Am I still able to excel in IB through a short stint at a no name brand?
Recently worked at a no name IB, and they basically restructured the entire analyst group after four months of working there. This was after a few live deals closed, a lot of it was due to an unstable management with a shit culture. I left like a gentlemen even though the news wasn’t great so the partners are giving me a nice reference if anyone calls/letter of recommendation which is at least nice “we will say whatever you want” is what they said.
I mostly worked on CIMs and management presentations, EOIs and LOIs, due diligence, valuation for trashy low-middle market deals (when I say low I mean majority were low with some barely acceptable in the middle market based on EBITDA) — 4-5m EBITDA on average with some at the upwards of 30-40. Nonetheless, I have deal experience on my resume to talk about. Two deals closed, and I was on all of them and saw them close from start to finish and see my efforts aid to the close. Even with deal experience, my friends at bigger banks said bigger banks wouldn’t even look at me and if they did maybe the m&a teams would be able to because that would be closest to the work I do.
I went to a target, but in Canada, if you’re not at a target it’s extremely difficult to excel based on how competitive Toronto is so basically the bare minimum is a target. I’ve seen guys from top boutiques like eight Capital struggle to break into a bigger bank.
What should I do? Should I further education? Would it be worth it? Or should I be patient and wait and see what other offerings are available? Would having this experience on my resume hurt my brand? Even though I did have a short stint in IB out of school, I feel a bit hopeless as it’s just so competitive. I’m looking for advice on a plan I should follow to get around this. The best i could do is maybe try and go to a better MM in the city as the work is a bit more relevant, but I really want to avoid the experience I’ve had in the future. If the best I can do is another no name I’d rather not do IB as a career.
If anyone has been through a similar situation and could shed some light I’d really appreciate it.
Pretty unlikely to go from 4 months at small no name to MM, and certainly not a bigger bank, especially since you've already left. People usually end up significantly downgrading banks in your situation, 4 months is just not enough experience for anyone to be interested - even if you have deal experience, people will heavily discount it based on tiny deals and only there for a short blip.
If you are looking to do IB, I would try to do a 1 year finance masters at a target starting this fall. Can't tell if you're still in Canada and not sure what the masters landscape is there, but if there are any 1-year finance programs that feed into analyst spots I'd do that. The US has a bunch of these programs, but it's really hard to get visa sponsorship even for Canadians.
If you don't feel it's worth it to do that, start applying to off-cycle or entry-level finance jobs and see what you can get
I appreciate your honesty because I’d rather not waste my time aggressively gunning for a big five, or a MM if I’m not an attractive candidate for them. I’ve been hearing mixed reviews about the masters in finance programs. Some say they’re worth it, some say they’re not. Would the UK also be a good option as a Canadian I can get a visa.
Didn't know that about Canadians in UK, you learn something every day
I know LSE recruits very well in London from their masters program, have had US friends do very well from there. Not sure you'd be able to get to IB there right now without doing a masters, but LSE is certainly something to look into
The US seems a bit infeasible just because I would need to come up with over $100k for a masters in a year and I’m not comfortable taking on that kind of debt just to be sent back to Canada where the target wouldn’t have much a presence on the street. May as well do a masters in finance here but the issue is that Masters in Fin programs here have been sorta a cash grab for international students and I’m not seeing a lot of success from their alumni break in on the street. Even MBAs have been having trouble recruiting. Toronto is just extremely competitive. The post MBA associate days in this city are over. IF you’re lucky you’ll break in as a first year analyst from Rotman MBA that’s how competitive shit is here.
Look into MFE, placement into big 5 is great and consistent, and is not completely fill with internationals, albeit tuition is on the more expensive side, but even if you strike out for IB recruiting, their buyside placements are solid too.
Also have seen MFin at Rotman and Queens break into IB here, but I dont believe they take new grads.
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