What is the general consensus on Corporate Banking
Couldn’t find a recent thread on this as the search feature is dogshit. Just curious what everyone here thought of it and its place within higher finance. Does not have its own sub but very closely related to IB especially in pay and in a lot of ways is more “recession proof” than IB
I don't think that corporate banking can reasonably be called high finance in any shape or form
bruh what
You might want to look up the definition of high finance immediately
Alright just did, still isn't high finance
Agreed.
Historically Investment Banking and Commercial banks were separated.
I’d consider all investment banking high finance
And commercial banking activities as just finance
Disclaimer: despite doing my IB stint and ending up in PE like every other monkey on here, I am by no means the typical WSO prestige whore who measures my success in life by job title. Hell I’m probably quitting soon.
All that said, I never viewed corporate banking to be worth it. A lot of really boring work from my view getting shit through committees, pretty comparably bad hours anytime I was working with them (nights / weekends), and to my knowledge base salary was in line but bonuses significantly lagged IB.
I’m not knowledgeable enough to speak on any recession resilience but tbh the teams I worked with were always in flux at both senior and junior levels. Not sure it’s necessary the seat for stability either if that’s your main draw.
were you at Citi/JPM/Bofa/Wells ?
None of those, but tbh I’d say it’s a decent comp for the one on that list that’s “not quite like the others.” We did a lot of lending and right side LBO financings, which is where a lot of those committee and risk approvals came into play.
It really depends on the bank and what vertical you cover. If it's CIB at a bank/team with heavy IB fee revenue it blows. You end up working IB hours without an IB bonus. If it's a bank and team where you're working 40-60 hours at 100k base and 20-40% bonus at AN1 with weekends free it's a gem. Work is very boring and repetitive but it's easy money and lets you have a life.
Totally agree. If you are pinned on the weekends you might as well go over to DCM.
Can confirm An1 comp $100 pre-bonus. Bonus will likely be lower given market conditions across the board with banks. Im guessing like 10-30%, not terrible for 40-55hrs a week with sporadic 60-70hr stretches.
I'm at Wells and this comment is spot on. However I find the work extremely boring and am leaving once the bonus hits my account
What was your bonus if you don't mind me asking? I saw all of the Wells An1's listed $10k on the comp thread a while back, wondering if that's still the case.
Planning on staying in CB?
I was in Corporate Banking at a Citi/JPM/Bofa/Wells before switching to CRE. I enjoyed my brief time there (about two years). The hours were about 55-60, sometimes more. No weekend work. Pay I thought was solid for the gig, but as others mentioned the bonus was light compared to IB. I did find the work repetitive and not important at the analyst level (like most jobs are). However, in the correct group I think it can be a hidden gem of a career.
Mind if I ask where you’re at now?
Went to a Eastdil/CBRE like shop.
What were your bonus numbers like?
What would u say are the better/ less boring groups?
Anyone know about SMBC's Corporate Banking team? Culture, WLB, Best Groups etc.
Vertical dependent for sure. In general, the bank does lots of lending, and some groups are considerably busier than others (I’d say average about 60 hours). Comp is fairly in line with street. As a former banker there I can tell you internal processes were a considerably drag on the business and junior talent.
Humor
The Japanese corporate banks are known to not pay well and have an extremely bureaucratic culture, that requires a lot of facetime.
I'd stay away from SMBC and peers if you can.
A friend's brother worked at that bank. When he first started a few years ago, Japanese culture was so ingrained they had to bow to the Japanese seniors who were visiting (this was in LONDON)
I know folks in corporate banking that are being paid $300K+ at VP level without working more than 50 hours a week. Not bad
Before my current role I was a mid-level credit analyst in corporate banking lending mostly to project/structured finance SPVs. I really liked the role - pay was good, hours were fantastic (not rare to have a 40 hour week), deals were interesting because of their complexity, and culture was very good too. Not as glamorous as investment banking but what does that even really mean? I enjoyed getting knee deep into PF models with thousands of line, Monte Carlo simulations, etc. So that kind of role, which I recognize is not necessarily the standard corporate banking experience, I can recommend. (Disclaimer: this was in Scandinavia at the largest domestic bank in my country)
It's extremely boring work. The deals are all the same. I thought it was dull environment
BBs pay CB VPs $350-400k+ for 50-60 hours max of work.
It's such an underrated high finance gig for making extremely good money without sacrificing lifestyle. You also have extremely solid job security compared to IB.
Source: Current VP at investment bank
Great insight, appreciate it. I’m an incoming CB analyst at a BB, is that 350-400 with bonus or without? How do bonuses at that level vary from IB?
That's with bonus. VP base is like $275k at most banks. The rule of thumb I was told for CB bonuses is to think of it in terms of a lower end bonus from the title below. So for a CB VP, think a lower end IB associate bonus. Which checks out with the $350-$400 all-in figure referenced.
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