Banks that want you to stay

I'm a sophomore who's looking at investment banking.

I recently was part of an info session for a MM advisory-only sell-side bank and they have a great culture (and I actually felt this on the call), but the one thing that worries me is that they expect analysts to stay on as associates. 

The reason this worries me is because I heard that so many opportunities close after you become an associate.

I'm just wondering what y'all's thoughts are on banks that want the juniors to stick around. 

11 Comments
 

As an associate you tend to still have some decent exit ops from what I’ve read on WSO and heard on podcasts. The firm is not forcing you to stay until Associate. But the firm will be interviewing candidates that have a long term banking career mindset.

 

I wouldn't worry about what the firm wants, especially with long term expectations. There is no contrract forcing to you to go A2A with the group you referenced (I assume). Prioritize yourself first and foremost since you are a number to them. This is all a business no matter how great the culture of your group may be. The decision to cut entire groups is made by people at a level that won't even know your name and will just see you as a salary and view your group as a bottom line income number. It's easy to fall into the firm loyalty trap but it will stifle your career and earnings over the long run.

Your goal now should be to get in at the best IB possible with the best deal flow since the best thing you can do for yourself is get live reps. You'll know within the first year if you want to do IB as a career with your current firm, do it with a different firm, or exit altogether.

 

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