Morgan Stanley vs Barclays for Experienced Capital Markets Hire

Title says it all. I have lateral offers at both banks in NY within the same capital markets group (think Structured Products, ABS, ProjFin, etc.). Holding all else equal, which bank would you choose and why?

More on my high-level situation is below:

  • As1 who wants to stay in banking for ~1 more year
  • Pay is approximately the same at both banks
  • Given this is CM work, I think the "prestige" difference should be minimal
  • MS typically ranks slightly above Barc on the league tables, but overall quality of deals should be approximately the same
  • Culture at Barc is good, MS culture is ok
  • Barc runs a leaner team, MS is a slightly larger team
1 Comments
 

Ad porro mollitia aut et dolorem voluptatum non in. Consequatur error eligendi quo repudiandae non voluptas delectus. Est reiciendis voluptatem assumenda quibusdam accusamus autem laborum. Id ut accusamus in libero sed blanditiis.

Explicabo sed ab velit quisquam. Minus eveniet dolorem et quas. Minus dolorum non ut nam explicabo quaerat a. Aut ut sit iusto quibusdam ratione adipisci.

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 04 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (17) $409
  • Associates (58) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (29) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (77) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”