. Others complain of earning $5.50 an hour. Those who stay alienate everyone with their relentless pestering and are consumed by shame at their tactics. A few do make money, but this is partly by hiring additional salespeople to feed the machine.
It’s all perfectly legal, but for students expecting to begin careers in financial services, it’s a terrible shock. They sell you the dream, says one. Then you realise the reality: “You’re not going to be able to financially afford a career at Northwestern, but also emotionally, you might not be able to afford it either.”
Separately, Andy Sieg has a bigger job at Citi and he’s giving interviews on the state of the market. There’s “some room to run” in equities, says Sieg. We’re not in the “late stage of a bull market” yet, he adds.
Sieg is also rebuffing the claims that he he was unduly harsh to Citi managing directors. The claims “are not an accurate reflection of my leadership style or the culture of our wealth business,” he says. “Change is hard, and we have had a massive change.”
This is almost identical to Sieg’s statement in August, when he also reflected on the difficulty of bringing about change. The implication is that Sieg’s detractors were too attached to the status quo.
Meanwhile…
James Holder, who heads Citi Private Bank for the UK, Europe and the Middle East, says Andy Sieg is a “change agent”. “I work with Andy and I speak to him every day. He’s very driven and he’s very focused on [the wealth business] being a success. He has made an immediate impact with a business that’s growing 20% of the top-line, a flat cost base, real operating leverage and helping to drive [CEO Jane Fraser’s] goal of driving a broader return on capital in the franchise.” (Financial News)
Deutsche Bank’s precious metal traders generated well over $100 million in revenue during the first half of the year. (Bloomberg)
It’s been a great year to be an equities trader. Banks are projected to generate about $94bn of equities trading revenues this year, up 17% on last year which was a good year too. (IFR)
Piper Sandler launched a private markets trading function. (Global Trading)
Ray Dalio says pod shop multistrategy hedge funds won’t last because the siloed approach makes it harder for people to build meaningful relationships, and that this impacts employee continuity and competitiveness. (Bloomberg)
There are now more people in Canary Wharf than before the pandemic. (Bloomberg)
The UK Treasury is asking banks to make public statements in favour of the budget in return for it not increasing taxes on them. (FT)
Michael Burry has a substack. (CassandraUnchained)
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