I’m not asking this facetiously. I’m genuinely curious if anyone has a story where a fresh MBA associate isn’t significantly less valuable to a team then a seasoned analyst
Trending Content - Investment Banking Forum
| +220 | Just One More Year | 17 | 8h |
| +179 | Piper Sandler in talks to acquire PWP | 75 | 1h |
| +124 | UBS Appears to be Exploring Sale | 19 | 2d |
| +90 | Paradise Is Paradise | 8 | 13h |
| +79 | Drunk VP. How to manage? | 27 | 1d |
| +38 | How do I take my foot off the gas? (AN1) | 4 | 1d |
| +38 | Lazard US Views 2026/2027 | 13 | 1d |
| +32 | M&A is Paradise | 1 | 6d |
| +25 | Why did EVR succeed vs GHL or PWP that ended up getting acquired? | 7 | 3d |
| +24 | HR is starting to worry me, do I throw a hail mary during an upcoming chat with an MD? | 4 | 51m |
Career Resources
I'd imagine its people who were pre-MBA banking and decided to go back to it but at a more "prestigious" bank. Can think of at least 2 bankers on LinkedIn who either had to do only one year of associate or were directly hired at the VP level post-MBA (outside of MF PE, the only graduates who probably had a legitimate chance of breaking 500K+ first year-in). This was specifically at a T15 not a M7.
Makes sense - seems to me like this is pretty rare and that most MBA Associates are guys coming over from completely different backgrounds
A fresh MBA associate will never be as good as a seasoned analyst, but prior experience + the requisite amount of effort will leave them meaningfully ahead in a year relative to the analyst. Key is putting in the effort
If that is true, then why the hell are they paid higher than people the firm likely knows is better? its a locker room nightmare- like Gilbert Arenas
The hiring pool for MBA associates and 1st-year analysts is different. MBA associate pay needs to be partially benchmarked against what MBAs going into other career paths are making.
This should really be self explanatory
Because they learn quicker and will be much better in a year. Longer-term investment
The employment market for MBA's and first or second year IB analysts are really different, and as other people have said the after a year, the post MBA associate will be much stronger than analysts.
Ideally the Post-MBA Associate is somebody who is polished, good at public speaking, can interface with clients / other departments / upper management and has chosen IB as a long-term career path.
Good post - it starts to become a different job post analyst years.
Never looked at it like this. So its as if the MBA associate is someone who has all the soft skills, is intelligent, but doesn't yet have the reps yet to get to senior banker level.
I think that makes a lot of sense, and it is likely the genesis of why MBA associates came to be. Seems like nowadays its almost the opposite...halfway decent soft skills, halfway decent technical skills, little to no industry knowledge
Agree with everything you said but I wouldn't entirely agree with the last one.
Many tend to recruit for coverage groups they had previous experience in (hands-on and may understand the tangibles within a business model more than A2As). So they tend to have more soft skills and sometimes unique industry knowledge that most junior bankers don't.
Yes, I have
it was in 2005
but it has in fact happened
"It was the Summer of '84, and emotions were flying high. Life was good, and the women were bad. Those really were the days"
No
I firmly believe this to be true 90% of the time
MBA aso’s are hired as a long term investment / potential senior bankers… Anl’s on the other hand have like a 90% turnover rate so pretty self explanatory
Expedita sequi corrupti quasi sunt. Sunt harum delectus harum earum voluptatum facilis rem. Quidem omnis praesentium illo nisi eveniet fuga. Eos ea quos perspiciatis aut ut sunt accusamus.
Atque exercitationem sed aliquid occaecati aliquid dolorem. Libero eum ea architecto porro minima et. Cupiditate culpa alias eum nam. Ipsam enim ea eveniet.
Consequatur consequatur consequatur est unde beatae non id quae. Reiciendis ab consequatur ipsum sit ab nihil ea. Quia alias deserunt et illo ut porro quia. Molestiae ut nostrum minima neque eaque et.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...