Why don't banks promote An1 to Associates?

Cheaper to pay An2 salary vs Aso.

You need two years as IBD Analyst to be experienced enough to be a strong Associate. An IBD Associate that is good runs the model, handles the majority of slide creation, and can execute without being told what to do. An Analyst with one year of FT experience is typically not knowledgable enough to fill that sort of role. 

When you hire a MBA Associate it is typically a longer term investment because it is apparent they intend to stay in IB. They are older and have a better understanding of the role, the expectations, and can compare it to a different FT job (none of which are true for an A1). 

An IBD Analyst is a lower investment from a capital perspective, so if they leave it isnt the end of the world. They can also be relatively easily replaced if you are a strong IB. Sure, the new Analyst will have a ramp up period, may not be as capable, and certainly wont know how your firm does things, but this can all be adjusted over roughly 6 months. 

Lastly, the majority of the top performers are jumping to PE regardless. Offering them a salary and title bump wont keep them in IBD. They are making the long-term play for carry, and the sooner they enter PE, the closer they are to getting carry. The salary and title bump simply will not compete with a good PE opportunity. 

I think the better question is, why does getting an MBA entitle someone to an Aso start? They should start as analysts just like everyone else with 0 starting skills

Your post is so wrong in every sense. Sure, good second years (ie 18+ months in) can act as a de facto associate in a deal, however there are a couple of issues:

- Most analysts are just 21 or 22 year old kids, do you really expect them to lead day to day communication with client ? The advantage an MBA associate has is even if his technical and project management skills are probably a lot shittier than a good 2nd year, he is older and probably more articulated, hence would command a bit more respect unfortunately (independently of their actual performance which I agree is quite subpar at the beginning)

- Do you really think you would stay much more if you got promoted earlier ? If you’re actually a good 2nd year and doing it right you should not be working 100hrs weeks (because you’re more efficient and should have gained enough social capital to push back a bit). Moreover, the advantage of an MBA associate is that he won’t leave in 6 months.

-As a first year its not ideal If your associate is a 2nd year, because even if very good his vision is a bit limited/he may have analyst best practices but these are a bit different than associate best practices. The skillset is a bit different. I would say a 2nd year would bring your hard skills up but be detrimental to your project management skills  

- The job is a bit different, as an associate you have a lot more ownership over the deal. Luckily I’m from a boutique that gives heavy exposure and have had both roles and can tel you it’s different refreshing a CIQ comps backup than having your senior telling you “please go ahead and manage the DD, let me know if any questions”

- All in all, how many deals have you run at the end of your first year ? You simply don’t have enough experience - quite simply, most 1st years have no clue how a process work.  At the end of my 1st year I had work on 5 live deals (which is already probably way above average) and at the end of 2nd year on 11 deals and I can tell you I’m much more qualified managing a process now than after my first year. You also have the advantage of having more templates and reference points in mind.You have another advantage of having your seniors trust you because they’ve been on multiple deals with you vs. as a first year they have no clue about your level of competence (which is probably low despite what you think)

The short answer is that banks already did this. Most people on here are too young to remember that pre financial crisis a plurality of banks had three year analyst programs. In order to incentivize analyst retention, banks started offering analyst to associate promotions after only two years, under the same belief that OP is pushing -- that 3rd year analysts were more immediately ready to contribute as an associate than the new MBA hires they brought in. As a result, over time most banks have transitioned to a two year analyst program + A2A promote. There are still some remaining banks / pe funds that do traditional three year analyst programs. Having already compromised on a full year of the analyst program being chopped off, very few places would consider chopping off another year again. Some places do though -- Crestview for example promotes Analysts to associates after one year.    

Must be tough to know you have to be an analyst for one more year when you know in your heart you are such a rockstar and know way more than any other mba associate on the planet.

Don’t worry man.

Warburg Pincus has their eye on you and will be giving you an offer at any moment!