Insurance or Private Banking?

Hey everyone,

I'm in desperate need of some career advice. I am a senior in college and want to go into wealth management and have a few questions.

This summer I'm doing summer school for my double major and working part-time. I was hoping to get an internship as an analyst at a major bank, however, they were only hiring full-time interns.

So now I'm down to two options: Northwestern Mutual or First Republic Bank.

At Northwestern Mutual I would be working as a financial representative selling life insurance. Basically I'd meet with people to discuss their financial situation, go back and run some simulations, and then meet again to discuss recommendations. If I do well in this internship, that is, selling more than 10 lives, I'd most likely be offered a full-time position.

The other position is as an intern at First Republic Bank, which offers private banking and wealth management to wealthy individuals. My responsibilities there would be calling existing clients to sell them a wide variety of bank products. I would start by identifying clients who might benefit from certain products, creating my own lists, and calling them. As I gain more experience private bankers will provide me with names of their more wealthy clients who I can then call. If I do well here, there is also a high probability that I get an offer for a private banker position.

The truth is, I like both positions and feel that I can learn a lot. However, I consider these my backup jobs. I love finance and also working with people. So ideally, upon graduation, I'd first like to get a job as an analyst at a big bank like Morgan Stanley, UBS, or JP Morgan, and learn the ropes. Then work towards my CFA or MBA and then start working with clients.

So my main concerns are:

Where will I get the most valuable experience?
What will look better on my resume?
What's a better path into wealth management?

Thanks in advance,

-S

S--It sounds like both positions are really focused more on sales than anything else which is very different than the job of an analyst. Also when you talk about becoming an analyst with a major firm and then go back for your CFA and MBA are you sure you are talking about working in retail brokerage (wealth management)?

I work in wealth management as a financial advisor and have for 8 years. In our side of the business most analyst spend their days running various reports and screening investment products which allows us (the financial advisor) to spend more time on the relationship management side of the business. It is not the job of a high paid analyst on the institutional side of the business and it is normally either a entry level position.

cruizm14, make sure you go to a position that fits your personality. Analysts and Financial Advisors are pretty much opposite in nature. If you are a people's person, persuasive, good at "selling", like to socialize a lot, good at making friends easily, one of those who enjoy and get energized from being with people, then you have a careeer in Financial Advise /Planning/Wealth Management. On the other hand, if you are rather introvert, prefer to work for several hours uninterrupted on something of interest that requires analysis, research, number crunching, then DO NOT GET INTO FINANCIAL ADVISE and go for an analyst position.
I worked as a Financial Advisor for Metlife for two years, and although I would have done well over time (it takes years to build a good book of business that can provide you with a six-figure income), I realize I wasn't enjoying it, I am not a sales person, it's not my nature.
I would ask you, which of the two work description do you think best fits your personality???