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?
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.
London chicks are really hot
I did banking in Continental Europe, New York and London. Quality of life in Madrid, Milan or Paris is obviously much higher than in New York and London, with London being the worst but this is driven by weather, food, logistics, infrastructure, cost of living. Can’t really opine on Zurich and Frankfurt as it would be very hard for me, Southern European, to live there as I don’t speak the language and I think culturally there is a material difference vs. Germans.
Leaving aside New York, which I believe is superior in any dimension if you are a US citizen, London gives you better career prospects if you are in finance than any other European city. The job market is more fluid, salaries are always benchmarked against NY and therefore, although lower, are not distant and, even if you are not British, you compete on a even ground (vs. NY where being US educated is helpful). Then, if you want to become an MD in banking, it is beneficial to spend time in London as you would improve your network and visibility, but overall living in Continental Europe provides better life conditions vs. peers in London.
Ultimately, it is down to your ambitions. If you want to invest on yourself, then you sacrifice your QOL for a while. If you want to maximize your current QOL, then your home country is probably better. Personally I went to London as I wanted to break into PE and London was a much safer solution than Continental Europe, although I know I am compromising big times on everything else.