Competitiveness of Corporate Banking?
I've been reading a lot of threads on this forum about corporate banking and it seems like a nice gig considering the pay is high combined with the good hours. I just couldn't find how competitive Corporate Banking is. For example, is it like IB where corporate banks higher primarily from target schools? I'm assuming it also depends on the bank too and whether CB is grouped with IB or not.
Thanks for any help.
I think the word is definitely out on how corporate banking is a nice alternative to IB. There are some relaxed groups (coverage) yet some technical groups (sponsors, distressed credit, syndications) as well providing a lot more career options than people would think.
However, I wouldn't necessarily say the pay is high, particularly your bonus. It really depends where you are. If you are at a bank were corporate banking is under the IB umbrella (For ex, BMO/Citi), then your compensation, as well as your hours, will be higher. However, at banks where Corporate Banking is under the Commercial Banking wing, your comp may be lower, as well as your hours.
So it really depends. It feels as if the recruiting difficulty is nearly the same, regardless of which wing corporate banking is under, so choose wisely on which lifestyle you'd prefer. From what I've seen it appears as if corporate banking seems to still target those coming from target schools, however they do seem a bit more lenient on your GPA.
Would corporate banking be a good option if I can’t get a IB job?
Sure, but don't view it as an easy back-up. My corporate banking interviews were just as difficult as my consulting/investment banking ones. Although, there was a stronger focus on behaviorals (as the goal is to manage accounts in your near future).
They are very different careers, so make sure you're actually interested in it long-term.
Corporate Banking is entirely debt focused. If you find covenants, coverage ratios, and finding value between junior and senior debt levels interesting, then go ahead! If you don't, then don't.
I interviewed for a Corperate Banking Summer Analyst role at a BB and honestly no one in the division was from a target. The girl with me interviewed from a school I had literally never heard of and honestly wasn't crazy knowledgeable at all about the position either. She ended up getting the role, and rightfully so because she was really calm and spoke pretty well. Either way, the reality is that I got to the superday after having a preliminary phone interview and it was me and that girl. I was expecting everyone to be from harvard and yale like most of the tools on this site claim to be from, but they weren't. Totally possible to get an interview and the position for that matter just try to be yourself, calm, and don't do anything stupid like lie on your resume. Mine was totally behavioral. Hope this helped.
I interviewed for Citi corporate banking and it was very competitive.
I know someone at a regional BB CB office (Houston). Recent analyst hires on the CB side there have included graduates from Rice, UT, A&M, Northwestern, UNC, UGA, etc. There seems to be a fair bit of overlap between the schools that the CB side hires from and those that the IB side hires from.
Based on my friend's experience, I'd say that the hiring process for CB can be pretty competitive, especially if CB is housed with IB. On the other had, it still seems less competitive than the process for IB, in part because CB has lower expectations in terms of the technical knowledge that interviewees are expected to possess.
Did your friend happen to share expected hours, salary, & bonus in Houston? My guess would be $60k salary. I'm not sure of bonus or hours...
Initial sign-on bonus was $10k. Base salary for CB analysts at this BB office runs 85/90/95k, which is supposedly the same as base pay for analysts on the IB side of the office. No solid info on bonuses, but friend estimates A1 bonus will be in the $20-40k range (which is considerably lower than expected bonuses for the IB analysts).
As for hours, a light/normal week might be 9am-9pm M-Th (with dinner in the office), 9-6/7 Fri, Saturday off, and work on Sunday as needed (with perhaps half of Sundays off and half ranging from a few hours to a longer stint, depending). However, during busier weeks, the hours can be much more demanding, with analysts occasionally working until the early hours of the morning (but no all-nighters thus far for my friend).
In sum, hours are not as soul-crushing as they are for IB (IB analysts at this office regularly work past midnight), but they are substantial enough that it can make dealing with everyday issues (laundry, doctor's appointment, getting your car worked on, etc.) challenging. Good sense of camaraderie among the analysts seems to make the hours more bearable.
By way of comparison, my friend has a friend who is a Commercial Banking (as opposed to Corporate Banking) analyst for a BB, and this person typically gets off work by 6pm. Salary and bonus are lower, but lifestyle--money aside--is better. Hope this helps!
It is always a tough competition wherever you go. You just need to be keen and wiser. :)
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