u/Cute-Seaworthiness28

Just accepted a role as an investment research analyst. I’m expected to go for the CFA. My studying will be after work and on the weekends. I’m used to this; however, I now have 3 kids, so it’ll be a bit challenging but doable.

For background, I have 10 years of experience in client-facing wealth management and have multiple FINRA licenses, an insurance license, and 2 designations specializing in employer-sponsored retirement and executive compensation plans. For my FINRA licenses I always used Kaplan.

What study materials would you guys recommend for all 3 levels.

A recruiting firm reached out to me about an Investment Research Analyst opportunity. They only gave me a very high-level overview of the role. Based on that initial conversation I told them I wouldn’t consider making a move for anything less than $130–135k. The recruiter said that range should be workable.

Since then I’ve gone through multiple interviews directly with the firm (I have my 4th interview and lunch with the CEO on Monday) and have a better understanding of the role. The position is with a very small firm — only 18 employees total. They’ve been very upfront that everyone wears multiple hats. The more conversations I’ve had the more it’s become clear that this wouldn’t be a traditional “pure” analyst role. I’d likely be involved in investment research, portfolio management, wealth management/client-facing responsibilities, and probably a variety of other operational and business functions as well.

The long-term trajectory they’ve discussed is Investment Research Analyst → Director of Investment Research → eventually Chief Investment Officer within the next 5–7 years. The current CIO is expected to retire during that timeframe.

For background I’ve been in finance for 10 years on the client-facing wealth management side. While the formal analyst title would be somewhat new to me, the actual work itself isn’t completely foreign. One thing they’ve specifically liked is that I already hold FINRA licenses along with a life insurance license, and that I personally select investments and manage portfolios rather than outsourcing investment management to third-party managers or model platforms.

There’s also an expectation that I’ll pursue the CFA designation which they’ve offered to fully pay for — something I’m fully on board with.

Given all of that I’m curious what people would consider a fair compensation range for a role like this. The deeper I get into the interview process the more it feels like this is really several roles combined into one because of the size of the firm and the growth trajectory attached to the position which makes me think the compensation should probably be higher than the original range I discussed with the recruiter. Thoughts?