I'm a current freshman at a target school and will be recruiting for IB next year. Curious to hear which banks have the best comp-to-culture ratio—i.e., solid pay, decent work-life balance, and genuinely good people. I don’t care much about prestige or exits since I’m leaning toward being a career banker. Any and all comments are welcome.
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There is a Fintech focused EB called FT Partners. Base is 140k btw.
Didn’t they lower the base again lmao?
I can tell you one thing—it sure as hell isn’t BofA. This place is a literal hellhole. Avoid it if you want real deal flow or want to work with people you don’t hate more than your mother-in-law. Shit people and even shittier bonuses.
To answer your question, the best balance of comp and culture tends to be in the middle market space. HL Business Services is known for a strong "bro culture" and still pays street-level bonuses, I can't speak for other groups. Another solid option is WF. I have two college buddies there—apparently super laid-back seniors, rarely working over 80 hours a week, and still pulling in strong bonuses (better than most BBs). A lot of people say their bankers stay because of the culture and comp, I think it's just an excuse for shit exit opps. Still, if you don’t care about prestige and just want to work with decent people and make solid money, nothing wrong with WF.
Also, bit of life advice: you’re a freshman. Odds are you don’t really know if you want to be a career banker yet. Take the time to explore different paths, get some internships under your belt, and talk to people across the finance world. You’ll be surprised how much your perspective can shift over the next few years, and a diverse network will only help you in the long run. Trust me–I have learned the hard way.
yeah if you don't care about "prestige" or exiting to MF PE, we're chillin over here at Wells. My MD is so chill.
Is it true that Summer Analysts make 40k-50k?
Bofa London?
No - NY
Agree on BofA. Such a sharp U turn from its previous reputation of a decent culture and paying above average bonuses (for a BB). I feel bad for anyone still stuck there (mostly people with visa issues).
Sweaty? Mostly just endless pitching or just shorter hours bc no work?
I thought HL was a sweatshop across the board?
You are a sophomore
What’s bofa?
Bofa deez nuts in your mouth
Seems like people are hopping on the wells train so I’ll add my 2 cents. I have a few buddies at wells and during our SA recruiting cycle they made the most (50k), the banks really focused on expanding there IB franchise hence all the senior hires, if you want to be a career banker it’s a good place. Large balance sheet and lots of different products so you’ll get a good view of everything as a junior, you will also have a ton of support and incentive to stay on as a junior as the bank wants to build out its own talent. Your at a target so as long as you don’t fuck up you’ll have shots everywhere, figure out what you want and if that’s being a career banker with good hours id point you to wells. Happy to connect you to my buds and get more specific questions answered if you want - very good culture at wells and the new office is stunning.
Hi, happy to learn more about wells!
Okay, thank you for offering to help! Can I PM?
Sure just sent a PM your way
know this is late but also wanted to PM about this - also a rising sophomore at a semi target
PWP is has decent culture according to my buddy there
Bump
PJT. Top of street comp and solid culture in my opinion.
agreed, PJT amazing comp and culture
Tobin & Company
Bofa and Jefferies are so group dependent. Can't speak for Baird.
In a coverage group at one of those banks and work 10-5 75% of days. Pay is shit and you still have to be available at night in case something blows up, but otherwise has been chill
TD has a great culture and very strong comp. They’re growing their teams also, my friend just interviewed there for their enterprise software group. Said all VPs who interviewed him were super nice and down to earth.
What role?
Blank
TD is paying SA 38 per hour for NYC IBD, definitely not strong comp
According to this guys comments he’s an asso at TDS so he’s just glazing himself 💀
This is nothing like my experience… Not sure if it was because it was a legacy Cowen group, but I was literally laughed out of an interview. People appeared to have big heads and were just rude.
HL great comp??
Spoiler it's mid
We’ll find out in three weeks. Bank overall has been doing pretty well… paid better than other MMs in the past two years… other commenter is right it’s pretty mid (i.e., street). Given the fiscal year they can just wait and see what street pay was and then pay that.
Being an EB, isn’t Jefferies deal flow far better than the others listed?
For the Canadian Banks aren't the bigger groups very sweaty? RBC PU&I for example or BMO Metals and Mining
Where does Citi land on this? I know comp is good for interns and bonus is pretty high but unsure of culture + exits.
Group dependent. Industrials great, C&R/H and tech good; avoid M&A and like the plague
FIG?
whats wrong w m&a? have networked w some chillers there
what about their Real Estate group?
.
Keen for any datapoints on TMT-focused boutiques across comp/culture (Q, Raine, LT, Allen&Co, Tidal). Also keen to hear where the other newer boutiques stack up too (DyalCo, Ducera etc)
Bump also interested to know
Interviewed with all the firms listed (excluding Allen and Dyal), received offers from two, and have friends who are FT at all. Ranking by culture (based on my interactions/knowledge) would be: Raine, LT, Ducera, Tidal, Q, Dyal, Allen. Ranking by comp would be: Dyal, Q, Ducera, LT, Tidal, Raine (IDK how much Allen pays)
So an inverse correlation between pay and culture?
This is super insightful, thanks a lot. How big a variance is there between both variables? I.e. from your experience how big was the cultural difference between Raine and Q? I'd be very curious to hear which offer you took as well
why does allen friend think its worst
What abt EVR PCA / PJT PCS?
evr pca is nice
buddy based on your comments you haven't even interned there yet. chill with the comments lol
DB is the answer
Why
Laughable
Lazard
could you expand on this is possible, have an interview coming up?
"I want to work at your bank because i recently stumbled upon a wall street oasis post created by a freshman asking for the chillest bank, and a previous Intern commented your banks name."
Not Leerink
CVP
If you prioritize being a career banker, then I'd aim for 1) capital markets groups (e.g., ECM, DCM, PubFin, etc.) and 2) banks with large balance sheets:
if you dont have great aspiration (MF, UMM PE), TD is the way to go.
People usually works around 60 hrs per week and get paid really well (street base and most importantly the variance for bonus is small)
Culture is also quite nice. TD barely fires people (except after the merger) even if the market is bad so you have a great job stability
I’m going to TD and I’m kinda worried about the current economic environment; if they don’t really lay people off will the return rates be pretty high too? Thanks!
It’s ok they are expanding. Just do well in your internship you should be fine.
so what does comp look like?
Plenty of layoffs at TD in recent times. TD is a great bank for white Beckies.
Bank of deez nnuts
Curious how MOE shakes up per these metrics - would be curious about peoples thoughts
Boutiques all the way
td cowen
Leaning toward being a career banker at 18 is laughable.
"I want to be a career insert highest paying job of major"
Honestly like a TD or similar if you want something chill. I'm an associate at roughly that kind of bank and while there are obviously very bad weeks there are also weeks I hardly work 40 hours. You do of course always need to be reachable / have your phone on, but in terms of actual work you can find soft spots.
what is comp like for a place with 40 hours lol
AS1 bonus was ~85k
gooningheim partners (not industrials/HC for wlb, cool people across the board)
Stay away from BofA at all costs
I'd caution against thinking you can build a career at a bank that seemingly pays at or above street with seemingly less work. TD for example, is in growth mode - it is lending a large amount of money to win ancillary business that is actually profitable. The chickens will come home to roost soon - if they're successful, they'll win more mandates and work will go up but they're not suddenly going to pay EB money. If they're not successful, pay will go down and cuts will follow. That may be fine if you only want to do a couple years there but go in with eyes open otherwise.
Have heard PJT is a grind but good culture and great exits for PE. Solid placement rate the past 3-4 years
Truist
heard from a friend 60k mid bucket
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