Need advice
First time poster. Currently a second year analyst at a LMM boutique in a non NY T1 city. Have been told I will be promoted to associate very shortly and find myself in a predicament.
The shop is a high volume sell side shop and runs a generalist model. Due to the high volume nature, analysts are staffed on anywhere from 4-7 deals at a time plus or minus a few pitches and most people are working until 12-2am (obviously could be worse based on some of the horror stories you see on here). I find myself gravitating towards the 2am end of the spectrum most nights, sometimes later. I have been fortunate in that I’ve closed 6 sell sides in ~2 years that have been full processes (pitch through close).
Despite getting great reviews and on the verge of being promoted, juggling 5 deals that are all hitting at once has been extremely challenging for me, and I don’t personally feel like I’m doing a good job at times. I don’t hate the work, comp is fair ($170K all in on 2023), and the hours suck but obviously it comes with the job. My issue is the number of deals im on at once. I can never focus on one thing and am typically feeling like im doing an OK job on all my deals, rather than a great job on just a few.
Looking to see if my experience would be different on a bigger platform. I get the hours will be similar (maybe worse), but would it feel less overwhelming without trying to crank on 5 sell sides at once? Or is it more or less the same just different nature of the work. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks
5 sellsides at a time is a lot. It seems far too much. Although often at LMM and MM shops it's not about quality of advise but because your bank charges less fees. Its a volume game.
To do a truly great job I think you can max do 3 sellsides at a time as a junior.
Honestly, if you have the option to move up then do so after you get associate. It's good for your career, pays you more, gives you better exit options and most places you'll be working to a pretty same 2am type finish.
Plus you'll often learn more, especially when you see the delta in the quality of advice from Seniors and the standard of execution. That's a generalisation but usually holds true (there are always some shitters, even at top shops).
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