CB or Tiny M&A Shop. Am I Ruining My IB Career Either Way?
Option 1: Corporate Banking Analyst at WF
Option 2: M&A Analyst at a ~30-person lower middle market sell-side boutique. Deals are mostly $15M to $70M, many add-on sales to PE-backed platforms.
My only goal is getting to a larger platform (UMM, EB, or BB coverage/M&A)
- In 12 to 24 months, which background gets more lateral interviews at UMM banks?
- Would either realistically let me lateral at level, or am I restarting as a first-year either way?
- Anyone made either move? How long did it take?
can't give you any other color but ik corporate banking to IB is pretty frequent within WF
Just to push back on this a bit, lateral numbers for WF are a bit inflated given that wells considered so many verticals “investment banking”, fund finance being one of them.
OP, if the lmm has good deal flow, take that imo. Especially if you’re trying to lateral, throw culture to the side and grind to get some deals under ur belt.
If not, I guess ur best bet is wells. Good luck man!
Thanks for the response.
How do you classify “good deals”?
Size? Buyer? Complexity?
true. I've seen analysts placed into the mid cap tier groups all the way to TMT, Healthcare, levfin. That being said I think WF is the better play here even if ur based out of clt, bc mobility to nyc after 2 years is pretty much guaranteed
I mean idk if LMM IB -> BB/EB after 1 year is possible but you can probably go LMM IB -> solid MM (e.g., WB, HW, HL, etc.) and then if you really want go to BB/EB but by then you'll be 3-4 years in and probably an associate by that stage.
I'd probably expect that when you lateral you take a year back (or half year) but sometimes you might not, just depends on how desperate the group is / in need of analyst talent + your work experience
Do you recommend the WF CB or LMM IB
Probably IB, always easier to convince someone to hire you when you're doing the job responsibilities already so can hit the ground running. WF CB to IB is do-able but riskier IMO
Just 1 perspective - LMM IB is MM IB its an easier story and easier sell on your part than a quasi-career change. You don't need to jump through the arbitrary questions like can you handle the hours and do you know the M&A process, learn the techs/models etc. Get in the mix - coming from Vals to IB.
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