Middle Market banking in London
I have an FP&A job that I'm quite happy with. It pays decently and the hours are amazing, and I'm working fully remote now. Allowed me to finish CFA and top performers are not getting shipped to top MBAs. I have an old buddy who is now a VP at a top MM bank based in London with presence around Europe mostly. He's offering me to get into the process, but I'm kind of skeptical. I know my comp will more than double but I'm unsure about giving up on my social life at the moment. It's enticing from an exit opportunities, though.
I wasn't a hardo type at uni so I didn't even try with IB and such. I'm not sure about the MM space. Hours, culture, comp, progress (relative to BBs now), etc. Would appreciate any insight.
Thanks in advance.
My 2 cents
a lot depends on the sector you join, and also the seniors of the team you join.
From my experience interning at MM banks and BB banks, in addition to doing my analyst stint at a sector focused boutique - MM can be worse than BB as BB can be worse than MM. In my eyes, its whether you want to join a top ranked team or join the worst team of a good name BB kinda deal. Seniors who feel like they want to do deals will sweat the juniors and as such you have a miserable experience (happened to me when a new MD joined my team)
Team structure plays into it as well, a top heavy team will mean you get sweated, a bottom heavy team will have good WLB but run the risk of getting fired if team performance is low (ie to trim the fat and cost cut) 3/2/2/1/1 An/As/VP/D/MD is a good split imo for a keen MD.
Generally though, you will work minimum 60-65 hours wherever you go and of course YMMV with each institution you go to. In london, fridays are normally relaxed. Comp is fairly aligned with BB leading the salary levels. Boutiques wil match but will allocate more to bonus and offer lower salary than BB eg BB pay 90k for An3 vs boutique paying 75k, but BB bonus may be 30k but the boutique pays 45k - comp is the same but split differently.
Thanks for your answer.
I am currently on a 40hrs a week but I understand it won’t get me far in the future. My biggest issue is that things are looking grim for IBs in general so if I do move it’s better to be involved in actual deals there . In your experience, what’s the performance of MM banks at times like this?
nw
I would consider this a good the time to move tbh - there are firms that are hiring, and they are mostly MM teams - if they are hiring then clearly it means they are doing well / looking to replace headcount. The larger banks have already made their cuts
In terms of deals and performance, depends on the sector you join eg if you want to join tech, MM Tech and BB Tech will be in the same position if the market is bad - it becomes an issue for the seniors to worry about ie can they originate deals in a tough market. There was a team in a reputable MM that i know of in London that billed £0 over the past 1.5 years when comparative teams in MM and BB did decent deals. So you would need to be selective in the teams and firms you apply to. My team is currently on track to meet fee targets whilst other teams in the boutique I am at are doing alright (closed a few deals recently across sectors with some top tier MM funds) and these other teams are pretty shit when compared to their competitors. In the MM things are a lot more fluid than BB who rely heavily on big client accounts.
You would only need to do 1-1.5 years before getting looks from the buyside (LMM funds etc) anyway - assuming that would be your plan if hours are an issue for you - and in that time, i would hope you would be able to do at least 1-2 deals as i hope market conditions improve lol
Slightly unrelated, but as someone who is more interested in FP&A in London, can I ask what your current salary is and if you know how this is usually expected to increase over the years?
Sure. Signed for £38,500 last year, no bonuses. I got a raise to £42k now. Yes, it’s expected to ramp up quite a lot in the coming years. I know a guy with about 11 years tenure who easily makes +£300k. Best thing about this role imho is the internal mobility. You can do modelling or internal audit or corp development if you want (guaranteed, you’re good + have done some work already) and then switch back. Plus the MBA sponsorship now.
Yes, it’s almost nothing compared to banking. But again, I’m on a 40 hours schedule, sometimes even less.
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