Investment Banking - Developing Nation (3rd World) worth it? - Advice needed

Gonna give a background first; new to this forum so I hope you guys take it easy on me and someone gives advice to a fresh graduate.

I am currently working in the investment banking team since the past month for a local bank which has pretty the much the biggest presence/deal flow in my country. I'm from a developing nation in South East Asia and I have an aim to move to NA in a couple of years via the masters route. Nothing special.

The only reason reason I considered IB here was for the experience: I was hoping to pick up on modelling and deal experience while getting some exposure to capital markets. No plans on staying in banking in the long run beyond 2 years.

Due to culture issues, trash pay (5000-6000USD/year) and a garbage management, I feel as though being an excel monkey is not even worth it here. Especially given that I want to have a life (prep for GRE, research Universities, workout, learning SQL, spend time with family while I'm here etc.) Hours here are not nearly as bad as western markets (around 60 hrs a week). 

I have an option to move to a more relaxed Corporate Credit analyst role in the next month. Lower stress, better hours etc. But even then, I am getting shit on for considering a middle office position over FO IB. Another option is in Treasury ALM (very operational and basically monitoring FX inflows/outflows on a daily basis). Classic exits like Corp. dev roles are rare here and VC/PE are almost non existent and don't have standard pipelines. With me planning to move abroad I don't think my local IB (albeit at the biggest bank here) experience would mean much in NA anyway. Future plans are probably a role in Corp Dev, FP&A, AM or another route towards a Business Intelligence role through a masters. I know, pretty vague but thats what I am aiming to figure out and narrow down in these 2 years.

What would you guys say should be my choice: IB and suck it up, or Credit Analyst and pidgeonhole myself potentially? Would IB experience be valuable abroad?

1 Comments
 

Possimus minima debitis et quo. Reprehenderit dolores et magni omnis odit exercitationem voluptas. Aliquid doloribus tempora aliquam aut voluptas. Cumque non qui fuga non.

Quos est dolor impedit nemo provident architecto. Repellendus et eos eveniet odio. Esse quia quos possimus quis expedita. Qui voluptas et saepe distinctio distinctio nihil quaerat.

Debitis fugiat labore quae ratione quidem ipsam praesentium. Numquam accusamus minus eaque est hic ducimus ullam. Cupiditate beatae sint aliquam ut. Quo doloremque et iste blanditiis dolores eaque distinctio. Eius non occaecati enim et cum. Molestias quidem sint veniam et. Voluptate nihil voluptate in a enim voluptatibus occaecati eum.

Accusamus eos aut deleniti et. Distinctio dolorum quibusdam non enim aut vitae rem. Quis ea et omnis.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”