It’s tempting to think that asset management firms only look for performance in any potential front office employee they hire. This is, of course, important but your experience needs to be presented in your CV in a way that shows what exactly you’ll be bringing to the table.
Too many investment professionals talk in vague terms about their job duties, without actually stating their individual contribution to the fund. If you’re a star portfolio manager, anyone with access to Morningstar can check you out, but creating a compelling ‘story’ on your resume is as important as highlighting the numbers, suggest recruiters and career consultants.
This is what you need to do to make your asset management CV stand out.
1. Remember, academics count
Years into your career, which university you went to and what you studied may seem irrelevant to your job prospects. However, while impeccable academics may be less important than in investment banking or hedge funds, asset managers have their own criteria.
Asset managers recruit more people with ‘arts’ degrees than other parts of the financial sector, but also have a bias towards Ivy League and Oxbridge/London School of Economics graduates.
“There are a disproportionate number of people in these positions coming from Oxford, Cambridge and the London School of Economics,” says James Dewhirst, director of recruiters Investment Management Partners. “I rarely have clients request a specific university, but they always require impressive academics.”
2. Highlight technical skills, but show your contribution
It’s tempting to pack your CV with the sort of information that can demonstrate how well the funds you manage have performed.
Victorian McLean, managing director of City CV, suggests that you should be highlighting your fund’s performance, how you outperformed the benchmark, how your assets under management increased, and how you achieved all of this with a relatively low risk profile. However, to some extent this a given, what sets you apart from the competition?
“Ensure you tell a story – how your job has evolved, how you compare to others, identify and explain your key differentiators – why should they hire you rather than the 500 other people that have applied for the role,” she says.
3. Know what the role is looking for
This may sound obvious, but it’s important that your CV is tailored towards the position you’re applying to. Your resume will be judged on three key criteria, says Dewhirst, so know what to bring out.
“Firstly they want to know what products you focus on and in which geographic locations/industries (for example a Japanese pharmaceutical equity analyst versus a UK equity generalist),” he says. “Secondly, they want to know who you have worked for and on which funds. Thirdly, they will look at academic background. And not necessarily in that order.”
4. Remember the ‘so what?’ factor
Demonstrate, briefly, the implications of the achievements on your CV. So, you may have managed a £5bn UK equity fund, but how did evolve during the time you were in charge? Did AUM grow? Did performance improve? What did you achieve?
“Often people are too technical on the level of detail of the trades they have made, but actually failed to talk about performance,” says McLean.
“You will save yourself time and effort by incorporating summarised performance information in bullet points on your CV. Specifically, which funds/investments you worked on, what you specifically contributed to and their performance,” says Dewhirst.
5. Don’t leave open questions
If you’ve taken time out, or spent some periods out of work, you need to explain this. Lay-offs have been less common in asset management than in banking, job tenure is generally longer and any inconsistencies are given greater scrutiny.
“CVs with employment gaps or frequent job moves always need explaining,” says Dewhirst. “If possible briefly outline reasons for questionable moves or gaps on the CV to give them context as they will be scrutinised.”
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