Has the IB Analyst to IR Associate pathway dried up?
I have noticed most IR Associates used to be people who completed an analyst IB program then transitioned to IR / Capital formation/ etc.
But it seems like that is much more rare now. IR teams seem to skip over IB analysts now for the most part. They have become a lot more competitive seats to get.
Can any people who are in IR who recruit for their teams provide more color to confirm if there has been a shift away from IB analysts over the last ~2 years?
are you in a bad group/bank or something? Feel like anyone in IB who wants IR can get it. Maybe not in the preferred company but it’s generally very, very easy to get interviews, much more so vs investing seats.
JPM / GS / MS and good industry group. Non target undergrad though.
Have got a few IR interviews but not as many as you would think. And people I see who land the roles are either 2nd / 3rd year IB associates or laterals from other PE / IB / advisory firms who were already doing the same work.
I had a mega fund try to discount my IB experience and say I would have to come in as a 1st year IR analyst which I felt was kinda crazy, I got the vibe they were still going to work me like an associate at a lower title and discounted rate.
Among my network of hundreds of IB analysts on LinkedIn, I only know personally one who landed an IR associate spot. Just seemed kinda crazy.
I think it's probably more indicative of the state of the overall job market than specifically IR (but that's just my guess). As someone who was in your shoes, it's not you it's the market. Keep your head down and keep grinding applications
This was mentioned above but can also add that it seems to be tied with generally PE/HF fundraising. It’s not necessarily the hey days of private fund fundraising as it may have been in the 2010s. Could just be market moved. Mega caps have consolidated and just don’t need as much IR headcount. Could be other things like the industry matured and doesn’t find the skillset of an IB analyst that useful. Could also be AI or whatever having an effect because some of the core skills people wanted from IB analysts like making PPTs and crunching numbers in excel can be done by AI and LLMs or whatever to some extent, so those core skills IB analysts used to have just aren’t so in demand in the market for $300k/yr when a decent solution is available for much less.
Thoughts that hopefully add to the discussion.
Could be why those with (in theory) more advanced business/finance skills - I.e IB Associates - or direct work experience - current IR folks - may be more attractive to fill open headcount spots on IR teams.
Either way good luck
b
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