Moving from MM Bank in Tier III City to BB in NY/SF

Never thought I wanted to move from tier III city. I enjoy living here, but there are no BB banks that have a presence, and there are limited buy-side opportunities. I am looking to move to a BB in either NY/SF. I just wanted to see if any of you have made a similar kind of move. I realize that I would be starting over as an analyst if I could secure one of these spots, which I am fine with. I'm curious to hear if anyone has made a similar move and if so how difficult it was and would you recommend it looking back. Also, maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself here, and instead should try to move up in the MM space before trying to jump to BB, or even move to a tier II city and go from there. I have little to no insight into how this process works, so please let me know if this kind of thinking is irrational. Thanks

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Intern Analyst-MM

Its a RJ/ Baird/ Hw type in on of these cities. Don’t wanna get to specific though as it’ll give it away

That's what I was looking for. I mean, any of those firms seem to place well into MM PE, particularly in strong groups. Those may not be firms in Tier 1 cities or the size/prestige you are desiring, but it is certainly doable.

Assuming you received good training and some M&A understanding (closed deals a huge bonus), that should help facilitate some looks with proper networking. 2025 is also shaping up to be busy IMO, so I'd expect some hiring to be needed at the analyst level in terms of laterals.

 

just curious - what makes you say that 2025 is shaping up to be busy which will contribute to lateral analyst hiring? is it primarily because of interest rates expected to be cut over the next couple of months? wondering what sector you are in and what seems to be most promising for deal flow.

thank you!

 

Bankers always think “the market is coming back.” It’s important for them to stay optimistic in this way, I suppose. But I heard the same shit going into 2024, coming out of 2022, even earlier in the year M&A was supposed to “be back” 2H24. Just my two cents. Hopium is a real thing in those circles imo.

Bottom line, macro is fucking hard to predict so don’t plan your life according to anyone’s “predictions” about market timing

 

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