OFFER HELP
got no return from my IB SA this summer and am lucky enough to have following offers either in-hand or expected for FT 2023. all somewhat niche so trying to get a gauge on which one will position me best for a BB/EB IB lateral down the line. Really torn rn, anything helps.
Offer 1: LevFin at a commercial bank. The firm is known primarily as a retail/commercial lender (Think M&T, Ally, Capital One, CIT) but has a small capital markets team that plays primarily in the LMM space (anywhere from 20-150MM deal sizes). The role is legit sell-side levfin with exposure to structuring, origination, and modeling (primarily loans not HY bonds). on paper seems like the closest thing to traditional IB here but worried about getting bucketed as a "commercial banker" when it comes to getting lateral looks. Pay is street for IBD.
Offer 2: Corporate Banking within "CIB" at a TD/BMO/CIBC. Important to note that this is not within origination but in one of the CB product teams mostly doing credit analysis and credit memos both for corporate debt deals and IB deals alongside coverage/m&a teams. Main benefit is that I'd be working on larger IB deals even if not necessarily doing "IB work". Internal mobility also seems pretty good so may be able to move to a more traditional IB group within the firm.
Offer 3: Valuations at a reputable MMIB like Lincoln/Houlihan Lokey. Mostly portfolio valuations, clients include MF/UMM PE firms and credit funds. Probably the best brand name of the three
Really on the fence between these and grateful to have a job but want to keep as many doors open as possible in the future. Anyone who has worked in a role that sounds similar to any of these feel free to chime in about what exit opps looked like for your class. Thanks!
Before I chime in, please share the pay and locations. That will play a role in your decision making for sure.
1 and 2 are in NYC, valuations in Chicago. base comp is street for all, not sure abt bonus but I’m definitely more focused on career prospects/exits since I plan to lateral
I think it's important to also consider comp and location because making a pivot is possible from all of these options.
However, if you want my unadulterated analysis, I'd say go with the Corporate Banking role - less modeling intensive but revenue generating (P&L), then Valuations - more modeling intensive but not revenue generating, and finally the CIT credit/loan only levfin offer - no real branding here (unless they're willing to provide "investment banking" as your title, or $100k+ comp).
Hope this was illuminating. Lmk if you have any follow ups, and if you do, please provide the offer comp as well, lol.
An upvote would be nice as well. ;)
Does the CB group do their own modeling?
Yeah they do their own modeling, albeit mostly credit/cash flow/3 statement models rather than DCF/LBOs which I imagine are handled by coverage or M&A if that helps
3 statement is the real work, layering an LBO on top of that isn't much by comparison.
I'd be evenly torn between 1 and 3 before factoring in location and comp. Both sound like very IB-adjacent work where you can lateral easily in a more favorable market. From there I'd consider, as I said, location and comp as well as how good are the people I'd be working with.
Congrats, you have some good choices.
I’m in a similar boat and recently interviewed at similar places. Would you mind DMing me?
Depends on what you wanna do long term; can speak for Option 1 : Exit opps I’ve seen - Lateral to LevFin at a bigger bank, sometimes move over to Private Debt/Direct Lending in firms like Ares. Haven’t seen any special situations, restructuring exits yet tbh
Bump
I'd go with option 2 - Corp banking.
thanks for the input - any particular reason why? will the brand of being at a well-known (even if not "prestigious") bank give me a significant leg up for lateralling even with no origination work? another concern is licensing - with the levfin offer the firm would sponsor my SIE, 63, and 7 exams whereas the others would not. Does this make a difference at all when it comes to lateral recruiting?
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