GS IBD Salt Lake City

I am considering applying for SLC IBD for GS instead of NY since it's probably easier to get in. Since cost of living in SLC is much less than NY is there a significant difference in the salary?

 

from reading other threads on WSO, yes there is a significant pay drop in salary but the cost of living in SLC is significantly cheaper. Can't comment on whether they only hire analysts or have SAs too for IBD. From what I've read they have a 2 year transitional program for GIR and IBD at the salt lake city office.

 

The pay difference is not significant, team is solid out there.

[quote]The HBS guys have MAD SWAGGER. They frequently wear their class jackets to boston bars, strutting and acting like they own the joint. They just ooze success, confidence, swagger, basically attributes of alpha males.[/quote]
 
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All the GS / Mormon lifestyle fanboys are hilarious. Sorry I like living is cool cities. I'm probably wrong though, Mormon Mecca might be a good spot to meet fellow sober virgins.

The GS name brand is not worth living in SLC by any means. The IB presence there is a total joke. SLC is not in the top 20 US cities to live in.

 

the programs in this office are structured so that you generally will stay in SLC for 2 years (potentially longer if you wish), and then, if competent, can relocate to a larger office.

i'm not quite sure what the all-in compensation is like, but expect it to be significantly lower than other offices. your base salary will be 48k. not amazing, but COL is low.

i imagine you, like most people, aren't interested in staying in banking >2 years and are in it for the post-banking opportunities. this program is new, and I wouldn't expect any decent exit opps coming out of this office. you will be working 'remotely' and providing support to bankers in other offices, though you probably will be doing work substantially similar to that given to analysts in those offices...it's an odd setup and definitely not for everyone.

SLC is not completely unbearable, however it is not the type of place that is good to live in for a young person IMO. if you are fine with staying in banking for a longer length of time, can handle working remotely from your team, and can tolerate SLC, then pursue the opportunity

 

I didn't know GS has IBD in Salt lake but if they do all good.

The fact is Utah is much better the you would imagine. I'm an east coaster with family there and thought it sucked visiting there until the last few years. Now I actually really enjoy it. The finance / tech ecosystem has really grown to where about ~15% of my PE firm's (your typical Palo Alto growth/buyout shop) deal flow is in Salt Lake.

Old guard tech such as Adobe anchoring there + new up can coming businesses like Qualtrics, Domo, Vivant/Vivant Solar, etc. have really brought in a new group of talent and diversity to the ecosystem. It's not just a Mormon hub, it's got a lot more going on nowadays. And if you take that + if you like the outdoors (hunting, camping, skiing) + cost of living doesn't make it the worst option in the world. I'd probably chose an IBD role in SLC (assuming they exist) over some of the other regional banking groups such as Houston, Charlotte or Atlanta... Would not take it over NYC, Chicago, Bay Area though obviously.

"If you want to succeed in this life, you need to understand that duty comes before rights and that responsibility precedes opportunity."
 

Why would you take SLC? All the other cities have far more robust finance scenes. Atlanta, Charlotte and Houston also have solid PE/AM, not to mention Wells/TIAA-CREF in Charlotte and STRH/Regions in ATL are hardly regional offices. If you want to do nat res Houston is the Mecca. SLC doesn't boast this. Also there are a ton of boutique and MMs. SLC is a one shop town

 

I've never lived in SLC but having lived in Portland, I would say DO NOT do it. Your opportunities for growth are limited in a small pond. SLC, Portland, or other small cities just are not finance hubs. Sure there may be one or two positions in some satellite office of a bigger firm, but it's a lot harder to network and move around. If New York isn't your cup of tea, maybe check out Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, or other cities in North America that are finance hubs. SLC just isn't.

Now that said - while I agree with many of the posters that moving there isn't a good idea, I'm not even Mormon but the Mormon bashing here is ridiculous, and I have a feeling that if anything else was being bashed, I'd be getting a lecture from the very same people about tolerance and bigotry. They're not bothering anyone by doing their own thing and not partying, so grow up and deal with the fact that people have different beliefs than you.

 

While I agree that small cities like SLC and Portland are not great places to start a career in finance, I don't think we should compare the two cities. Having interviewed for a job in Portland, I can only think of one "major" bank that has an office there (outside of the odd PWM and PubFin people), and that's KeyBank/Pacific Crest Securities. At least SLC is a major office for GS.

"There's nothing you can do if you're too scared to try." - Nickel Creek
 

For what it's worth I have been reached out to two separate "Investment Banking Analysts" from GS SLC over the past 2 years and neither was in a true IBD role. I actually thought it was quite misleading that they would put Investment Banking Analyst and they acknowledged it. It seems like more of a MO/support role where you assist bankers but aren't actually a true core deal team member (doing random industry research. internal use documents, etc).

That said maybe there are real bankers out there doing deals, but that wasn't my impression despite the titles I see.

 

Just talked to a GS IBD analyst based out of slc. They have about ten to fifteen analysts there working remotely for various us or NYC based IBD groups. One vp from the RE? Group is the office manager. They are hiring hugely, like a class of 20 plus for this year. The idea is based off of the Investment Research model which happened to work quite well and they are extending it to IBD classic roles. It's true IBD.

 

Can confirm for those looking at this thread now, The pay for Analysts is in the mid-60's now thanks to massive tax deals courtesy of the state of Utah. The deal requires Goldman to pay 150% above the median income for Salt Lake County which is ~43K. Source: Friend who works in Compliance out there.

 

IBD at GS SLC is a 2-year up or out program. In each of those two years, you will spend 3-months working in NY or which ever city's FO team your a part off. At the end of the 2-year period, if you've proven to be a good resource you can join as a 2nd year Analyst at the NY office or whichever city's FO team your part off.

This program used to be run out of the Bangalore office in India. However, more favorable time differences & beneficial cost considerations made SLC more viable. If you're to stay in banking long term (i.e.4-6 years) then this will be a good program for you. GS is tired of recruiting & training analysts who join and leave within 2 years. Its a loss to the firm.

The work you do is no different to an Analyst in NY. However, you have to put in extra effort to stay in the loop of what's going on with a deal (simply cause your not sitting with the deal team and sometimes they forget you exist. Also, no dealer-board phones). Yes, you do get to liaise with clients (atleast on the phone/email). When you're in N for 3-months, you may get to go on client visits like any other analyst.

Think of it this way, imagine an analyst working from home daily. Thats what it will be like. You will be reviewed by the team in NY & have limited to very little supervision in SLC.

 

Hours will be similar to NY office. To an extent - this also depends on your pro-activeness / how plugged in you are with your team & deal going on. Spread over a year - on average, your hours would be c. 80% of what a NY/SF analyst would work. Again this could also vary by people

 

DRG is different to IBD. DRG just pulls data from different databases. IBD analysts use them to source info on league tables, company profiles and other time intensive / mundane analyst level work. I wouldn't recommend this if your looking for a serious career in finance.

Go for SLC only if you don't have any other offer in NY, SF etc.. If you have patience you will soon be out of there and in NY, SF etc..

 

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