A2A MD vs Post-MBA MD

Question that popped into my head that I'd like to hear from people currently working in banking:

Do you see any material differences in the managing directors (or senior bankers in general) that have MBAs versus those who began as analysts and worked their way up?

At the associate level everyone has made it pretty clear that post-MBA associates are sentient paperweights when compared to 3rd and 2nd year analysts and especially Analyst-promote associates.

But I wonder if this gap in experience is diminished the more senior the bankers get. Do the network that the business schools provide really end up making that huge of a difference when it comes to generating revenue by winning mandates and getting selected for deals? Does it make more of a difference for a coverage banker versus a product banker?

Would love your thoughts.

 

No difference at that level. The MD skillset is entirely different than the analyst skillset, and by the time you reach MD, you would have accumulated a lot of experience as an associate and VP. I will say that being an A2A MD is quite impressive since the vast majority of MDs are post-MBA, which may give you more political cache at your firm.

 

I haven't looked deeper into big dataset and compared but would assume MBA track includes stronger candidates for MDs. By definition, firms recruit analysts who can execute (accurate and fast) whereas post-MBA associates, they look for future MDs so wouldn't typically hire somebody who cannot act mature, talk, or potentially sell to clients (whereas at the analyst level, these don't matter as much).

 

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