Which is the best city to work as an investment banker?

I strongly believe Charlotte is a good city to do IB in. Maybe a close second after New York City.

I was going to have Charlotte there but I didn't want to have too many options listed.

I agree with you, Charlotte, NC has a number of good MM boutiques.

But why is LA and HK together? Did someone edit my post? ha

Best,
SoulSearching

I would also say Charlotte for cost of living and I believe that compensation is usually the same as NY. Obviously for social scene it wouldn't be as good.

Probably should include Dubai as well.

this is unfair,
someone in new york city, isn't familiar with asian or EU market, conversely the same.

I partially agree with frank, I have no idea how banking is done in almost all those cities. Even in NY, all I hear are tales from my friends who go work there.

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Remember, you will always be a salesman, no matter how fancy your title is.
- My ex girlfriend

Yes, it's the most expensive except for possibly London. But pretty much every bank is located there, and you can find something to do no matter what you're interested in. Charlotte could be good for the low cost of living.

The other cities might be good if you're interested in a particular industry group, for example SF - tech/healthcare, Houston - energy, LA - entertainment/gaming etc.

But given all the people and opportunities, NY seems like the best bet if you just want to get into banking and are not sure exactly what you want to do.

http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/
Mergers & Inquisitions

nyc is king. i don't think anyone i know would turn down a BB offer in nyc to work elsewhere

I know people who turned down NYC for London... Not the other way around though... Might be because I am in London right now.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remember, you will always be a salesman, no matter how fancy your title is.
- My ex girlfriend

The problem with Charlotte is that you end up working at either BofA or Wachovia...

Charlotte's got some quality shops other than BofA and Wachovia, but other than the cost of living there really is no comparison w/ any major finance market.

If you are simply looking for opportunities and exciting action in finance, London has to be the top spot these days (used to be NYC). When you incorporate things like cost of living, quality of life, activities, night life, etc., a case can be made for pretty much any city. Its just going to depend on what matters most to you. I have never liked Charlotte too much, haven't run into too many people with similar interests as me there. Chicago, Boston and San Fran are my favorites in the US and they luckily all have a good amount of jobs in finance floating around. NYC was fun for a little, but got old really fast... I will only go back if a "once in a lifetime" job comes my way. I hate LA with a passion.