After pursuing banking and breaking in, I have now started to wonder if the Big 4 route would be better. Don't get me wrong being an MD or Principal in PE is super appealing, but the Big 4 partner pension and mandatory retirement age sounds pretty damn cushy. Has anyone here ever thought about pursuing the Big 4 over IB?
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Lmao this has to be a joke
Yeah if you want to be mediocre
You’re most likely never going to make it past VP at a buyside firm.
And you're most likely never going to make it to equity partner at a big 4. VP in PE comp is far better than director big 4 comp
No
On the contrary though, if doing management consulting at one of the Big 4, you should be in six figures by year 2. Can get up to $150k or so at the highest associate level and then into the $200s at the manager and above level.
Not amazing by any means but the hours are significantly less than IB and it seems like not many people are pushed out
F to the mfing no
No no no. IB associates make more than young big 4 partners. Even at the senior levels it’s nothing too special. 7 digit territory is group head and up stuff
Big 4 average partners make $1-3m and work sub 40 hours, depends on COL of course. Source is family.
This 100% false. The “average” big 4 partner includes hoards and hoards of audit and tax partners that bring in 0 business and make 300-500k
Idk about this tbh. Average partner compensation at big 4s in the UK is ~£800k so I'd imagine its a bit more in the US.
No.
Hell no
No
Granted big4 outside the country does have some clout..big 4 is the states is fairly suboptimal option to banking and many other career paths. It's a decent stepping stone but the yield is simply much higher in banking: from skills learned, exit opps, network, compensation and even maybe pay/hours ratio. Put differently, the best 2nd yr accountant out of PWC will still be bested by the low to mid bucket 2nd yr banking analyst on the job market in terms of skills, opps, and comp packages.
Best 2nd year accountant at PWC is a pretty skilled individual (highly sought after by companies). You're definitely right that the comp will be higher for a 2nd yr analyst, but the exit opps for a top performer at PwC are never too shabby.
Only for Deloitte which is Paradise!!!
When I read the WSJ articles about EY and Deloitte doing a strategic review of their consulting practices, that was the ONLY time I ever thought there might be merit to this whole “Big 4” thing. The EY article mentioned multi million dollar payouts for current partners in the event of a sale.
Getting $3mm for sitting around playing ping pong for 15 years in overly-expensive company break rooms doesn’t sound bad.
Hell fckin no. I worked at a Big4 firm before getting an MBA and going into IB. As much as people complain about IB lacking meaning and the dismal pay per hour, the Big4 is worse. The comp from staff —> senior manager given the amount you work is borderline criminal. It’s basically IB’s little brother - 80% of the hours with 40% of the pay and 20% of the respect.
The only scenario I can imagine the a big4 being chill is if you make audit partner. You can make in the 400-1mm range and more or less chill. You can retain the same clients for 5 consecutive years, unlike IB where you have to constantly hunt for new deals.
Did he really just say "being an MD or Principal in PE is super appealing, but that Big 4 pension plan..."
C'mon son, stop it.
Partner pension doesn't sound good to you?
Relative to PE Partner carried interest or IB MD profit sharing? No, it does not. If the question was has anyone considered the Big 4 route over janitorial services, AIDS or ass-rape I would be more receptive.
Pay is pretty shitty until you reach that level (relative to IB anyway), so if someone is willing to deal with that until they're 35 to each their own. I wouldn't be able to do it for the sole fact that the work is super mundane and I would be bored out of my mind. I actually stared my IB career at a Big 4 (all the Big 4 have an IB arm) and the number of people vying for a chance to move over to the Investment Banking side from other departments was significant.
lol can echo the same, interned at big 4 in their IB department + got return and the pay was significantly less with hours being a slight drop off from traditional IB, very happy I re-recruited
the one exception might be Deloitte Corporate Finance's salary in North Carolina (where McColl was HQ'd?), can check on h1b data website that they actually pay decently probably stemming from the legacy business there
Come to the UK, here Oxbridge and LSE grads with first class degrees will happily work in Big 4 audit.
Is it because they struck out trying to break into IB? Or are there other reasons?
It's because there aren't enough jobs in this country.
This. Head count is a lot lower and they're competing with very strong candidates from target schools across the continent too. Second languages are beneficial in recruiting given most groups are EMEA coverage and candidates from the continent often have a 3 year bachelors, are in a top masters, and have several internships under their belt by the time they're recruiting for SA positions. Objectively on paper, do you want to hire the monolingual English candidate in their second year of classics at Oxford and 1-2 spring weeks, or the trilingual Swiss candidate with 2-3 internships, a bachelors from St Gallen and studying for a masters in Bocconi?
Big 4 doesn't have the same competition from international candidates given they'll apply to local offices, so Oxbridge / LSE / Imperial / UCL etc are top of the pile. There's a limited number of seats in CF / TS, so many end up in audit.
and what happens do the oxb/lse grads who start in big 4 as they progress with their careers? Do they lateral to IB or just stick out in big4/move to f500
B4 Audit in the UK, and in Europe as a whole, is much more prestigious than B4 Audit in the US.
No
Sounds like you're craving for some deloitussy
Way more young a dumb hotties in big 4 than banking.
That’s the only reason you’d choose Bama over Harvard
How’s B4 consulting? Considering that since I missed internship recruiting for MBB
LLOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Nah but fr, outside the US a Big4 job is seen as quite respectable
Not sure why everyone shits on Big Four, afaik accounting knowledge is highly respected in the hedge fund space, especially forensic accounting and credit analysis. My mentor at the HF I’m is a CPA from there and he’s brilliant.
redacted
It would be a better idea to work in a factory for 30 years to collect that pension. Nothing more soul crushing than commoditized big 4 work. Not to mention your job will be replaced by AI and automation.
Sigh. This forum is so toxic.
First of all, accounting knowledge is useful for almost all investing roles, other than maybe day traders/quants.
Many people make a great career out of Big 4. I know someone who enjoys audit at Deloitte. Works 40 hours a week during non-busy season and 55 hours during busy season.
The partners at his branch easily clear $1M+ in comp.
Why work almost the same hours for a lot less pay? Not to mention it's far more interesting to execute transactions for a company than look back at what happened and prepare the statements. Bankers get to play and accountants keep score
Wow. This has to be one of the most hardo things I have seen on this site in a long while, and there are a lot of you hardos sitting around.
Bankers "play" about as much as car salesmen and real estate brokers do. Bankers earn a lot more because they sell businesses instead of selling cars or houses, and businesses are worth a lot more than cars or houses, but at the end of the day that's what banking comes down to. It is a job like any other.
"PE gets to play, and bankers keep score"
"LPs get to play, and GPs keep score"
"CPP senior management gets to play, and the rest of CPP keeps score"
See where this is going?
By the way, if you were wondering why I chose CPP as an example, their global PE head, overseeing direct and indirect PE investments, is Suyi Kim. Or, as she could be called in South Korea if she has kept up with her certifications and registration... Suyi Kim, CPA.
If you're talking about B4 CF/TAS vs IB, then I think IB wins hands down. BUT if you're talking about B4 Audit, I think it's a very different conversation.
Obviously IB pays more than Audit. But when adjusted for hours, it looks a bit better. IB Analysts work way more hours over a year than junior auditors do. And, at least judging from the ones I have met, successful IB MDs also work way more hours than B4 Audit Partners do.
And here's the real kicker: If you're a good Audit Partner, you have a very stable job. Every large company needs to get audited, every single year. You don't need to constantly pitch for business. You don't have to worry about companies being more conservative with their acquisitions in lean years. You don't have to pay close attention to market dynamics and be constantly thinking about how changing trends might impact your clients' needs. Just keep showing up every year, looking over their books, and making sure you're not signing your name on the statements of the next Enron or Wirecard.
The idiots shitting on audit for being a "joke" are probably the same idiots who would shit on the guy who owns the sanitation company clearing a billion in revenue, because he's a "glorified garbage man". Or, for that matter, shitting on their literal NYC garbage man, who's working a union job starting out at $40k a year but earning $200k+ by the end of their careers, plus a comfortable pension, all with lower stress, lower hours, and without even needing a college degree.
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