What is Corporate Banking like at JPM/BAML/Citi?
Just wanted to get some updated thoughts and insights into Corporate Banking at the above banks, especially since CB at these 3 banks specifically doesn’t get talked about. I had a few questions:
- I’ve heard these are the top 3 banks, so is the work at these banks interesting?
- What does comp/hours worked look like?
- Is it possible to exit into private credit or would I have to go to IB first?
- How is corporate banking as a long term career?
- If you work in CB at JPM/BAML/Citi, are you happy? Do you see yourself moving?
Appreciate any input!
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1. It's heavily dependent on the group. With the new CIB model that most of the balance sheet banks operate under, the work delegated and the subsequent responsibilities aren't consistent. Some groups don't model at all, other's hold the pen on the model and serve more of a LevFin function. If your group does model and works in tandem with IB then the work can be interesting to some degree, but outside of modeling/general credit underwriting it's all internal compliance junk and it's extremely boring.
2. Same base salary as IB but a cut on the bonus. Hours often keep up with IB. In my opinion it's not a good deal. What happens in these CIB groups is that you end up working ~70 hour weeks but get a much smaller bonus. You work IB hours without IB pay and exit ops. If you're doing 60 hour weeks consistently, it's best to just do IB because the bank is ripping you off.
3. Possible if your group models. Very hard if you don't.
4. It's a decent place to be if you climb the ranks, but there's simply better options out there with alternatives like private credit.
5. Not really due to a combination of the above. Historically, analysts in my group have rarely made it past two years because they jump ship to IB, PE, CD, PC etc the moment they get and don't look back.
Hey, thanks for the comprehensive response, super helpful.
You mentioned that analysts in your group have historically left for other roles. What do those exits look like, especially IB, PE, and PC? For example for IB, do they exit to reputable shops like other BBs, good MMs, internal transfer, etc or are they small boutiques?
Also, I do want to give CB a shot since I genuinely am interested and haven’t actually worked yet. However, I do also want to make good money (going into banking after all lol), do you have any idea about comp after the analyst years? Tbh corporate banking at one of these banks seems to be a good place to be if maximizing comp but not exactly working IB is the goal.
Thanks so much again for the insights!
comp will be good as you become a relationship manager (not IB money but still good)
An easy way to look at it is you would prob make what a title below you in IB will make (IB Aso Comp = CB VP comp, IB VP comp = CB ED/D comp, you get the point) - Not exact but close enough
AN2 in Corporate Banking at JPM:
1. You are the entry point to the breadth of products that a large BB has to offer, often times you are cross-selling large corporations & FIs treasury services, markets, securities services, AM, DCM, to name a few. The work you do as a junior banker is largely process management with little modeling, with the exception being some credit facility-related models. Typically, CB takes the lead in facility/loan negotiations and gets into the nitty gritty of facility documentations, however, this varies greatly by bank and geography, as these large banks would allocate exposure very differently across regions. So if you are in an emerging market for which your bank has limited credit appetite, it would make your job a lot harder in terms of getting your credit risk officers to sign off on facilities and leveraging balance sheet support for further cross-selling with clients.
2. Hours are IB-lite in that you tend to be a lot busier on live deal sprints, but it's no IB and 80-hour weeks are almost unheard of. The most hours I've logged in a week are 70 hours. Base comp is on par with IB and bonus takes a haircut as the other poster said.
3. I'm still figuring this one out. CB is essentially a relationship management role as you climb up the ladder. IMO the technical skillset you get from junior years isn't necessarily enough to make you a top performer in a private credit role. Transition to DCM as a junior is possible, since DCM isn't modeling heavy and you have plenty of exposure to it because you work on DCM deals yourself.
4. It's a much cushier gig than IB and A LOT MORE recession-proof. Banks lay off under-performing IB seniors and juniors first under the current environment in which capital markets are pretty dead and fees see a significant drop-off. Corporate banking business model is a lot more resilient because you are banking the day-to-day flows with your clients (global payments, merchant collections, cash pooling, etc) instead of episodic transactions (M&A, follow-on, IPO). It's more stability but having a large portfolio as a senior banker also means lots of traveling and working around clock to cater to your revenue target.
5. Hard to say. There's always lots of bureaucracy in banking roles at these large banks, but overall it's a nice gig with good pay.
How much of a haircut is there on the bonus? I've been hearing corporate banking bonuses are usually 30-40% with some people hitting 50% but that seems more like IB level bonuses.
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