[Gunner]

So, I'm in that moment of my life that I need to make a choice and I (kind of) know what I want but IDK how to get there.

Background:

23 years old, finished my undergrad some weeks ago in a top mexican school in Finance and Accounting with a 3.6 GPA, I have studied before in Spain(Specialist in Financial Analysis) and I have internship experience in a financial services boutique in DC, I speak English, Spanish and Portuguese. I live in the north of MX in a medium city(1Million), 4hr drive from the texas border, I like and value my family and friends at home and my freetime to workout and read but I want to leave this small city to know more people and be independent.

What do I want?
I want to have a career in Finance, I like investments, the stock market and consulting. I want to have a little bit of life work/balance; I don't want to work 100hours a week staring at a computer screen typing numbers in excel, in 3-5 years I would like to (maybe) have a top masters degree just because I want it even though I know that it's not the norm around here to get degrees, in 10years I would like to build a passive income, investments and to have enough money not to live the nomad international playboy style but to travel often and enjoy life.

Options right now:

1) Boutique Investment Bank in DC: 50k yearly base salary, bonus anywhere from 20%-50% base salary, long hours(average 80hr week), some travel, loads of deal exposure.

Pros:
•Money(or is not that much?)
•Prestige
•Good relations
•Easy to move-up if I am good

Cons:
•Hate the city
•Lots of work, long hours.
•Kind of boring job.
•It would be tough for 3years and then I would look for something else.

Neutral:
•Work with gringos(latin work culture is different)

2) I have some good relations in Mexico City so I could leverage my network and get something in wealth management, consulting or something like that, I also have a list of "targets" on LinkedIN like youngmobileglobal recommends so I could use the cold-call route:

Pros:
•Party city, never sleep.
•Better hours.
•Easy travel to my home city to see family and friends.
•Have friends over there.
•More interesting to rent a flat and then use my network.

Cons:
•Not a lot of prestige for the future(depends)
•Pay in MX could be anywhere from 1.2k-2.5k monthly, that's enough to live in Mexico City but not to splurge or save a lot for the future.
•Nothing sure, maybe my network doesn't work and I don't get anything.

With the prestige stuff I don't want to sound like an arrogant finance guy wannabe that says: "I work at Goldman Sachs so I'm god" no, I refer to good names in my resume for the future and relationship building.

I appreciate your help guys.

[Sly]

I'm coming up in finance as well. I am trying to follow my uncle's footsteps, who like you, is from mexico. He is a Financial Advisor at one of the worlds biggest investment banks (won't disclose which firm here). He's the 2nd top producer at the firm in San Diego. About 90% of his clients are from Mexico. They like to invest there money with him as Mexican International investors have the privilege of avoiding taxes on there capital gains, dividends etc..
I have never been to Mexico by the Texas border. If it is anything like Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada there is probably LOTS of wealthy people.
The route he took was:
Started off as a personal banker at a local branch.
Then he passed his series 7 and got promoted to being an F.A. for the branch.
Here, is where he met the majority of his clients. Clients would come in to the branch to open up accounts, he would market himself and his investment skills and try to get them to open up a brokerage account with him. He built his book from scrap. Then he signed with a huge investment firm where the commission he received was huge. He got a $ 1 million dollar bonus just for signing with them. His salary varies, but he usually will take home over $800,000 per year. I was at his office when he made $55,000 in fees in one day! Some guy from Mexico City bought tons of preferred stocks from him and he made bank.
It sounds like you might be going the backdoor route (analyst, accounting etc).
I just thought I would give you the perspective from a Financial Advisor point of view.
You would have an advantage on many people as you speak Spanish.
It is hard work. You won't start off with a huge salary. If you can build a solid book of clients, FA's make tons of money and their hours diminish the more their clients trust them.

[WestIndianArchie]

Think of another option
- no to Dc
- maybe yes to Mexico City

Cold calling will help your game, even if you initially suck at it.

But you know 3 languages, you're smart, and you've seen what the game is about.

Maybe you can import something into your country and sell it, and systematize what you're doing so that you can hire people to do the work for you/or use a computer to automate.

Your time is your only valuable resource.

[kimleebj]

(12-21-2011 12:55 PM)bars Wrote:  

I would like to (maybe) have a top masters degree just because I want it even though I know that it's not the norm around here

1) Boutique Investment Bank in DC: 50k yearly base salary, bonus anywhere from 20%-50% base salary, long hours(average 80hr week), some travel, loads of deal exposure.

Cons:
•Lots of work, long hours.
•Kind of boring job.
•It would be tough for 3years and then I would look for something else.

Twenty years ago it was very common for Latin Americans to get U.S. M.B.A.'s. I think an investment banking job would help you get into a good business school and then reenter the finance industry. In contrast, wealth management is often a sales job that does not build finance skills.

You might only need 2 years of experience in the job. You could always send out school applications after one year and see where you get accepted. You can also get a part-time M.B.A. If you anticipate the job to be boring them maybe you need to reconsider your career path.

[johnwu]

IB you're looking more at 100 hr per week..
Also, usually base pay for IB is 70k.
If you can, try to get into private wealth management, you start off slower than all the other finance career paths, but eventually start making lots of money with significantly reduced time commitment .
google mergersandinquisitions
this site has a lot of good info on lifestyles.
google wallstreetoasis forum
this forum can answer your career questions.

[Gunner]

(12-21-2011 06:12 PM)johnwu Wrote:  

IB you're looking more at 100 hr per week..
Also, usually base pay for IB is 70k.
If you can, try to get into private wealth management, you start off slower than all the other finance career paths, but eventually start making lots of money with significantly reduced time commitment .
google mergersandinquisitions
this site has a lot of good info on lifestyles.
google wallstreetoasis forum
this forum can answer your career questions.

It's a boutique so hours are better but the pay is worse. I know both sites and I have learned a lot about networking and career.

Thanks.

[johnwu]

I'd personally go with the Boutique, just to get the name on the resume, and then move back to Mexico if thats what you really wanted. The exit ops for IB is why people do it for 3 years, but if you don't think you can handle it, just go with the options in Mexico, maybe you can hit it big!
Unless of course having a job at an American firm doesn't mean anything in Mexico, then it is really just up to you and what location you want to work in.