Considering making the jump from IB to credit research at a BB. There doesn’t seem to be much on credit research on this forum. Can anyone expand on the pay progression and exit opps? Does salary cap out or is there potential to make 7 figures as an MD equivalent? What is your outlook on the industry as a whole — whether it be sell or buy side credit research (AM, credit focused HF, BB, etc.)? Thanks folks
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I currently work in macro credit research for a bulge bracket.
Pay is substantially lower than banking. Hours are better, and tend to be much more skewed towards early mornings than late nights (highly preferable in my opinion). Still plan on putting in 60-70.
I'm just a junior, so I don't know exactly what my higher ups make, but I get the sense that pay doesnt really get good until the later years of VP or MD. MDs can definitely pull 7 figures though.
Something to consider, research doesn't follow the same standardized promotion timeliness as banking either. If management doesn't want to promote you, they won't. I've seen 10+ year VPs never make MD. Depends on how good you are, how many MDs the group currently has, and who you've impressed in upper management. Research cannot have a limitless amount of MDs, because you aren't really bringing in your own revenue in the same way bankers are.
Exits are all over the place. Mostly HF, but occasionally really weird stuff like exiting to the back office. I've seen exits mostly at the higher levels recently (VPs, MDs etc.)
Hopefully someone whose more traditional single name or industry coverage focused will chime in. Macro is a bit of a different animal.
Thank you for the detailed response. How common are HF exits? I’m assuming a transition into a credit-focused HF would be quite natural, no? Further, is direct lending/private credit an option? Thanks
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