From Corporate Banking to Investment Banking

From what I have read online, it seems like corporate banking has very similar job functionalities to some investment banking roles. Can corporate banking help you transition to an IB position? Is is a good position to start with if pursuing an IB position?

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Good question. I'll lay out some aspects to consider for the ease of movement, I've done the transition myself.

1) The Role

The CB team/division that you work in really determines your ability to move into IB. For example, if you work in a debt product group, it's quite common for analysts to move into a DCM team in the IB, although often taking a cut in their job level (i.e. Analyst 2 going to Analyst 1). If you work in a coverage team then it may also be easier (than other CB roles) to move into the same coverage team in the IB. However, if you're in a role like vanilla FX trading for corporates, then it'd be much more difficult to move into a normal IB function.

2) Your Background

Your education will have a big influence on your chances of internal movement. If you went to a target or semi-target the move is easier to make as you're 'good' enough for the role (on paper).

3) The Bank The ease of movement between the CB and IB is dependent on the bank and how much interaction exists between the two divisions. Obviously, the more cohesive they are, the easier it is to move across.

Hope this gives you some pointers.

Array
 

Also moved from CB to IB.

Found that a lot of the skills developed/experience translated, although there are key differences in the day to day work that need adjusting to. Though part of my ease in transition is due to the fact that I was in the CB group at a BB, so I was able to do the IB training.

I come from a non-target, and it wasn’t as much of an issue, most likely because I had solid industry-specific experience for the group I was joining. However, I could see how other groups might put more weight towards target school applications.

 

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