Corp Dev seems to be a popular exit for bankers, especially those looking for a significant lifestyle improvement. It's also one of the few exits that is equally feasible for junior and semi-senior bankers, as plenty of VPs make the jump as well. But what happens then? Similar to MBB consultants who often get stuck in strategy (instead of operational) roles when they transition into industry, do bankers who move to Corp Dev get stuck in that vertical forever, topping out at VP of Corp Dev? Or are there other opportunities for advancement, like moving from CD to an operational role with P&L responsibility?
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It really depends on your industry and your shop. I support corp dev for a publicly traded P&U company with a high deal flow compared to our peers.
3 types of exit are popular for my company:
1. Lateral move to another company with a slightly higher pay;
2. Financial buyers - my peers have moved on to MM PE and pension funds
3. Go back to IB after recharging a bit
Corp dev & strategy is kind of a separate & supportive function, and the upward mobility is somewhat limited. We are also not well liked within the company because we constantly pull other functions into supporting our work.
I've had interviews with secondary/pensions so definitely not 100% pigeonholed. Pensions are quite open to corp dev veterans.
Currently considering to move to the sell-side for the additional bandwidth. Guys, let me know if you guys think trading 30 hours per week for the bonus is worth it.
Honestly, you should wait it out to see the bonus figures at the end of this year. Given that deal volumes are down, the total comp can actually be close to ~30% down from 2021 levels. Are you still willing to slog out 80-100 hour weeks at that compensation? It's a tough question to answer.
I went CD -> IB and want back to CD. It’s not worth it.
I was thinking about heading back to IB in early spring but with the way things are looking now…I’m not too sure about that.
Was your corp dev comp close to IB?
Saw in your other comment that you decided to make the switch. How do you feel about it?
Often people will stay in CD for the very long term. Pretty common to move into other finance functions, like Treasury and FP&A. My guess is there are relatively few CD people who make a move to owning a P&L unless they were operator types before spending a couple years in CD. But IB to CD generally doesn't build a future CEO or segment CEO skill set.
If you follow up a stint in Corp Dev with some time in FP&A or ‘strategic’ finance, you can position yourself pretty well for a Head of Finance role (this would be at a small to mid sized company, not a megacorp) that is second in command to the CFO and encompasses more than just doing deals. Then you look for the next jump to CFO.
I know someone who made it to BB IB VP then transitioned out to do corp dev. He had to do time across corporate finance (FP&A, project finance, treasury) but really struggled to overcome his reputation as a "deals guy". All in all I think it was about 20 years from BB IB VP --> CFO small/mid cap public company so definitely doable to go CD to CFO but you will need significant experience in other parts of the finance organization as M&A isn't as valued as a skill set/knowledge base at the CFO level.
Curious to hear if others have seen CD professionals get into a P&L or other non-finance executive position as obviously that is the most attractive and interesting path up.
Corp dev exits improve drastically at the IB senior associate/VP levels vs analyst IMO. Not uncommon for IB VP to get Director/VP level corp dev exits at PE portcos.
As others have mentioned, it is highly dependent on shop/industry, but I've seen the gamut of moves from CD to other finance roles. I've seen people move from CD to operational roles with P&L ownership (usually were a CD Senior Director / VP, and this is almost always within the same company), CD back to IB, off to PE, over to IR, etc. Really anything is possible if you're in a good seat and getting good experience (and know how to market it). Also plenty of people who love what they do and the comp to WLB ratio and are fine staying in CD and topping out as an EVP or Head of CD. Once you become mid or senior-level, there's a lot of self-selection in career moves and less prestige/comp chasing as you'll see at the An/A levels.
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