Was this MD a little too rude?

At the beginning of summer before my internship started, I was doing some networking and got to talk with an MD at a large MM bank in FIG. I was going to intern for a regulatory agency for commerical banks and before I left school, my friend suggested I'd fit well in FIG, considering that I also a prior part-time internship at a regional boutique. I didn't know much about FIG, except that it's probably the least understood coverage group and only those in FIG knew what's going on; I thought that would mean someone with a specialized experience, like financial reglatory, would fit well in FIG.

When I spoke with the MD, first he went on over 20 minutes describing he got into banking (I didn't even get a chance ask anything specific). When I did, I wanted to learn about FIG from his experience, and then he responded [verbatim], "If you're thinking your regulatory experience is going to help you, you're going to be disappointed. Your job as a regulatory is going to look at financial institutions from a different perspective than us bankers. Personally, I don't give a FLYING FUCK about what they do or how much they know, and I would never hire a commercial banker because they just don't SHIT about investment banking."

Now he did make some valid points as, now that I'm finishing my internship, I could see where the difference lies: my internship has been examining the banks' peformance whereas investment bankers look at valuation. However performance and valuation are inherently related, and later on, I talked to an alum who works at Sandler O'Neill, and we had a really engaging discussion about the landscape of the financial institutions sector, particularly community banks. As I did my own research (and asked some people on WSO), it seems I would fit in FIG well: obviously I'm no EXPERT on banking regulations, but I think my famliarity with them would allow me to catch on faster in FIG than others.

Overall, I would think this MD made a valid point, but do you think it was excusable to present his points in that manner?

P.S. Despite, his words, at the end of our conversation, he said he'd like to include me in their recruiting

 

He just told you that the experience wasn't going to be directly relevant and that he wouldn't hire (presumably FT) commerical bankers etc, in essence suggesting you don't go down that path as a way to get to IB - it's well known it is extremely difficult to go from C (being commercial, not corporate) B ---> IB.

Sounds like he gave you valid advice and his point of view, and then liked you enough to say he's willing to help you.

 
Best Response

My initial view is to shake this off as an MD just being a douche, but this part is hilarious (if verbatim and not misquoted):

Anaconda:

At the beginning of summer before my internship started, I was doing some networking and got to talk with an MD at a large MM bank in FIG.

Personally, I don't give a FLYING FUCK about what they do or how much they know, and I would never hire a commercial banker because they just don't SHIT about investment banking."

Major lolz. You're going to hire some know-nothing, liberal arts major from an Ivy as an analyst or a Teach for America kid who did his M7 MBA for an associate slot, but you won't think about a guy with potentially in-depth industry knowledge and a possibly unique perspective from the commercial side? That's rich. And why is he telling a 20 yr old college kid all of this?

I wouldn't worry about him coming across as rude, though. The guy just sounds like a real cock.

 

@johnwayne7 agree 100%. Dude may have been telling you the truth, but frankly sounds like he was acting like a dick, lots of them in the industry (maybe he was having a bad day, or whatever... or he's a dick). You're 20, what does he expect?

In the end you got some good information, and he's going to remember you which means your resume might get put in the interview pile. That's an advantage over most people. Be sure to follow up and uhm "thank him for no BS advice" or something like that.

You mentioned you had a good 20 minute chat with him about him and his background. Keep up the good work and replicate that with others. Make people feel good. You'll build something that way, which can lead to networks, interviews, jobs. A much higher level dude or a legit MD (more senior/experience) would probably really appreciate your viewpoints from your internship and experience and look at things differently.

Let me ask you a question. Why FIG and banking?? Why not the buy side? If you worked at a regulator, looked at banks performances etc and know people at the regulator (please tell me that you are keeping in touch with all of these people - interns, bosses etc. could be HUGE in the future - you never know where people end up and this could be your edge) - why not talk to buyside shops like some HFs, MFs, PE etc. Sure you may not get in (you could always still apply for banking jobs), but I am sure someone would value your experience more than you sitting in a cube crunching models and doing pitchbooks on FIG stuff.

I might be stretching here but... the spin could be... You have regulatory experience (ie you've interned in one), have looked at performance data, learned a lot, have contacts at said regulator (colleagues, bosses, friends - I hope), understand bank performance (someone can teach you valuation, and you'll put the pieces together), are eager, cheap, smart, hungry etc. Ie. you have some real legit sector experience no matter how short... These are all good things and its not a bad story.

Good Luck

I used to do Asia-Pacific PE (kind of like FoF). Now I do something else but happy to try and answer questions on that stuff.
 

Like others have stated, you asked his opinion and he gave it. Is his opinion on regulatory agencies translating to IB the only one and the end all and be all? Not at all, but it's his so he may not hire you. You're also doing an internship, not a full time job. His suggestion may be that it's not worth working at an agency for a couple of years and expect to get into IB directly from there. Your contact at Sandler suggests differently, or so it appears. That's his opinion.

As for the directness of his statements, get used to it and appreciate it. Generally in business it's better that someone tells you to fuck off right away rather than have someone blow smoke up your ass for months.

 

Meh, I don't care if this guy thinks he's rude. Just think the viewpoint of the MD is dumb and the fact that he told a college kid that is also dumb. It's not about whether or not the kid had his feelings hurt, just think it's funny he had that opinion and would think that it's pertinent in that conversation.

 

Blunt, honest, and unnecessarily harsh response from the MD but give it a few years working in finance and your friends will be asking you why you're talking the way you are. This sort of speaking is common in the finance world and only gets more harsh up the food chain. Toughen up or you'll be one of the analyst crying after your MD rips into you for your typos (which will happen)

 

I have no idea how you can interpret this phrasing as harsh or even rude. It's candid and legitimate advice. Regarding your original post, you equate regulatory experience as understanding bank's performance, and investment banking as understanding valuation--performance from a regulatory perspective and an investment banking perspective are inherently different so that statement is flawed.

Cherish the candidness because it's better than typical lollipops and rainbows info interviews, wherein you're really just trying to know if/when xyz bank is recruiting. Moreover, he's not the only FIG MD on the street with the same mentality, so even if you don't think you're a good fit with him, realize that his perspective can echo in other shapes and forms throughout your other interviews.

 

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