Is Chicago IB Pay Lower than NYC?
Apologies for a terrible question, but is investment banking pay any different between Chicago and New York?
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Not really, in some cases it can be more, and has significantly more take-home pay considering much lower rent expenses.
Depends on the bank, but Chicago typically pays the same as NYC or slightly under. But either way you take home more money due to lower living costs.
Generally IB pays the same across cities, but even if a bit less you'll come out way ahead because of COL. Started off in the Midwest and the amount I saved was phenomenal vs. being in SF / NY.
Besides worse exit opps, are there any downsides to Chicago?
It's cold asf
Definitely the weather lol. And usually being in Chicago means you will be at a regional office, instead of being at HQ. Otherwise general "drawbacks" of not being in a NY-tier city (fewer big events / acts coming through, stuff like that).
No.
What are the big banks in chicago?
BBs: MS (no junior bankers), J.P., UBS, Citi, CS, GS, BofA, Barclays (so basically all of them). The biggest bank is William Blair and I believe the strongest group is Moelis
Any chance if you know what type of tech presence there is in Chicago for IB/EQR?
Barclays does some tech
Barclays in Chicago does tmt I believe
Guggenheim grabbed 2 tech MDs from Blair to build out an office in Chicago, was just reached out to the other day about joining them.
Interesting that in today's environment, they're still looking to add to headcount.
MDs were poached summer of last year - this summer is the first class of their SA program
From what I was told they're in the market for some Analysts and Associates
are they looking for ft 2020? or lateral hires for analyts
For me I would have been a lateral Associate
Two things: love the screen name, and are you in IB in Chicago?
Hey, just wanted to ask you a few questions, if you have the time... would just really appreciate your opinion regarding IB in Chicago...
First, do you find/hear that work-life balance is better in Chicago compared to NYC? I realize that it's likely dependent on firm and group... but do you think this is mostly true?
Regarding exit opps... is there a healthy demand in Chicago for good PE jobs? Another post I read stated that perhaps some of the better PE firms in Chicago recruit analysts from NYC instead of Chicago... do you find this to be true?
How difficult is it to recruit for a NYC job either in IB or PE if you are starting out in Chicago?
Does/will the crazy market volatility negatively impact IB work in Chicago? Either in the near or long term? Or is it dependent on what area you work in (for example, restructuring vs. M&A?)
Okay, thanks again! And the second part of your name should be in all caps based on the markets this week!
Work life balance is definitely dependent on firm culture and the group you work in not so much based on location. PE opportunities are available across the board, you may see more people come from NY than Chicago but that is more based on the fact that the pool of bankers to choose from is larger in NY. I've seen much of the same where people will post how NY is the place to be if you want to go PE but in reality it's more sector specific. For example, if I'm a PE firm that focuses on tech I'm probably going to be recruiting more from offices out in SF or silicon valley than NY. I cover FinTech here in Chicago and I have people reaching out to me for opportunities at least once a week, if you're good at what you do there will always be demand. To answer your question on the difficulty of recruiting for an NY job, probably half of the opportunities that are presented to me are for jobs in NY so the options are there and definitely not limiting being in Chicago. Market volatility is having an impact on deals right now. Being a global firm we have been in conversation with our teams in China, Korea, Italy, etc. and deals are being impacted especially cross-border. Deals aren't necessarily being cancelled but some are being put on hold, repriced for the more impacted markets and even seeing more mention of including MAC clauses during negotiations. We'll just have to wait and see what the long-term impact will be at this point.
Hah I got pinged for this a few weeks ago too, which is weird because 1) I'm not in Chicago and 2) my background isn't in tech.
Also Lincoln, Baird, Houlihan, Piper for some notable MMs
Blair, Lincoln, Baird, Houlihan, BMO, RJ, DCF, BAML, JPM
Yes
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