Lately, I've been exploring a move back home to India. In the US right now and work at an EB (M&A / coverage, but have worked on few RX deals as well) in NYC. Wife and I have 2 kids and with them growing up, we've been talking about potentially making a move back to India.
I'm trying to get a better feel for the Indian IB market, understand it to mostly be debt oriented but do see a lot of M&A activity there as well. I'm trying to leverage my network there to learn about the IB landscape there, but thought would open up for folks on this forum as well.
Would love to know who are considered to be the top advisory firms in India, how is the culture broadly, type of assignments, and importantly, comp.
Things are going quite well in current role, so not a matter of growth here - more about this job doesn't allow for a lot of connectivity back home, and inability to take more than a week - 10 days at once doesn't allow for big trips to India (likely true for several other foreign nationals). Currently a VP, so giving up $600K+ (while, much less in terms of true bottom line, after taxes and NYC living) is not an exciting prospect either, but trying to gather enough data to be able to make a determination. Believe a move might actually continue becoming harder over time as I keep growing in seniority here, so both the opportunity cost would keep rising but also think it's harder to find the right role at that level.
Thanks in advance!
Best bet would be to laterally internally if your bank has an office in India. Would even consider lateraling to groups/banks in US that have offices in India and then lateraling that way.
Don’t know about pay at the VP level but pay at the analyst level is around 75-100 lacs at a BB but probably half or lower at the other MMs / local banks such as avendus, etc.
IB in India is fiercely guarded by the IIMs basically and the equivalent of the MBA associate starts as an analyst and almost no one starts out of undergrad. The promotion cycles are also much longer and ultimately much tougher to get to the top which is why I think climbing through the ranks in US and then lateraling might be the best. Probably just before you are expected to start building your book makes the most sense (so before the director promote?).
If you have a good amount of savings honestly you shouldn’t mind the pay cut. The lifestyle that money can get you in mumbai should more than make up for the pay cut. Domestic help, drivers, cooks etc.
The only thing I would mention is that you should think through the move thoroughly since going back to the US will be much bigger of a challenge.
Source: dad works in the financial industry in India and I am in IB in the US and have considered a move back to Mumbai. The biggest hurdle for me is I just my bank as an analyst and will have to get an mba before I can break in given the lack of non-mBA bankers in India. Otherwise having grown up in Mumbai and already having a couple of homes there it would be a considerable lifestyle upgrade for me to move back home.
Super helpful, I hadn't appreciated the analyst level pay is as high as what you had suggested. If the VP level is 2x that (say, 2Cr+), that allows for a materially better overall lifestyle in Mumbai.
Will DM you
Could you talk more about gatekeeping by the IIMs? Is it just IIM A/B/C or bust, or the newer IIMs also stand a chance?
Also how tough is recruitment at these institutions, I realize these are coveted jobs but how many people actually compete for these?
If you could take the time out of your day to reply to any of the above questions it would be very helpful
Bump
No way those analyst pay figures are accurate. More like less than a third of that.
Analysts are at 40-50LPA fixed with another 90-150% bonus
Associates are at 65-75LPA fixed with another 80-125% bonus
VPs are at 95-120LPA fixed with another 75-125% bonus
Ds are 1.3-1.5CPA fixed with bonuses dependant on deal closure / executed
MDs vary 1.5 CPA upwards as fixed and bonus driven by deal closures
The above are all FO roles for MNC investment banks covering India / South Asia, especially focused on M&A
ECM and DCM focused bankers would be a tad bit lower than the above
Among the domestic banks, Avendus leads the pack followed by Kotak, JM, ICICI, Axis, Big 4 and then there are a fair bit of boutiques
Offshore / mid-office bankers supporting global regions would be less than half of the above payscales
Domestics pay a lower fixed but can potentially give strong bonuses (2x,3x+) for good years
Can I pm you?
Analyst salaries are almost comparable to the US when adjusting for COL. That's pretty wild. The spread between junior and senior bankers seems incredibly low, even when accounting for a generous bonus at D and MD levels.
For context, a campus hire from IIM A/B/C or ISB joining MBB consulting is making ~20-30 LPA with ~20% YoY growth (although it's non-linear), and then there is a big jump if elected to partner. The most senior partners at MBB will probably make 15+ CPA if they have a good year.
2-3 cr tc reasonable at VP / Director level
Very hard to break in absent internal transfers and reality is of the boutiques, only Moelis is really relevant in India (although very strong because of Manisha)
Dominated by the big banks - JP, Citi, MS, JEF all strong
I’d avoid local firms although Avendus and Edelweiss are half decent
keeo buyside open too
What is your opinion on Arpwood?
Consider London or Singapore too where you get a lot of India exposure in the right team and are a lot closer to india.
Can I PM you?
Was going to comment this too. Singapore in particular now feels like an extension for both China & India. Plenty of people from both countries (I dont mean just ethnically, I mean literal Nationals) are now in Singapore and routinely do the back & forth with India (and China)
I was talking to someone from India in nyc and was asking him about tigers / leopards in his country - super nice guy. Really calmed me down on the way to a bank. We didn't talk about comp in IB there so no clue. but would imagine okay or bad
There are no tigers/ leopards here in the open, you'll find elelphants occasionally though
Yeah - maybe he was from somewhere else but he said there were tigers etc - he may have just been hyping me up with the excitement I had and just going along with it
;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkIBUqqDwk8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAHFOITxpGY
You want to leave the US for an Asian third world country?
I have been all over asia, and while it’s fun to visit the day to day life is dramatically different than the US, and yea I know money goes a lot further there.
We’re you born and raised in India? Can you speak the languages fluently? Is your wife also born and raised there? If so, then I would say you can make the move if your heart desires.
But if you and your wife were born in the US and don’t speak the languages well, i would advise against the move.
As to the IB scene in India, I think you will need a personal reference to help you break in at the VP level. Although they do live ex-pays over there who have US or UK experience.
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