UBS for Career Bankers?

I know UBS gets a lot of slack on this forum for having little dealflow and poor exits, but what if you want to be a career banker? If everyone’s existing, could a dedicated analyst rise through the ranks with less competition than at a top/lower BB?

9 Comments
 

They are planning to outsource a lot more of their team and you probably will be eliminated.

 

JPM said the same thing, this job isn't going anywhere in the short-term. Too inefficient and industry is very slow to change.

 

Sure, I suppose this is possible and in fact seems appealing to coast through and get promoted all the way up, until you realize that a declining bank = higher chance of layoffs and harder to win business as a senior. UBS seems like a decent spot to be an ED trying to get an MD promotion as you probably need relatively fewer wins to get promoted. Same for VP looking to coast/chill and ride the years out. Not as good for juniors who don't have other names on the resume for making the next move like a VP or ED lateral would. With all this being said, top bucket juniors and mid-levels at UBS have not been laid off, all layoffs have been to bottom and very few middle-bucket people; just like at every other firm, if you are a top bucket rockstar you will be fine.

 

So i just gotta be the UBS goat? But I suppose it's true the bank would probably rather bring in a VP/ED from a top BB than promote a mid Assc/VP up. But what if I was mid at UBS and then became a VP/ED at tier 2 bank like santander or something?

 

Yes you can and will continue getting promoted as the year's go on if you're a rockstar even at declining firms as there's always spots for people a firm thinks is strong/will in the future bring in fees. The other big thing is that given how nepotistic UBS is, the rockstar 1/2 analysts in each group do get deal experience, it's just that everyone else gets none. To your second question; that's what happens to people who do not get promoted or get laid off across the street whereas they leave to go to a lower-tier reputation/prestige bank (i.e. going from JPM to UBS or UBS to RBC, etc.)

 

Enim voluptatem autem consequatur enim accusamus veniam voluptatem. Nam fugiat ut sed maxime. Incidunt nemo voluptatibus omnis sunt.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $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
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
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...”