Consulting comp > IB? Nordics
Hello,
I'm a student in the Nordics and my impression is that -- for analyst roles -- a management consulting base compensation exceeds that for IB by a fair amount, and when taking bonuses into account total comp is roughly the same. Avg hours seem to be 50 contra 70. Can anyone confirm or dismiss this? Is comp development more rapid in IB? And is it then unique for the Nordics? Does not seem to be the case in the UK or the US.
I'd say it depends on respective firm, and possibly Nordic country. I can offer perspective on Sweden. Top consulting firms (MBB + potentially some others) pay well and better compared to the local banks, both the full-service banks and the pure investment banks. (Although one data point says NDA pays very well in Finland, supposedly almost 2x what they pay analysts in Sweden)
Local boutique bank salaries com in a wide range, with some potentially coming close to AN1 salaries in London.
The local BB/EB offices pay London salaries, I believe. A contact at Lazard claimed to work ~50-60hrs and get paid London salary.
MBB, RB and others pay well with probably better WLB than the banks.
Big 4 pay is pretty low.
Interesting, thank you for the reply. Do you happen to have insight on how compensation develops between the two, MC and IB? It really surprised me that consulting seems to pay better than IB.
Reviving this thread. Any new updates?
And what are you comparing — I believe MBB salary > Swedish banks salary for IB, but that international banks IB salary (in Sthlm) > MBB salary.
From what I've heard from friends, salaries are pretty much the same now.
My friends who has gone to Mck or BGC has entered at 50-55k, which is pretty much the same as my friends who has gone into banking.
International banks beat everything with 62k+ in starting salary, I don't have that many data points there however.
Interesting to hear. Heard that MBB is raising to 60k+ since Tier 2 consulting firms are nearing 55k+.
Find it strange that MBB don’t match international banks. Small additional cost for them to receive top talent
MBB in Norway has focused extensively on WLB recently, with McK implementing 47-hour work weeks - seems to be working quite well.
I'm originally from Sweden but currently working in London. While my info is a bit outdated I hope it can offer some perspective.
MBB base salaries are around SEK 55k / month, with 10-30% bonuses from my understanding. Hours for MBB are in the 50-60 hrs / week range, with Bain having a bit better WLB compared to BCG / McK from what I have heard.
When it comes to IB there is a big difference between the Nordic and international banks.
For the Nordic banks you can expect a base salary of 50-55k. Hours are varied, with e.g. Nordea being pretty rough (70-80 hours a week) while other banks (e.g. SEB based on reputation) are more chill and are in the 60-70 hours a week range.
The offices of the international banks in Stockholm are often very small (5-10 juniors) so my insights into those are pretty limited. However, I know that GS offers SEK 85k base and JPM offers SEK 65k base. Not sure why GS offers a higher base in Stockholm compared to other European offices but supposedly the bonus is lower. Hours at GS / MS / JPM will be rougher (80-100) and it gets worse since you will work a lot with the sector teams in London that are an hour behind in time. Having been both at Nordic banks and a US BB (GS / MS / JPM), I can also say that there is a very big difference in pace. The pace is much higher at the US BBs. For example, when I was at a Nordic bank we would have 40-60 min lunches and dinners every day. Currently, it's been 2 weeks since I didn't have breakfast, lunch and dinner at my desk.
With that said, total comp in consulting will most likely be lower but you will also have a much better WLB. I also think that it's easier to recruit for buyside coming from MBB compared to a Nordic bank. There are quite few buyside positions every year in Stockholm so for IB they have a strong preference for Nordic people who have spent 1-2 years in IB in London and now want to move back to the Nordics. Meanwhile, coming from the consulting side you do not have any competition from London.
Thanks a lot for this — much appreciated. Much of what I have heard goes in line with this. How are the possibilities to lateral from a Nordic bank (SEB / Nordea / Danske B) to a US BB? Seen a large amount of people do a couple of years at a Swedish bank and then move to a larger bank
It is very much possible but may require some connections (e.g. friend who is at an international bank).
However, the times have changed compared to 1-2 years ago. At that time, (most of) the Internationals were moving all Nordic coverage to Stockholm and needed to fill junior spots so where massive moves from the local banks to BBs and boutiques. I would say it’s a more challenging market for that type of move right now although it’s fully possible. BBs in Stockholm still have massive churn and regularly look for experienced analysts/associates to fill shoes.
Definitely possible and I think that Nordea is probably your best bet if you want to move on to a US BB. However, it is not easy as the spots are limited. Nordea / SEB probably have about 40-50 people within IB. Meanwhile, many of the US BBs just have 10-15 people and are quite top-heavy given they have plenty of junior resources from the sector teams in London.
Do you ever see people transfer from the Sweden office to the NYC/LDN office? or are people in Sweden/Nordic region typically Swedes/Nordes for life.
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