Investment Banking in Madrid?
I am considering an IB SA position in Madrid but although I have been many times to Spain, I know next to nothing about the IB culture there. I am looking for insight on how it's like to work/intern in Madrid or Spain in general. Perhaps someone here has done an internship or has worked full time in IB in Madrid, so their insights will be greatly appreciated. I know that the unemployment rate among young people is awful but how is IB viewed/ how does it compare to IB in NYC or elsewhere?
Thank you very much in advance.
I have a couple of friends working in IBD in Madrid..from my perception:
-very few summer interns every year at each bank (GS 2, UBS 1, Citi 2, etc) but conversion is not that hard and 1-3 new analysts per year
-hours are definitely better than in London or Paris, projects tend to be slower and lower volume as well but things can escalate quite quickly if you're in a major transaction..2-3 free weekends appears to be the norm but heavy hours during the week though
-office atmosphere is known to be quite nice, small teams so people usually go well along with each other and bond over drinks outside of work (major thing to take into consideration when doing an internship in regional offices)
-the major PE firms are present in Spain and recruit "actively" from IBs in Madrid, though the process is not as structured as in NYC or London..also a lot of upcoming PE firms are investing mainly in the Iberian market..for these firms, there's also some competition from kids coming from consulting and Big 4
-Madrid is a huge party town, so one can def have a good time there as a junior banker
Hope this helps ;)
Thank you for your response! The main reason I want to intern/work at Madrid is because my parents own an apartment in the very center of Madrid so I wouldn't have to pay for rent, which I estimate will save me about $1000 per month. Aside from financial reasons, as I said I have been to Madrid many times and I love it there and it is my favorite city. As for language, it is not an issue for me because I am completely fluent in Spanish because of my Spanish family, despite living in the US. Thus the reason I have not considered London is that it is completely unfamiliar to me and I know no one there. Also, and this might sound a bit ignorant, but how do IB salaries compare with those of London? I imagine they will be lower than NYC but does the Socialism in Spain influence these sorts of things or is IB and similar industries like PE sort of detached from the political landscape of Spain? Thanks!
Some banks will have greater base and lower bonus but all in will usually be the same. It comes down to what type of FX they apply compared to London or NYC as some banks had it fixed time ago and were making more even than their colleagues. You do have high taxes but as every other European country. The ruling party is right wing
agree with everything said above. Might be a bit more difficult if your goal is to work outside of Spain, but if its a solid bank with good deal flow you will still get great experience. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions I can help answer about Madrid
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I dont agree with the hours thing. Some banks specially the US banks work their analysts insanely hours compared to some teams in London. You do have MF offices but the kind of deals they tend to work are more in the middle market side. The intersnhip is normally structured as a 6 month or 1 year off cycle internship
Seems like a good fit for you based on what you said. London is unfamiliar to a lot of people so I wouldn't have necessarily let that put you off.
At least you wont be in Frankfurt.
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