is corporate banking the best division to be a career banker?
Looking for perspectives on being a corporate banker. My understanding is that, comp is around 70% of IB comp and WLB is pretty good too (40/50 hours a week with no weekend work). I’m not too fussed about joining the buyside or prestige, I want to work in a career where I have steady progression, decent comp & good wlb (although I guess that’s everyones dream). From everything I’ve heard it’s the best place to be a career banker but I’m looking for honest thoughts here.
How are hours in CB (looking for UK/EU hours specifically), what is the comp at junior levels and how does it progress, how does your international mobility look like in CB (if you wanted to move countries from say London to Switzerland). Appreciate any thoughts!
This is not a popular view here and probably depends a lot on the bank but doing corporate banking in your 20s is kind of frustrating because the job does seem to get a lot better once you are a bit more senior and can spend good amount of time on client work without the grueling pressure of IB culture. But until you're a VP/Director it's all often quite dull and with a slower learning curve than IB. I think it's a career track that the greatly benefits from prior IB or capital markets experience or from someone joining mid-career/post-MBA as you have some maturity that makes it a lot easier to fast forward to the enjoyable parts.
Does the WLB differ much when it comes to junior roles vs more senior roles? I’m not OP, but curious as to what hours look like in junior roles vs senior roles. From what I can find on WSO, they seem to be ~50 hours/week, but can’t seem to find clarity on what level that is for, or if that goes across most levels (more curious relating to the US)
Agree with this. Within 3 months I felt I was capped and all analysis was the same and credit agreements are essentially copy and paste. Only time it gets interesting is when you are doing a bridge loan for an acquisition or something but the work remains the same.
Echo above comment. Currently in CB as a junior. Work is VERY boring. At a senior level seems more interesting but keep in mind requires a lot of travel. Tbh I like it. Would not say comp is 70% of IB, and far greater differentiation at more senior levels.
Apart from the big American banks who pay same CB and IB base, all other banks pay their CB ppl at a discount. For example scotia pays CB analysts 90-110, and associates at 135-155, however IB makes street. Within the 70 range u mentioned, but does diverge especially w bonus. However, important to note the difference in hours w very limited weekend work
It does entail a fair amount of travel, the MDs I work with travel a ton. Unless you are the agent, top of the syndication, you’re trying to win ancillary business more often than not. They do get paid well and it’s not as intense as IB. Also, it can be interesting at times but really, you need to have a stake in the game and that comes at the director/principal.
Is it possible to transition from IB to Corporate Banking later down the line in your career? For example, if I make it to being an associate or VP in IB and decide to lateral for WLB? Is there a point where you may be too senior to lateral?
What would your title be if you were to transition at one of these later stages?
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