IB is dead in EMEA.

I haven’t seen this sort of negative sentiment since the GFC.

Bonuses at a 10-yr low.

A near complete hiring freeze at the junior level.

Dead lateral market.

Three different BB’s publishing job cut reports today alone (20th March 2024).

The hiring market is dead, those who are fortunate enough to still have a job have been compensated horribly, and deal-flow is on the floor.

Oh, and this is the third consecutive year we’re hearing deal-flow will bounce back in the second half of the year.

 

European clients are dead but at my bank we are seeing a lot of inbound opportunities from our US clients. They know they can get benefit from the depressed European valuations and get good assets at massive discounts.

I work in the UK&I Investment Banking group at a US BB, and my team has been working on 12 potential take privates of UK PLCs in the last 8-10 months (we have announced 3 and we will probably announce a couple more within the next 3 months).

I know my colleagues from regional offices in France, Italy and Iberia are experiencing something similar.

 

UK across the board feels completely finished in all honesty. I gave it 18 months to see if things would improve but the primary concerns of most citizens have only got worse and things are a complete mess, even inside the utopia of the Ldn finance industry. Although admittedly late to the game, I'll be joining the others leaving this dump in the next year

 

Amen, I take solace in knowing that my time in this place is limited and I will move out there soon

 
[Comment removed by mod team]
 

Idk who needs to hear this but the UK is literally back-office. Any city outside of the US eastern seaboard (basically anywhere you can't get to on the Amtrak that runs from Miami to Boston) is basically no-man's-land. Even cities IN America (ie, Chicago, L.A., Dallas) that aren't along the eastern seaboard hardly count in the grand scheme of life. They're like Tier 1B cities. "America" as the global majority knows it, exists from Boston to Miami along the coast. Given that the East Coast is America, and America is the world, a serious argument can be made that anything that occurs outside the reach of the easternmost Amtrak lines is literally outerspace, retard-ville. The UK is no exception. Yall tally-whackers may as well be from Pluto. 

Edit: And I'm being really fucking nice including, Philly/DC/Baltimore/Miami in the equation to begin with. At the end of the day it's really just New York and No Man's Land. 

 

No one cares about states, only cities matter. Idgaf if bumfuck, TX has higher GDP than bumfuck, NY because there are more drilling wells. That's a B-Level human way of looking at things. NYC > Your entire state and everything you love. 

 

The “global majority” hears more from LA if anything through entertainment

 

Is it actually that bad though. This was seen as the worst year for recruiting since 08 but most of my friends all got solid offers

 

No thanks - I send my kids to school without a worry that there may be a school shooting. Kids of my friends in the US do monthly drills on what to do in case there is a school shooting - I don’t need that kind of stupid stress. I would gladly rather make less money and do less deals than have that kind of stress. Life is more chill here in Europe, once your initial 20 something adrenaline runs out and you stop chasing money and prestige you’ll realise there’s more to life. 

 

No thanks - I send my kids to school without a worry that there may be a school shooting. Kids of my friends in the US do monthly drills on what to do in case there is a school shooting - I don’t need that kind of stupid stress. I would gladly rather make less money and do less deals than have that kind of stress. Life is more chill here in Europe, once your initial 20 something adrenaline runs out and you stop chasing money and prestige you’ll realise there’s more to life. 

Odd viewpoint. Are you equally concerned about traditional terror attacks, which seem just as prevalent on your side of the pond?

 

 Kids of my friends in the US do monthly drills on what to do in case there is a school shooting - I don’t need that kind of stupid stress. I would gladly rather make less money and do less deals than have that kind of stress.

This is a ridiculous comment. If you make money in the U.S. your kids aren't going to schools that have shootings and you aren't hanging around places that have gun violence, save statistically minute exceptions of someone getting hit by a stray in a city with millions of people.

The UK is a better place to be average and/or poor, agreed. If you're making IB money, USA kicks Britains ass and it isn't close. 

 

Classic British people that cannot fathom that America, a nation that came after mediocre Britain (calling it ‘Great’ at this point would be counterproductive), is economically powering the world. With Churchill’s mom being American, multiple Royals skipping town to marry a Yank (Meghan Markle is not even the worst of anything), and other Royals shagging Germans, it is no surprise that Brits feel their nation is a shadow of its former self. This is what you call an inferiority complex.

 

Working at a mid-market firm in London (Jef/HL/Harris Williams) and not seeing this at all.
 

2024 proving to be a much better environment for M&A than the last couple of years and we have closed or about to close 3/4 deals since Dec (one or two landmark deals), which is about $15-$20mm in fees which, for my team in EMEA, is a massive Q1. Pipeline healthy as well. 
 

ECM wise we just had a couple of big IPOs (Galderma etc) as well. Not all doom and gloom AND I don’t have homeless people on fentanyl arguing with the sidewalk on my way to work.  

 

I dont get the comment either. Sure we do not see 2021 markets right now but I feel like there is tons of work and banks slowly start thinking about increasing headcounts in some teams. The ECM teams also seem busy and happy with their pipeline. Rx seems overworked with more to come.  

Whats missing a bit is the MM M&A activity, however looking at the average age of PE assets and the need to deploy some capital I can imagine that there is more happening 2nd half of this year. 

And to the US folks, don't worry, this is perfect for the European summer vacations. 

 

Multiple sources repeating massive pickup in M&A, not to mention that huge ECM deal by i forget who, some MENA company, yet IB is "dead"? lol shut up

 

I’ve seen a pickup in deal flow tbh. Hiring market not really reflective though. Dying to jump ship

 

FT article today said Q1 EMEA M&A is up 60% vs last year with GS head of EMEA M&A saying levels are back to pre pandemic normals but sure the region is dead

 

Culpa eius quis necessitatibus soluta ducimus voluptas. Laboriosam atque rerum expedita neque nostrum fugiat quam. Reprehenderit quis est eaque iste dicta et ab odit. Corrupti magnam voluptatibus non aut.

Occaecati dolores reprehenderit tempora quibusdam aut voluptatum. Et maiores quo sit molestiae. Impedit minus illum hic illum. Odio enim voluptas molestiae minima aspernatur unde quaerat. Ratione repudiandae rerum sunt rem rem delectus nam velit.

 

Alias distinctio omnis enim dicta hic. Delectus beatae culpa rerum cupiditate cupiditate. Voluptatem corporis voluptatem doloremque a modi. Ut ab totam et asperiores qui est est iste. Cumque non ratione consequatur porro qui.

Est et ipsa consequuntur placeat placeat illum qui. Ipsa temporibus dolor laborum nobis nesciunt dolorem. Deserunt in sed et sint. Accusantium repudiandae non et quia alias nesciunt.

Laborum minus eaque voluptates placeat. Ipsa voluptate autem in vero natus ipsam consequuntur. Soluta praesentium quisquam hic quae qui doloremque.

Omnis omnis pariatur ipsam ab voluptatem a. Laboriosam blanditiis voluptas itaque non. Cumque consequatur quia repudiandae quibusdam. Ea modi ipsa autem laboriosam.

 

Rerum quibusdam similique blanditiis sunt. Eaque aut enim iusto dolores ut et. Quasi ut impedit nihil ut. Sed ipsam consequatur culpa commodi et et repellat. Aliquam voluptatem assumenda commodi ab nostrum expedita. Sunt mollitia unde magni ea blanditiis voluptatem dolores qui.

Qui aperiam velit iusto beatae explicabo fugit. Consectetur consequuntur qui tempore officia dicta. Quia aut quam esse voluptatibus est perferendis praesentium. Sed nemo est non at ea. Et necessitatibus at tempora tempore mollitia illo.

Dolores sunt dolorem qui aut odio quaerat. Doloribus quis porro et rerum. Nostrum expedita accusantium ut a pariatur et. Veniam nobis quos delectus numquam. Aliquid laborum culpa et sequi rerum.

Vel facilis dolorum qui quisquam. Tempore id sed nesciunt eligendi id. Nihil odio accusamus nulla quam repellendus.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (87) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (146) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
9
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”