If you imagine a job in finance will lead to huge bonuses, private jets and superyachts, you may be picturing the kinds of rewards that only the best-paid asset managers continue to enjoy.
However, the multitrillion-dollar industry offers a diverse array of jobs that range from running pension schemes and investment funds to data analysis or helping to manage money for wealthy families.
Job opportunities are available for both school leavers and undergraduates, and the industry can serve as a springboard to other sectors such as banking.
Lizzie Louis, a managing director at Dartmouth Partners, a financial recruitment company, explains that the entry route into asset management is “broader than many people realise.” Besides investment roles, she explains, the industry needs expertise in areas including technology, risk management and client-facing roles.
And to secure those roles, recruitment experts say, prospective employers are looking beyond academic results.
“Those who are able to showcase . . . technical knowledge alongside strong communication skills and adaptability will likely stand out among entry-level talent,” says Brandi Britton, global executive director of contract finance and accounting at US recruitment firm Robert Half.
She says networking is one of the best ways to learn about different career paths and to build relationships along the way. “Attending industry events or seeking informational conversations can provide insights that aren’t always visible in a job posting, and can help graduates make more informed decisions about their next step.”
According to a survey of more than 4,000 prospective students by the Graduate Management Admission Council, a global non-profit body of leading graduate business schools, 35 per cent of postgraduate business school candidates want to work in asset management and investment banking.
In Asia, a rapidly expanding middle class and increasing retirement needs have created a fast-growing asset management industry. Tomoya Narikiyo, senior corporate officer and global head of human resources at Amova, says this has helped create “opportunities for graduates across a wide range of functions”.
“For graduates looking to enter the industry, strong academic achievement remains important, but employers are increasingly seeking curiosity, adaptability, resilience and a willingness to learn,” he says.
Kirsten Barnes, chief executive of the Bright Network, a UK-based organisation that connects graduates and employers, says the route into asset management follows a consistent pattern: insight days in the first year of university, summer internships in the second and then an application for a graduate scheme in the third or final year. She notes that strong internship performance often leads directly to a graduate job offer or fast-tracks candidates through the recruitment process.
“One of the biggest challenges is that many students don’t realise how early that journey starts,” she observes.
“Candidates who begin preparing in their final year are often competing against peers who’ve already spent two or three years building commercial awareness, gaining relevant experience and demonstrating a genuine interest in the sector,” she adds.
Many asset managers look out for certain skills and attributes. Aberdeen Investments says it “always looks for evidence of curiosity, collaboration, proactive self-starters” when scanning CVs of candidates and interviewing. “The personality of the candidate is hugely important.”
BlackRock, the largest fund group in the world, says it has “evolved” its hiring approach to focus less on specific degree disciplines and more on the attributes “that underpin success”, such as curiosity, critical thinking and willingness to learn.
“Today, more than 50 per cent of our UK client and product interns and more than 60 per cent of our UK analysts in those businesses come from non-business, finance or economics backgrounds, reflecting our belief that talent can emerge from a wide range of academic disciplines and experiences,” the group says.
Stephanie Ashmore, global head of talent, inclusion and employee experience at asset manager Schroders, says it is expanding its early-career initiatives “to increase the number of opportunities available across the business, especially in our client-facing and investment teams”.
Ashmore notes the company has a “skills-based hiring approach” that focuses on potential, strengths and capabilities rather than academic background or previous experience. Schroders runs an apprenticeship programme for school leavers, and more than half of the apprentices have stayed on.
Meanwhile, the rapid advance of AI is increasing competition between applicants and flooding companies with far more prospective candidates.
Peter Watkins, a senior director at the CFA Institute, an association for investment management professionals, warns that using AI for applications “doesn’t work if the graduates don’t understand the fundamentals of finance”.
Free access to the FT for schools
Secondary schools and high schools around the world have free access to the FT
“In our own survey with employers, they are saying ‘we want recruits to know financial statements analysis, they need to be very good with Excel, they need to understand features of the main asset classes’,” he says. But he adds that employers are also looking for familiarity with AI: “So I would advise students to play with AI in all areas of life and be willing to experiment and talk about that.”
Fundamentally, though, recruitment experts believe graduates must still strive for hands-on experience in the industry.
“As soon as you can get experience, do it,” says Liz McKeever, associate director at UK-based recruitment firm Robert Walters. “Experience and expos and events — offer to do an internship or shadow someone, because you’ve got to stand out.”