Why leave IB for Corp Dev/Strat besides WLB

So I’m currently a 2nd year analyst in IB and I’ve been thinking over my trajectory. I don’t mind banking where the hours are brutal but have a nice group that helps with the environment. I just know I would burn out in PE so I skipped oncycle and now thinking about what my actual exit strategy will be since I certainly wouldn’t want to be in IB long term.

Corp dev/strat is interesting to me if I go to the right place, but the across the board comp cut makes me feel extremely counterproductive where I feel as though I’m starting back a square one with comp/career trajectory. This makes me not want to leave banking since it just feels too much of a negative regression unless I find a hidden gem that’s highly acquisitive and I get to clearly work my way up to a Director/VP position.

Any advice on how to think through this?

3 Comments
 

The big thing is that for people in the mid-levels, this is the only type of role available for exits. The more removed you are from your An 2 years, the fewer the opportunities to go into PE. Thus, when you're looking to leave IB but still want to be in finance, the natural spot is some kind of FP&A role (pays even less but with even better WLB) or corp dev/strategy.

 
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