Toronto Exits - Pension, Middle Market PE or Career Banker
In the spirit of the most recent Toronto thread thought I’d kickstart another one pertaining to exits.
HF scene here sucks.
PE had a handful of shops at the top end and a boatload at the MM segment.
VC is basically a joke.
Pensions do a lot of cool things.
So what’s one to do with their exit ops in TO? From my experience it’s far more common to see career bankers here at BBs and the legit boutiques.
Am I missing anything here or is the finance scene here in toronto and Canada all pegged to commodities essentially?
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Short of starting your own business you’re stuck with career banker or pension fund haha
If you had to pursue either of those what segment/groups would you target in banking and what groups would you be targeting in a pension fund?
The guys at RBCx seem to have landed themselves a pretty sweet lifestyle gig I feel for banking the Canadian tech markets.
RBCx wouldn’t get paid IB money - they’re separate from the IB tech coverage group. It’s more like a CIBC innovation banking or something - likely more CB compensation.
It depends what you’re looking for. If you want to maximize lifestyle I’d go pension FoF or something. Each group is different and they get paid largely the same even though some groups are sweatier.
For IB, again it depends what you want to do. Certain groups in certain banks are more chill than others. Really depends if you’re maximizing lifestyle or comp. If the latter, you’re best bet is to just join a high profile boutique and eat what you kill, eg Canaccord
pretty much - for PE, I'd draw a bright line under the types of Birch Hill / Torquest (ie legit MM firms) and anything below that is 'might as well stay in IB' territory. I think the pensions are great for two things; their retirement packages and the path to a great US b-school and then US PE after. It's not really a place where the pay is better than banking or the lifestyle either (assuming direct PE groups).
What’s the lifestyle like at the pensions? Are they still working like dogs or managing reasonable hours?
Alphi Capital
Third Eye Capital
RPIA
Clairvest
Fengate
Big “eh”
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What pension funds are in TO?
CPP, OMERS, OTPP, OPTrust, AIMCO are the big ones with a Toronto office. BCI, PSP, CDPQ do not have a Toronto presence
Add Hoopp to the comment above. Larger team than OpTrust/AimCo
Following.
It is quite crazy Canada has such a small finance scene with a scarcity of bankers but bankers make less than doctors there.
Toronto MD class size is probably larger than all BB EB MM Big 5 analyst combined together and there are like a dozen of similar schools.
As long as they did something besides family medicine, they are guaranteed making CAD300-500k a year. With proper tax structuring (which is unachievable if you are working in IB), a Guelph ug to NOSM MD easily make more effective net salary vs the hardo who went the Ivey to IBD 1 in 100 path 15 years down the road.
It’s much harder to become a doctor than to get into IB. Full stop.
If we are viewing the two roles in isolation, your upside on IB is also higher in compensation, and there are clear exit opportunities to either operating a business or PE where carry and equity will materially increase your net worth.
It is indisputable that being the top in PE pulls more than doctors. But I really doubt being a doctor in Canada is harder. There are 2900 medical students graduating annually. Class size is close to 50x of IBD analyst class and a significant minority (if not majority) are gunners who chose to go to easier universities (guelph, lethbridge, etc.) or courses to get a 3.9 for med schools.
Bruh what, I know that directions and MDs at BMO regularly pull in 7 figures…
Your MDs' 7 figures are probably way less than a dermatologist who do 9-6 daily for their wives while paying corporate tax by structuring the clinic as a business...
Even the less selective specialties can pull in 600-700k regularly at mid-career while enjoying the tax benefits for solo or partnership clinic business
Edit: to clarify, on a gross basis, doctors probably make less on headline numbers but the net could be similar taking into account of tax optimization for businesses. And that has not taken into account of regular hours as a specialist doing private practice
What exactly do you think managing directors in Canada make? They make way more than doctors on average, even surgeons. Healthcare in Canada is largely a government-funded venture. This isn't LA where you have plastic surgeons pulling $5mm a year.
Nah a banker makes more than a doctor here. By the time a doctor is graduating over here, IB VPs are making twice a doctor's comp. Not to mention the compounded value of the earnings of a banker while the doctor is taking on debt in med school.
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