Lloyds Bank insight?

Grad scheme salary is 50k with the option to roll off after 1 year.

Bottom of street salary

Financial sponsors/Corporate institutional debt/Leveraged finance are strongest teams

exits include: Lazard, Lincoln, Nomura, Natwest

Take it as a last resort. Everybody there doesn't want to be there, just waiting on chance to hop.

Be careful of exits, you saw good names in bull market.

I joined Lloyds and moved over to mm IB after a year and a bit. Normally, most people don’t leave Lloyds due to the insane WLB and decent pay. However, if you were to leave, the best teams for exits are infrastructure by a mile. Other teams like lev fin are okay but exits will only be to another bank unless you want to do cap markets work. Cap markets at Lloyds also tend to exit okay to BB but the majority of people leave Lloyds and go to Japanese banks.

Lloyds Bank CIB in London isn't usually the top choice for those with high ambitions in finance. The bank's reputation in the industry is stable, offering decent pay and a good work-life balance, but it's not on par with bulge bracket banks in terms of the skills you'll develop or the clients you'll handle. The culture at Lloyds is often perceived as less driven, which could be a plus if you're prioritising balance and steady employment over aggressive career growth.

When it comes to career progression and exit opportunities, Lloyds has its limitations. Moving internally might be viable, but the transition to top-tier investment banks or buy-side roles is rare. The skillset and experience gained at Lloyds are often seen as not transferable to the more demanding roles at bulge bracket firms or in buy-side positions. You can take a look at LinkedIn profiles to see that exits to these sectors are quite uncommon.

If your main goal is to get a foot in the door and you're okay with a more laid-back environment, Lloyds could work out fine. However, if you're aiming to climb to the top of the finance world, you might find it challenging with Lloyds as your starting point. It's a reasonable option if it's your only offer, but keep your expectations about future transitions realistic.