Moving from MS to a worse bank

Hey guys- i’m currently in the M&A group at MS and to be honest i’m kinda burnt out from the hours but love the work.

In general, would moving to a weaker brand name bank like for eg. TD Securities (or in this kind of range of banks) make my hours any better given they will have less live mandates?

What is the attitude at these places, is it to just pitch for anything and everything so hours end up being the same?? (more pitching, less live transactions)

16 Comments
 

I think it’s a bad career move to purposefully try to “lower prestige” think in the long run.

That being said I know some groups at TD are killing it, like there energy/development group or whatever it is.

The biggest thing you could do is change groups. M&A will always be the most grinded and commoditized group on the street. If you go to some coverage groups you could be less sweaty.

 
Most Helpful

It depends on deal flow of the bank. If less reputable is because of deal flow (i.e. likely DB or a Santander etc.) then yes. But it’s entirely group dependent. Dudes at William Blair and Baird doing more hours than 75% of bulge bracket groups.

Group performance is almost directly correlated with your own bonus potential too, so keep that in mind.

 

why is it a bad move to "lower prestige"? Seems like this is an overgeneralization.. 

 

TD has a bad rep for dropping the bar for women dramatically. Groomer MDs paying and promoting them for existing. 

 

Animi veritatis id nobis cupiditate culpa. Et atque maiores ea asperiores aliquam enim.

Sed error et iusto voluptatum officia architecto et exercitationem. Ea eos quod eveniet voluptas. Atque quo inventore eos doloremque et provident quo.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (47) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (74) $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

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
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...”