Asset-Backed Finance & Capital Markets Exit Ops from BB
Have an offer from a BB/borderline BB (think UBS, Wells, RBC, etc.) Wondering whether to pursue asset-backed finance or something in the capital markets division. My main concern here is the exit ops -- what kind of career opportunities does someone coming from asset-backed finance or ECM/DCM have?
Any input would be much appreciated -- have to decide soon
I came from Capital Markets (LevFin - DCM & Syndicate) at a BB. Was there for 3 years. I was interested in investing and ended up becoming an investment analyst and a multi-strat credit hedge fund (focus on CLOs, direct lending and distressed).
Other analysts / associates in my group went to classic investment banking, buy-side cap markets, PE and private credit investing. Plenty of exit opps, you just need to work hard to get your foot in the door for the final interview. The typical knock I got was that I didn't model in cap markets (which was true, but also has plenty of strengths that counter that).
The most helpful arguements were experience through volume of transactions in cap markets and understanding of relative value. In 3 years I worked on ~75 transactions across bonds and leverage loans (multi currency) in 4 different industries. Most bankers don’t have that type of experience through repetitions which gave me an edge.
Regarding relative value, it was very helpful in HF interviews showing why I’d buy X over Y with similar yields given risk profile of each name (transaction experience helped here again).