Wealth Management Vice Presidents

Employers

There are thousands of wealth management businesses in the United States alone. Major employers include:

• investment firms (e.g., Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase & Co.)
• national broker/dealers (e.g., Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones, Wells Fargo Advisors, UBS Wealth Management)
• regional and boutiques (e.g., Legg Mason, Janney Montgomery Scott, Ameriprise Financial, and Raymond James)
• family offices (i.e., firms that manages investments, assets, and trusts for a high-wealth family)
• independents (i.e., small mom-and-pop businesses)
• robo advisory firms (e.g., Wealthfront, Betterment, and Assetbuilder)

Starting Out

Many people are promoted to the position of vice president after excelling as associates and in other lower-level positions at their employers or other wealth management firms. Others enter this career after working in the hedge fund, private equity, or venture capital sectors, or after working at financial consulting firms or in the financial departments of corporations.

You can learn more about career opportunities by using traditional job-search strategies such as visiting the Web sites of potential employers, meeting with recruiters on campus, utilizing the services provided by your college’s career counselors, signing on with wealth management recruiters, and using social networking sites (such as LinkedIn) to prospect for job leads.

Additionally, participation in internships programs, which are provided by wealth management firms, is an excellent way to break into the field. For example, industry leader HSBC offer a five-to-16-week Global Private Banking Internship Program (https://www.hsbc.com/careers/students-and-graduates/student-opportunities/private-banking-internship) for penultimate-year undergraduate students. The program provides participants with an understanding of what it takes to become an investment counselor, relationship manager, or product specialist. The most-promising interns are asked to participate in its Global Private Banking Global Graduate Programme (https://www.hsbc.com/careers/students-and-graduates/graduate-opportunities/private-banking), a 24-month program for final-year bachelor’s or master’s degree students that teaches them how to manage relationships with the bank’s high-net-worth clients and provide financial product expertise. Participation in these programs can translate into a full-time position at the company.