Will be joining one of the pension funds (OMERS/CPP) for their rotational analyst position full-time.
My friend began telling me how I should have taken my CIBC/Scotia return offer because: 1) pensions pay worse, 2) it is difficult to get promoted since it is so top heavy, 3) pensions are getting shit returns so everyone is getting laid off, etc.
Am I cooked for taking the pension offer over IB?
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Yes
Don't take comp numbers too seriously for your first job out of college. Pension returns haven't been the best, especially for the top Canadian funds and some teams are seeing layoffs like CPP's DPE team so yes promotion might be difficult if people at the top don't leave and the firms are planning downsizing/not growing investment teams. I wouldn't say your screwed because I've seen people move to smaller pe/public investing funds after 3-4yrs at pension and even seen people switch to IB (rare but it happens).
Would you have taken the CIBC/Scotia offer? Pls be honnest
This is a hard question to answer, depends on my experience during my internships, my career goals etc. Although when I was a student the thought of working directly on the buy-side was appealing to me and if I had got the pension offers I would've likely taken that over IB Canada as well. OMERS/CPP is still a good name on your resume, dont stress too much about missing IB, enjoy the offer you got, and ask people who left the funds on their insights/outlook.advice. Also, there are some strategies within pensions that are growing, like PC/Infrastructure roles. I think the rotational program is for 2 years and you'll have enough time to figure out your next move.
SB'd, appreciate you taking the time writing out your thoughts
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