Would comitting to ATL İB be stupid? Please give feedback.
Context: Poor rural Georgia Kid who dreamed of going to Emory then living in one of those manors in Tuxedo Park ATL.
Result: Got into Emory ed1 with free housing and tuition due to hella aid.
Question: I really don't give a fuck about NYC, if anything İ want to stay away from it(lunny toon liberals, taxes, COL, love Georgia to death). Would going for ATL and coming out of Emory be dumb? Would İ make less money in the long term(most important question)? And finally would making ATL İB coming out of Emory be easy(I've heard so)?
Edit: Decision: Going solely for NYC BB/EB and then going to ATL for PE.
If you can get into an EB or BB I would go to NY. If you are looking at MM than ATL works. If anything you could always do your analyst stint in NY and move to ATL for something buy side there after.
Yeah this makes more sense. But how feasible is making eb/bb NYC out of Emory(diversity btw).
Very feasible if you put in effort, especially with diversity. I would obviously recruit for both NYC and ATL and make the decision if you come to it
It's mostly very small boutique firms or regional firms, same with PE (mostly LMM), so yes in the long term you'd of course make less than someone who goes NY BB/EB IB -> MM+ PE.
But if you are not interested in NY and want to stay in Georgia forever, this seems like a no-brainer.
You're right. About Georgia tho, some say there are so few seats in ATL ib that it's more difficult to get spots like GS or GUGG in ATL have barely any analysts(if any). Would İ easily walk into an ATL ib job out of Emory compared to NYC?
GS has basically shuttered their ATL IB presence. Think it's maybe a few pub fin bankers.
But yeah, your options will mostly be at smaller MM firms or regional boutiques - Citizens, Regions etc. If you want to stay in the South, could also target Charlotte (Wells, Truist have large classes) or Jacksonville (RayJ). Also seen some Emory folks land in Houston, but that's a different ball game (oil and gas).
Being from Georgia will help. The smaller banks (especially in the south) are less concerned with diversity so I don't think that be as much help as it would for NYC. As long as you are not set on BB/EB, and position yourself well (grades, networking, internships) you should definitely be able to land something
Stay in GA. Your snowflake ass wouldn’t last 2 seconds in NYC
NYC voted for AOC to rep them - 'nuff said
Make sure to have a big smile while presenting those homes.
Depends on your ultimate goal.
If your goal is to make a strong run in IB (20+ years or something) and strive to be a group head or something like that, then yeah NYC is your better option and would increase optionality.
If you’re more so doing IB to build wealth than ATL is your better option. Sure, you will make more in NYC but the COL is astronomically higher. Not just as an analyst but it gets even worse as you climb the ladder. The lifestyle of a NYC based MD is laughably expensive. Mortgage, taxes, private school tuition, luxurious lifestyle, etc. I bet most NYC MDs are lucky to save $200k/ year.
I personally grew up middle class in upstate New York and started investing when I was a teenager. I saw IB as a reasonable path for me to maximize the earnings for the skill set I had. I wanted to invest as much as humanly possible as soon as humanly possible so that I could build wealth.
Due to this I decided to pursue banking outside of NYC and landed in the southeast as well. Im a 3rd year associate who will be up for VP promote this year. Also spent a few years doing other things in banking prior to getting into IB.
My financial position is most likely better off than most newly minted MDs in NYC. I like my job and the path that I am on, but i am in a position where if I never wanted to work again, I wouldn’t have to.
I say all this to help you figure out why you want to do IB. If you’re truly interested in “high finance” sure NYC is better. If you’re trying to build wealth than other alternatives are likely better.
Lmao buddy I’m glad you’re happy with your life but I promise you an associate doing banking in the SE is not doing better than a new MD in NYC
Define “doing better”
Of course they make more
But how much can they save? What do you think they are worth? Say a 34 or 35 year old who just made MD.
I’ve been able to build a net worth of $1.6mm by age 30. Got my first job at age 14 and have earned a check in some way shape or form every single week since then. Have been investing as much as humanly possible since I’ve been 16 or so. Worked a full time job the entire way through college. Paid for college in cash by myself. No assistance from parents other than living at home while o commutes to college.
Now at senior associate level am
able to sock away ~$250k/year. This includes wife’s savings as well, but her income is negligible.
Sure, my situation is a bit exacerbated considering I “started” the wealth building process very early, but entirely reasonable for someone who pursues banking outside of NYC to become a millionaire by 30 and also own real estate.
Beyond that, also considerably more relaxed lifestyle.
Not saying that NYC is terrible, saying that people should figure what their goals are before they pursue their career.
Heard gugg atl pulls from same pool as peag NY/CHI
Saw this on a different thread, have no idea what it means tho.
Understandable if you don't want to do NYC. There are other options though like Houston, Charlotte, and to a lesser degree Miami and Dallas. Would any of those be an option?
And just to be devils advocate, I fully agree NYC hasn't been going in the right direction but as far as some of our cities go, it's in light years better shape than SF or Chicago. There is no amount of money you could pay me to go to SF. NY? Eh, I know what I'm getting into and I can make it work.
Honestly Atl,Houston and Miami would all be great. Charlotte's barely a city and why go to Dallas when Houston's a much bigger scene. The reason İ specifically stated ATL is proximity. İ highly doubt any school is preffered nearly as much as Emory in Atl. But tbh South+Low COL and taxes is what im going for. İ'm not sure how feasible Houston and Miami is tho. What would you do?
What I would do? Given the uncertainty in the economy, you need an IB job period. From that, do your time for a few years, and as you get more experience and as the economy stabilizes, you can move where you want, both in terms of geography and company. If ATL is your main target then go for it but you might as well shotgun blast resumes across the US South if you're open to options and then see where you land.
ATL has many great spots like GUGG peag, WF, William Blair tech, RJ, and Regions. Of course Truist Securities is headquartered in ATL as well. I'm from the southeast and committed to ATL as well. Love the southeast for the exact reasons you mentioned.
I tossed around a few apps for positions in NYC, but I mainly focused on regional offices with a focus on ATL. My personal opinion is that I don't know where I want to be 10 years from now, but I do know that I want to build a career in one place. As of now, I don't really want to uproot my life 2-3 years after starting FT, so I decided to think long term about where I want to end up geographically and try for those places. Of course, NYC might open more doors if you are shooting for exit opps as your main reason for working in IB, but I think it really all depends on where you want to end up.
Barclays also has an office in Atlanta
OP, I like your style lmao (saw your post roasting the RE guy before it got deleted). In all honesty, I think you’d set yourself up for success the most by gunning for the best banking seat you can get in NY and then go home to ATL after your analyst stint. You’ll get excellent experience and have a compelling story to get a seat (from GA, went to Emory, and diversity just adds icing to the cake).
For perspective, I did banking in a non-NY city and do think it hindered me quite a bit, but I do work there currently. I live outside the city though because I’m not raising my family around weirdo leftist nutjobs, and FUCK paying $60k/yr for kindergarten lol.
Lmao, he's my buddy tho. We're meeting up today(the fam needs a new home now that I'm gone). But yeah, this is what I'm gonna do. Heard diversity+Emory while doing the right things(gpa, network, clubs, internships(already got 1 boutique ib one this summer before college) would give me a really good shot at a NYC BB/EB. It makes more sense and it would be like İ'm better then everyone else in the ATL offices because İ come from NYC EB/BB so İ think that would definetly help with money/roles. So yeah, you're right. Thank you and 60 grand is fucking crazy, İ havent seen that typa money yet, couldnt imagine giving it to pre-school. Shit, give me 60 grand, İ'll teach your son all the number and letters there is. That boy gone be naming the shapes like its nothing.
I would give my left kidney to do IB anywhere outside NYC. It's a communist hellscape and you've saved yourself a lot of misery.
Calm down my guy
I did 2 years of IB in ATL and loved it. Such a great city. The circles run very tight so once you are in its great. I would definitely recommend it if trying to stay in the southeast! Happy to answer any additional questions.
There are good country clubs. The city has every sport and event you can imagine. Its in the south which is a plus. Buckhead is awesome to live in. The banks pay decent and generally have better work life balance. Unless you REALLY want to go hardcore NYC banking route, I honestly think ATL and Charlotte are the best cities in the southeast for banking. Start building relationships now and you will still get paid really well.
Atlanta also has some decent buyside opportunities as well. Ares has a large alternative credit presence, GS private credit has some heavy hitters, and Roark is based there as well and if I recall correctly takes analysts. Diversity / Emory / ties to Georgia are all big pluses for seats if you execute well.
Each his own. I've lived in the South for my MBA and originally from the Northeast. Wasn't a fit for me but I could see how people can fall in love with its charm.
Beauty of living / working in Atlanta IMO is you will have less competition for the buyside roles there. I love the NYC area and ideally work in Manhattan's vicinity but would never want to live in the heart of it.
I’m a Southern Boy and I had to make the same decision. Stay in ATL - better WLB, LCOL, Southern culture, and College Football. Ended up doing IB in NYC, and despise the culture. Would’ve been much happier if I stayed in the South, and makes no difference in my career because I’ll be doing my Aso years down there anyways.
Yeah, either way I'll end up in ATL for pe and NYC ib isnt really gonna help with that.
There is a special barber you must go see in the Atlanta area. He is called the nude barber
yo yo yo it's hump day!
Buddy's raised in Georgia but uses a Turkish keyboard? Which Georgia are we talking about here?
lmao, friend put me on and ive kept it since. Good notice tho.
Couldn't care less about your choice of politics, but if you are concerned about being in a left leaning area, Atlanta isn't really that great of an option. Left leaning individuals that live in Georgia almost exclusively live in the city.
i love you man.
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