Moving from industry to funds

hooch-85

Anyone on here working in funds by any chance?

Got called for a 2nd interview and I am pretty clueless about it as I am coming from a small practice practice background with about 2 years industry experience.

It would be my first role in Funds and I would like to go to the interview armed with some info.

I was told to check out www.irishfunds.ie, any other good sites to look up?

phunkymonk

IS there a reason why you want to go into funds even though you dont know much about the industry?

Im in the opposite boat to you and looking at moving out of funds into an industry role.

Are you sitting or finished exams?

hooch-85

phunkymonk wrote: »

IS there a reason why you want to go into funds even though you dont know much about the industry?

Im in the opposite boat to you and looking at moving out of funds into an industry role.

Are you sitting or finished exams?

Not really a particular reason only that the opportunity came up. I am a recently qualified ACA with about 2 years industry experience

Pauvre Con

Anyone can and indeed does go into financial services. You don't have to come from an accounting/business background. I've worked in funds and frankly always found it beneath me as I studied accountancy for a reason - so that I could then work in roles that my education merited. It's an industry that feeds off of others and exists only to make money. Plus it's crushingly boring working in the back offices. An awful lot of people work in funds have zero interest in their job and are there purely to take the admittedly rather good salaries. I felt this promoted a poorer calibre of employee. Seems a real waste for a qualified accountant but then it's horses for courses....

saggart26

That’s a bit of a sweeping statement! Financial Services doesn’t just refer to back-end office work. There’s a variety of business functions under the FS umbrella such as transfer agency, custody, fund accounting etc. Each business can either be autonomous or cross sharing depending on individual client requirements. Each business will have their own defined operating model. I work under the fund accounting projects branch. Our FA business model would consist of a range of operations such as day to day NAV processing, Project (business testing & implementation), Product (Sales & new Business), financial reporting etc. I’m a recently qualified accountant similar to yourself. You're qualification will definitely stand to you. Its more or less a prerequisite if you are looking to progress into middle management and above. However the piece of paper will only get you so far and at the end of the day, it’s what you put in that you get out.My advice would be to fully understand the role that you are applying for and make sure that there is a suitable balance to your skill-set. Like the previous post said, back-office work can be boring but you still need to understand the business before you can progress up the food chain but don’t get pigeon holed in a position that offers little for career progression.

saggart26

Pauvre Con wrote: »

It's an industry that feeds off of others and exists only to make money.

Like most industries!!

midlouth

hooch-85 wrote: »

Anyone on here working in funds by any chance?

Got called for a 2nd interview and I am pretty clueless about it as I am coming from a small practice practice background with about 2 years industry experience.

It would be my first role in Funds and I would like to go to the interview armed with some info.

I was told to check out www.irishfunds.ie, any other good sites to look up?

I am trying to do the opposite, I would recommend that if you have some friends working in funds that you pick up the phone and talk to them. If you want to PM me go for it.

If only I could buy your experience off you, currently looking around for a practice to take me on as a trainee, will be a big drop in pay but I am happy enough for that so I find a role that will give me some good experience.

Anerak

I was wondering can anyone give any advice I am in practice for 2 years and am part qualified and looking at moving into Funds would anyone have any advice on this or the work involved in funds

saggart26

Anerak wrote: »

I was wondering can anyone give any advice I am in practice for 2 years and am part qualified and looking at moving into Funds would anyone have any advice on this or the work involved in funds

what area of funds are you looking to move into?

Anerak

I am looking at a fund accounting working with NAV's and reconciliations

Ardeehey

I've got lots of years in the industry and I for one have always liked it but then an entry level role in most companies is completely different from when I started. There are so many different companies with different mentalities, albeit with the same objective, that it really depends on which you go to and then which group/client type you end up working on.

Smaller firms will invariably offer a more rounded job role, you may not be necessarily pigeon-holed into running the same process over and over again for a large number of funds, you may get exposure to pricing, corporate actions, investor services, tax, financial reporting etc. Unfortunately there are a lot of the larger companies where you may end up being in a processing type role....of course the variety can be broad.

If you are at interview stage then don't be afraid to ask about the role in-depth. You haven't stated if you are interested in Hedge or Mutual Funds so maybe do a little research on series of shares and equalisation, you won't be expected to know everything about it but it will show some get up and go if it is mentioned. You will obviously be fine with the accounting side of things but don't be afraid to look into how to account for some standard investment types such as bonds (what to do with accrued interest), futures/cfd's (which have no cost impact), options.

Like I said, don't be afraid to ask questions, do a little research and best of luck with the hunt. If you want to ask me anything just drop me a pm.