IB not worth it (London vs Continental Europe)
Sorry for the Clickbait. My whole question is actually if a career in London (mostly talking about M&A) is "worth it"?
I think Base at respected Firms is around 50-55k, the bonus is like 50% and signing around 5k? So 80k GBP all-in, which is around 90k EUR. The Analyst at the firm where I will be a future intern told me I can expect around 100K EUR. Combined with the significant lower COL of Germany, this seems like a much better deal.
Furthermore, I heard that you can earn even more in Switzerland. However, opportunities are significantly worse than in London.
How are exit opps in Germany? Are they really much more limited than London?
London has arguably the worst earnings / QOL not just for IB, but for most jobs it seems. Especially when you compare this to NYC (e.g. 80k GBP vs 140k - 160k USD)
I think the main reason people from the UK don't go to Germany or Continental Europe is because they aren't fluent in that secondary language, in contrast to europeans who have good English proficiency.
This has been discussed with respect to London salaries vs elsewhere before but just to summarize my views on it:
A couple reasons for this, sterling is worth shite right now, and salaries have been somewhat stagnant in finance in the last couple of years. If you go back to 07-08, London banking salaries were actually on par with NYC.
Despite having said that, and despite the Brexit uncertainty, I still think for the near future London will continue to dominate finance and as a younger professional, you want to gain exposure to that. You will prob learn a whole lot more, develop a stronger network and work on more types of deals.
London still remains a world class city, and should be experienced by everyone. Definitely would live here in my 20's instead of Zurich for example
All that to say, is going to London worth it? I'd say yes, you'll get great experience and will get to enjoy a city with endless things to do. And you can always move back to Germany after a few years abroad. Guess it depends what you're trying to achieve here. I prob won't stay in London forever but I don't regret moving there at all.
I'm really grateful for all your input! It just seems that London is significantly more competitive even for intern roles. I assume this becomes even more competitive once I move up the letter and try to break into PE.
Furthermore, it seems that gap year programs and off-cycle internships are not really common, is that right?
To be quite honest, it's going to be quite competitive anywhere for a "FO" finance job. Even though there might be less applicants in places like Zurich and Frankfurt, there are also less opportunities so you'll still have to compete against a decent number of candidates. So don't really think about this, just do what you can to make yourself competitive.
I can't say specifically if its common but I know a few people who have done off-cycle internships at various BBs in London.
Currently facing the same issue. It's relatively easy to get interviews and offers for internships in Germany. However, applications for internships in London only yielded one interview so far. I guess I'll have to do a master's in the UK to break in.
sorry to slightly hijack but what can an Associate 1 expect to earn in MM?
i read on efinancialcareers that its around 90k base and ~80% bonus for BB
( https://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/277526/banking-salaries-and-bo… )....
so can a strong MM expect around same? or lower? many thanks
https://www.arkesden.com/compensation-reports
Most MMs pay similar to BB.
At the junior level yes London gets the short end of the stick. If you work for a US bank once you get senior enough you are paid in USD so it's potentially better from COL perspective with the current low GBP
London chicks are really hot
Quality observation
I'm currently doing IB in a big city in Europe, pay is similar to my London role and obviously COL is much lower however you do not save that much since you spend more. I would go to London without any doubt due to the exposure to bigger deals and exit opps
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