Best banks for career bankers

Currently an AN2 at a mid-tier BB. I really enjoy IB and can see myself building a career out of this. However, I don't see myself staying at my current BB due to cultural and compensation reasons ("the _____ discount"). I was wondering if anyone knows the banks that are best for a career (in terms of culture, comp, and professional development and mentorship). Here's what I've heard about career banking, but would love to hear any other insights:

  • Generally BB > EB for career banking. BBs are much more appealing for VPs due to the ability to not just sell advice, but also other products, which is very beneficial for VPs and SVPs making that jump to MD. BBs also tend to have much higher internal promotion rates to SVP/MD than EBs.

  • Private MMs like Baird and Blair have a very good culture of internal promotion and retention, and offer somewhat higher comp than BBs.

  • I've generally hard Jefferies is a great place for a committed career banker. On one hand, Jefferies has clawbacks, but on the other hand, Jefferies seems like a great balance between the EB and BB model (not just a pure advisory firm (a pro of BBs), offers all cash comp and pays very high comp for its top performers ASO and up (a pro of EBs), and generally has a good history of internal MD promotes and mentorship between seniors and mid-level bankers).

  • Moelis has the one firm PnL model which is good for new MD promotes still developing their Rolodex (although that's far down the line).

  • CVP has a culture of internal promotion (always hard this second-hand but I've personally seen no evidence of this).

 

Generally the best place for career bankers isn't about the bank. Rather, it's about whether or not you can attach yourself to seniors who will take the time to support and mentor you, so it's a lot more about group dynamics and office politics rather than the firm.

That being said, some firms generally have a better firm-wide culture of developing and retaining talent. CVP firm-wide is pretty focused on treating every analyst as a potential future partner and giving them the training to be a potential future partner. I've also heard the management at Jefferies and Handler have been focused on retaining talent and creating a culture of the seniors seeing analysts as the next generation of MDs rather than just cogs in the machine (although I have no clue if the MDs have embraced that or not).

 
Most Helpful

Just a single piece of anecdotal evidence, but my coworker's older brother is a Director at an EB and I've heard from him that it's much harder to make the jump to MD/Partner at most EBs than BBs, as EBs not only are pure advisory firms which limits what aspiring MDs can offer to clients to build their Rolodex, but their MD/Partner classes are much smaller (MDs and Partners generally stay much longer at EBs and EBs love to fill up their MD/Partner spots by poaching MDs at BBs or getting BB SVPs by promising lateral promotions). 

Also, looking at the data and investor presentations, most EBs have a internal MD promotion rate of 30-50% while BBs, based on anecdotal evidence, are at 75+%.

 

Despite EBs getting so much more love on WSO, I'm still a big believer in BBs for a career in banking. The way I see it, BBs are by a disproportionately large margin the breeding ground of new MDs, and EBs are where established MDs migrate to in order to reduce the bureaucracy they have to deal with and get a larger share of their kill.

 

Love how many analysts / interns talk about becoming MD at top banks, just take as many associate bonuses as you can before leave banking, if not already.

There's no way any of you is a top performer

 

Best career bank when you’re Analyst through Director is the one where you’re getting great deal reps early on and have strong senior mentorship / support. Can find it at BB or EB
 

It doesn’t make sense to sit in a group that’s not doing any interesting deals and think you’re going to be able to stick around in this profession for 40 years. Even if they do promote everyone from within. 
 

Realistically Analyst through Director is probably 10-15 years. That time is best spent building out your resume because that’s what you’ll fall back on as an MD when you make the pitch to get hired. Find the bank that’ll give you the best experience if you want a career in this industry.  

 

Similique rem vel est et voluptas quia velit commodi. Nihil hic dolorem exercitationem error explicabo sunt reprehenderit. Est velit labore quas natus dolorem molestias facilis. Aut aliquid eius libero laudantium sed. Delectus blanditiis ex ea voluptate ducimus ad aut. Beatae aut omnis sed perferendis fugiat.

Autem qui perspiciatis doloribus voluptates non dolores ex. Nulla et quia excepturi modi asperiores. Aliquam saepe non explicabo eius iusto incidunt optio. Perferendis consequatur dicta et nostrum. Reiciendis et quos saepe sint cupiditate vel.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”