Does anyone have any insight on the culture over at BofA M&A? Hours at the associate level, senior leadership/treatment on juniors, comp (expect street if not better).
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Bit of a fratty and fun culture. It's a very large group. Hours are bad, but that's all of Baml. Baml paid the highest out of all the BB pre-COVID, especially for high track (top bucket); I have no clue where it ranks now. M&A is also paid more than coverage groups at the associate level. Pre-COVID, A2A Ass1 base was $150k. Bonus has a super wide range. Lowest performers can get $80k; I’ve seen $180k at the top end. Average was somewhere between $100-$120k.
hours are bad in all banking. like 100+ on average at associate level?
While it's true that hours in this industry are bad everywhere, I felt like I had it worse than my friends at other banks. I think this was a consistent feeling amongst my colleagues across multiple groups. I know that's purely anecdotal, but it felt like a consistent theme. I never really tracked total hours past my time as an analyst 1, but personally I was rarely leaving the office before 2 (besides Friday and Sunday). This was all pre-COVID.
They are pretty desperate for people right now. They took an A2A from my group that was bottom bucket (probably should have been given an offer to stay), the person cannot model to save their life. That said, solid team, they work hard, seniors are pretty tough, juniors are generally good to work with. Hopefully things improve a bit with the new class coming in soon.
What culture? The core of the group are now 1st year turned 2nd year Analysts who have been WFH in a dreadful environment.
At the junior level 2nd and 3rd year Associates classes are halved and Analyst numbers are right where they historically are. This is after hiring like crazy a bunch of laterals we wouldn’t even look at in a normal environment. There’s some really good MDs and Directors, but some that are notoriously awful everyone wants to avoid who have faced no repercussions. I’ve lost brain cells working with some MDs at how unabashedly incapable they are reading their own comments. The gap between good and bad MDs is pretty big so you know when you’re screwed for the next few weeks / months.
Despite record M&A fees this past year and hiring like crazy at senior levels in 2019, still consistently a Top 4. Solid exits, but honestly on balance of exit opps, learning experience, and culture would easily choose a top group at GS/MS.
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