Worth making the jump to IB?

I work in Big 4 in London, mainly in FDD, with some exposure to M&A and light strategy work. Over the next few years, my focus is on learning and developing as much as possible. I’m not interested in PE or VC.

At my firm, there are likely opportunities to work more closely with the strategy team (e.g. CDD) and possibly do a secondment in New York, which I would love to do.

That said, I’ve recently been contacted by recruiters about moving into MM IB (e.g. Raymond James, Lincoln, etc.). A few years ago, IB was my goal, as I saw M&A as the pinnacle of finance.

This is where I’m conflicted. I’m genuinely happy where I am—the culture is strong, we work hard but weekends are rare, and very late nights are uncommon. The people I work with (including partners) are great, and the work is interesting.

My question is: will I regret not trying IB later on? If I eventually leave advisory, I see myself moving into corporate, and ultimately an NED role or the C-suite.

2 Comments
 

Neither RayJ nor Lincoln (??? had to google this one) will give you much M&A experience. Lincoln is an absolute nobody and likely focuses on advisory opinions and valuations not unlike what Big 4 does. RayJ has some niche sectors where they do okay but it’s still a largely a wealth management shop. You are probably not being recruited for IBD at either of these places unless they specifically said otherwise. It’s a pass bro

 

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