Working in Funds

Killme00

Yep im working in funds and earning 37000 no bonuses. I just polished off my acca exams in december and am awaiting the results. Im pretty sure that i passed. I have a BA(hons) in Accounting and an MBA in Business and Finance. Ideally in the future i want to work for myself!!

Ok my question. Should i consider moving to an accounting practice and from there setting up on my own, or should i stay in this boring job. How much money will i lose in the short term/ gain in the long term.

Any comments appreciated??:D

Kinetic^

Well when you say work for yourself, what industry do you want to work yourself in?

Killme00

Kenny 5 wrote:

Well when you say work for yourself, what industry do you want to work yourself in?

Accountant

Kinetic^

Killme00 wrote:

Accountant

If you mean owning a practice then I'd get into one straight away as you'll need to learn alot about how they operate.

Killme00

Thanks,

Have you any idea how much of a drop in salary i will be forced to endure

Kinetic^

Killme00 wrote:

Thanks,

Have you any idea how much of a drop in salary i will be forced to endure

TBH, I've never spoken to anyone who has done what you are about to. I have to let you know though, it's exceptionally different to what you've been doing.

Killme00

Kenny 5 wrote:

TBH, I've never spoken to anyone who has done what you are about to. I have to let you know though, it's exceptionally different to what you've been doing.

Oh i dont doubt that for a second...when i was in college i nevr expected to be doing this crap to get by

Kinetic^

Still though, plenty of money in Funds. Why not go and work in one of the Big 4 and get some decent money from them in their funds departments?

narommy

Kenny 5 wrote:

Still though, plenty of money in Funds. Why not go and work in one of the Big 4 and get some decent money from them in their funds departments?

I know a gut who did this. Within a year he had gotten a job with one of the bigger banks in a non fund role.

I pity anybody in funds really. Never had much experience of them but from what i've heard..............

Killme00

narommy wrote:

I pity anybody in funds really. Never had much experience of them but from what i've heard..............

its not that bad, just long hours
i am looking to move because i dont see myself doing this type of work long term, although it does offer good travel opportunites, im off to New York next month and then Singapore. Other than that its just like any other job...boring!!

Leon11

when you say long hours, how long is long? typical weeks working hrs?

Kinetic^

It'll generally be ok up until Christmas, then after that it's like crazy stuff, doing 9-7/8/9 for a couple of months. That's in the Big 4 anyway. (moreso E&Y as I know a good few people in there).

chump

Killme00 wrote:

Yep im working in funds and earning 37000 no bonuses. I just polished off my acca exams in december and am awaiting the results. Im pretty sure that i passed. I have a BA(hons) in Accounting and an MBA in Business and Finance. Ideally in the future i want to work for myself!!

Ok my question. Should i consider moving to an accounting practice and from there setting up on my own, or should i stay in this boring job. How much money will i lose in the short term/ gain in the long term.

Any comments appreciated??:D

What's the story with just earning 37k?

Why would you expect a salary drop having become qualified?

I'm working audit for a big4 and on qualification I was under the impression ppl could walk into 45-55k a year jobs.?


ACCA salary survey,
http://www.accountingnet.ie/content/uploads/sal_guide_06_1_.pdf

Salary seem low in comparison to ACA qualified?

Kinetic^

Does seem a little low alright. I'm going to be looking fir 50 when I get out

Killme00

Kenny 5 wrote:

Does seem a little low alright. I'm going to be looking fir 50 when I get out

My only experience is in funds, i have none in practice yet, so i would expect a lower salary to begin with. Should i still expect more???

Got the results today and passed

Killme00

Kenny 5 wrote:

It'll generally be ok up until Christmas, then after that it's like crazy stuff, doing 9-7/8/9 for a couple of months. That's in the Big 4 anyway. (moreso E&Y as I know a good few people in there).

no busy at month end every month and extra bsuy in deceber jan...8 am till 8/9/10pm

Kinetic^

Killme00 wrote:

no busy at month end every month and extra bsuy in deceber jan...8 am till 8/9/10pm

Sorry was talking from the working in Funds in practice.

Congrats on the results.

Kinetic^

Right I'm finished up in Practice and have no desire to ever go back into auditing, can someone tell me what working in funds is like on a day to day basis?

eggie

It can be pretty repetitive depending on where you work. Its very technical, concerning finance obviously and all things related to stock market trading.

However, you will have nothing to do with the trading side of it, the investment managers take care of this and you simply reconcile the accounts based on the previous days trades (one day lag).

The Prime broker is responsible for the actual money in teh accounts and pays and receives according to the funds investments and profit / loss.

The investment managers will also keep a set of accounts, as will a third independent administrator.

On a daily basis you will reconcile your accounts to that of the prime broker and query any discrepancies between the two.

Daily chores include:j Pricing the securities held by the fund in the daily markets (stock markets for equities, exchanges for futures and options, valuations of swaps and other derivatives will come from the valuations department, etc).

Other areas include reconciling: cash, positions, corporate actions, allocating profit/loss to fund investors, P&L review, and the end result is to end up with an accurate NAV of the fund.

If you work on a pretty small inactive fund you could probably do all of this yourself, however the bigger funds would have a team of people, each working in a particular area. You can obviously rotate each area as to gain experience in all areas of the fund.

If you were looking to get into front or middle office positions in teh future with a prime broker or investment manager it would be a good starting point to gain an incite into the whole goings on.

Money is better than practice as is bonuses an annual pay increments. All accounting jobs are repetitive and can get boring at times, thereofre i prefer to go where the money is slightly better.

Its not the same as practice, no real accounting laws to learn, more being able to count and understand stock splits, rights issues, bonus issues, mergers, dividends, swaps, futures, options,etc. Obviously you dont need to know much of this to start with, can all be learned on the job. There are other areas aswell - shareholder services, even auditing!!

Hope this helps.

Eggie.

Kinetic^

eggie wrote:

Its not the same as practice, no real accounting laws to learn

You could've just posted that and I would've been sold Thanks for the post, very informative.