Only geniuses in NY?

I know there was a thread a little while back discussing NY vs. Houston, but the discussion mainly consisted of cost of living and lifestyle debates.

My question is do bankers in NY differ from those in Houston?

Are NY bankers the "cream of the crop" so to speak, or are they of the same intelligence and pedigree as those in Houston?

Is compensation roughly the same in the two cities when adjusted for the large increase in cost of living in NY?

Thanks in advance for the responses

12 Comments
 

no plenty of rainmakers who just don't wanna work in NYC and live where they want. plus when banks poach talent, they aren't gonna make a big shot move to NYC when they raised their family at their current city. finally, there are tons of just shitty banks in NYC.

don't generalize...

 

The work product from my BB's Houston office was complete shit. I don't know if that says anything about their intelligence, but NY definitely seems more refined

 

New York is definitely what we think of as the top tier for financial institutions. I mean it's the heart of US finance and so doesn't get any better in terms of reputation and recognition. But you will see occasionally rainmakers in other cities like Ken Moelis in LA or Quattrone in SF which I personally would love to work for..

 

NO, compensation is not even remotely close. The adjustment the BBs give for cost of living are a joke. I am actually in Houston and considering a transfer to NYC, i love it here, but family is from the northeast. I checked what my salary would be after the COL adjustment and it was horrible. You can't just assume people in NYC are cream of the crop, I know a lot of people in NYC who definitely do not fall in that category. I also know several people in Houston that are in energy and they are the brightest people I have ever met. Some of them are top engineers with finance backgrounds. I also know incredibly bright people in commodities and maritime finance as well. I am never a fan of these NYC v. Houston threads since you can't just say everyone in one city is smarter than another. Now if you are talking about cost of living, well in that case, Houston is amazing.

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Best Response
TeddyTheBear

NO, compensation is not even remotely close. The adjustment the BBs give for cost of living are a joke. I am actually in Houston and considering a transfer to NYC, i love it here, but family is from the northeast. I checked what my salary would be after the COL adjustment and it was horrible. You can't just assume people in NYC are cream of the crop, I know a lot of people in NYC who definitely do not fall in that category. I also know several people in Houston that are in energy and they are the brightest people I have ever met. Some of them are top engineers with finance backgrounds. I also know incredibly bright people in commodities and maritime finance as well. I am never a fan of these NYC v. Houston threads since you can't just say everyone in one city is smarter than another. Now if you are talking about cost of living, well in that case, Houston is amazing.

Wait so you don't get 70k base as a first year?
 
kidflash TeddyTheBear:

NO, compensation is not even remotely close. The adjustment the BBs give for cost of living are a joke. I am actually in Houston and considering a transfer to NYC, i love it here, but family is from the northeast. I checked what my salary would be after the COL adjustment and it was horrible. You can't just assume people in NYC are cream of the crop, I know a lot of people in NYC who definitely do not fall in that category. I also know several people in Houston that are in energy and they are the brightest people I have ever met. Some of them are top engineers with finance backgrounds. I also know incredibly bright people in commodities and maritime finance as well. I am never a fan of these NYC v. Houston threads since you can't just say everyone in one city is smarter than another. Now if you are talking about cost of living, well in that case, Houston is amazing.

Wait so you don't get 70k base as a first year?

Salary is nearly the same as the NYC. Some BBs may pay a few thousand more in NYC, but banks honestly dont even adjust the salary.

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