IB is the new EY/Deloitte

I predict this trend becomes the new norm as we head into the second half of the 2020's. By the 2030's IB will no longer be considered prestigious. I think it will start to degrade into what consulting is now.

36 Comments
 

base salary at big4 in TAS is about the same as in IB. so unless your bonus is 200%+, you're not making 3x of what big4 TAS people make. and from bonus threads here, you can see that plenty of people are getting small bonuses in IB nowadays, effectively getting paid close to what people in big4 make. 

on top of that, in big4 people work half the hours people in IB work. plus you can work from home - factor in the expenses associated with going to office (time and cost of commute, need to have more suits shirts shoes etc., more stressful cause at home you can take a break and decompress but at the office you're constantly around coworkers and are expected to work without breaks). finally, in big4 you can move to a cheaper location, while in IB you have to be in NYC.

 

Kevin25

base salary at big4 in TAS is about the same as in IB. so unless your bonus is 200%+, you're not making 3x of what big4 TAS people make. and from bonus threads here, you can see that plenty of people are getting small bonuses in IB nowadays, effectively getting paid close to what people in big4 make. 

on top of that, in big4 people work half the hours people in IB work. plus you can work from home - factor in the expenses associated with going to office (time and cost of commute, need to have more suits shirts shoes etc., more stressful cause at home you can take a break and decompress but at the office you're constantly around coworkers and are expected to work without breaks). finally, in big4 you can move to a cheaper location, while in IB you have to be in NYC.

Congrats on KPMG!

 

I disagree.  

  1. Big4 TAS base is roughly 85-90K out of ug, and bonuses are sub 5K. 
  2. IB hours far worse, but (unless your stuck in a shitty LMM constantly pitching for deals) your bonus should compensate adequately for those incremental hours worked compared to Big4 (First year analyst hours average roughly 70-80 in IB vs. 50-60 in TAS, but avg. comp. is roughly 160K vs 92K in TAS)
  3. Exits are much better from IB, don't need to go into detail here
  4. There are plenty of IB opportunities in MCOL/non-NYC areas (Charlotte, HTX, DTX, Chicago, LA, SF, Boston, ATL, even Austin & Miami/St. pete).  Honestly, there are way more IB opportunities in non-NYC locations than there are Big 4 TAS opportunities.  
 

I view this as a compliment and a major victory. I would be honored to be associated with such venerated, prestigious, and hallowed names such as Ernst & Young and Deloitte. 

When your company flies you out basic-economy-no-carry-on to Milwaukee on a Tuesday night for an audit and you tell the girls at the local watering hole you work at THE Deloitte… let me tell you, their ears perk right up.


I am glad I lived to see the day Investment Banking became as renowned as front office audit.

 

Agree w this take. No longer a great path out of undergrad, AI gonna cook ts 

 

Yea dude lol. Ppl who say ts honestly make me think they’re largely all LARPing abt ever having been in IB or worked at any publicly traded bank. The AI that is currently enterprise-approved at most banks is as effective as siri, and even premium claude & chat gpt models can’t understand bespoke, group-specific PowerPoint formats, not to mention entrenched financial models with dynamic min/max, indirect , iferror plugs or tying to logical tests/dynamic arrays. Going to be a while before we’re replaceable.

 

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