Best role in Capital Markets

Undergrad recruiting for an IBD in the UK at the moment. I applied for an IB Spring Week at a good bank and landed a place on the IB stream, however almost all the kids in the capital markets stream had originally applied for IB then been bumped over to capital markets. In autumn I will be attending a fast track assessment centre for IB Summer Analyst. However given the fact that the bank is crushing it in capital markets at the moment and IB is dead (they are a BB), I think there is a chance that they will offer me a place on their Capital Markets Summer Analyst Programme rather than in IBD. I am just a bright hardworking guy from a poor family who didn’t want to become an accountant or a programmer. I have focused on IB because it is an amazing career accelerator. While I didn’t ever think I was ever going to make MD at a bank or Partner in PE, I figured two years in the analyst programme and I would have a ton of great options. So my question is, if I am offered and accept a place in capital markets what area do I want to try and hustle myself on to for the best range of exit opportunities both in the bank and outside. In this particular bank the Leveraged Finance does sit in Capital Markets but they don’t do the modelling. My initial thoughts were to go for convertible bonds because if you are learning about both equity and bonds you have got to be more valuable surely? I also think I read somewhere that you can do both debt and bonds in DCM but I don’t know if that is a thing. But there is a lot of insider knowledge on this forum and I would welcome any constructive suggestions.

5 Comments
 

I don’t work in the field so take what I say with a pinch of salt but they do say DCM and ECM ‘pigeonhole’ you in regards to exit opps. I personally don’t care about exit opps and am choosing to still work in the DCM space because it very much so interests me. However from what I’ve read Loan Capital Markets/Loan Syndication not origination will give you the best exit opps in the Capital Markets space to maybe distressed funds in the future! Great offer though congrats man

 

Lance, thinks for the input I will try and find out a bit about Loan Capital Markets. I haven't got the offer yet, just the fast track assessment centre but I think there is a decent conversion from SW to SA at this bank so fingers crossed.

 

I wouldn’t go for the Equity-linked team (Convertible / exchange bonds). It definitely doesn’t make you more versatile, very specific division that will be hard to build transferable skills.

Even though they don’t model I would still recommend Lev. Fin, many HH won’t know that you don’t model and it should provide plenty more opportunities to move around.

 

Also recommending leveraged. I think some people on this board can get carried away with the idea that ‘modelling’ is this secret brain surgery technique that’s career inhibiting unless mastered.

If you’re thinking general PE/finance exit opps then I think the knowledge base/principles you’d gain in an LBO group would far outweigh the minimal ‘equity based valuation’ techniques you’d pick up in a convertible bond/equity linked instrument group. Heck, PE models are half focussed on debt service.

 

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