It all comes down to mentors, our Rising Stars of Equity Research said.
Business Insider recently published the Rising Stars of Equity Research, a comprehensive list of Wall Street’s brightest young sell-side analysts.
We spoke to dozens of finalists, all under 35 years old, about the stock market, their careers, and what has helped propel them to success at such a (relatively) young age.
One thing that was echoed by nearly every single rising star was the importance of mentors. We’ve rounded up some of the best nuggets of advice from the Rising Stars of Equity Research. Here’s what they had to say:
Make your own luck
"My Dad told me to 'make your own luck' – that’s not to say people don’t just get lucky (they definitely do), but he was saying you need to do a lot of hard work ahead of time to put yourself in a position to catch a break, rather than just waiting around ‘hoping’ to catch a lucky break.
Be honest
"The best piece of advice I’ve ever received (and try to pass along whenever someone asks) is to be honest with yourself. Have the (sometimes difficult) internal conversation to understand what you are good at, rather than what you want to be good at. That doesn’t mean to sit back and stay within your comfort zone. But everyone has their own innate set of skills; so figure out what those are, then nurture and stretch them. Said another way, swing for the fences, but know your best pitch.”
—Simeon Siegel, Nomura Instinet
Know your strengths
"The best equity research-specific advice I ever received came from a PM while I was at my first conference. He pulled me aside and told me that an analyst has three roles: (1) know the industry you cover and its dynamics, (2) know a company’s business model inside and out, and (3) be a great stock picker. A good analyst can do one of these, a great analyst can do two. The best analysts know which of these three is their strength, and makes a career of it.
Humility
"The best piece of advice one of the — if not the — best biotech analyst on Wall Street once gave me early in my career is: 'No matter how much success you’ve had, you can never have enough humility.' I have found it to be very insightful and try to incorporate it in everything that I do."