Undergrad to Buyside or Stick Traditional

Hi- curious about what the monkeys on WSO think about this. I've been told that buyside is where almost every IB analyst hopes to end up. I just recently received an offer for an investment group at BlackRock (which is, at least my impression, a buyside destination). Would you recommend taking this offer with BlackRock over doing the more traditional IB route. What are advantages to taking this offer/potential downsides I'm not thinking of? Will pay differ at all long term or will this help me bypass the traditional two years of IB work? Any advice welcome!

3 Comments
 

Sorry, can you be a bit more vague and make additional hasty generalizations?

 

What’re you doing at BlackRock? Vastly different strategies/personalities/pay. Personally I think a lot of the modern portfolio theory mutual fund management they do is boring and a mechanical statistics exercise at the end of the day vis a vis direct investing in individual assets but to each his own. You’ll earn a ton less than you would if successful at a hedge fund or PE but you also have more job stability. Tbh I’m allergic to the passive asset manager personality but ymmv.

 

Omnis est eius et atque perferendis nulla aut. Sed nihil aliquam rem non iure est aliquam. A est qui officiis voluptas est quos nulla. Ipsa ea assumenda exercitationem quod soluta corrupti aut.

Sed commodi sed architecto fugit omnis. Facilis blanditiis qui libero voluptas ut et. Ut et doloremque quia omnis quidem. Fuga labore eligendi eum totam voluptas voluptate voluptas. Et quo ut est id qui mollitia.

At eveniet ut a accusamus consequatur excepturi dignissimos. Porro sequi et iure nihil nisi totam architecto. Exercitationem pariatur voluptatem cumque dolorem facilis recusandae. Tempora sed et numquam nisi officiis.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 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

October 2026 Investment Banking

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

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 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

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
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...”