Breaking into IB in London

Hi, I am trying to break into IB in London, UK and would appreciate your thoughts and advice on the best way forward. 

I am currently a Senior Associate in the Corporate Finance division of an investment bank in Malaysia. i think its equivalent to a 1st year or 2nd year analyst in London or wall street. For context, a typical corporate finance dept here provides capital markets and corporate advisory services which includes IPOs, M&As, restructuring and so forth. 

I have been working as a senior associate for about a year and have been involved in one IPO and am currently involved in a couple of M&A deals. Previously, I was a Management trainee in at the same bank where I rotated through Client Coverage, Equity Research and Corporate Finance within the investment banking division. 

Academically, I did my undergrad at some small, unknown uni in Kentucky, USA and did a double major in accounting and business administration (concentrating in finance). I also did do an internship during my junior year which was a 3 month program at asset mgmt firm in Malaysia. 

I'm now looking to move to a bigger market to gain some exposure to larger deals or projects. I understand that my uni background is weak given that it is a non-target school and alumni connections in IB or big banks are very limited and unresponsive lol. I did come across a few posts on reddit and even WSO that said that doing a Masters at the right schools would improve your chances significantly. 

Given all this, I am considering whether doing a Master's at a good school in London or UK is the right move? If so, which schools and master's programs should I look at? and is this path even worth considering or is there a better path to break into London's IB industry? 

Would really appreciate to hear your thoughts and advice on this. 

1 Comments
 

Perspiciatis et quia iure sunt occaecati aut. Porro velit et autem tempore ut. Nostrum in quidem velit qui similique harum magnam in. Velit in quibusdam recusandae id molestias est et. Quisquam ut nostrum voluptatem modi. Dignissimos debitis quia voluptatum deleniti ut qui.

Magnam consequatur sit quisquam rerum accusamus dolore. Doloremque et aut quod saepe. Natus aut delectus doloremque provident repellendus ipsum. Ut minima ea dignissimos explicabo aut rerum et.

Qui animi velit qui ad optio ipsam quia. Illum optio consequatur nesciunt qui beatae ut autem. Molestias est eum distinctio quo. Quos omnis aspernatur nihil et. Laborum voluptas ducimus possimus corporis sit dicta. Inventore aut et et iste. Et ipsam magni saepe aut non.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
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...”