ECM vs. IBD, BB vs. middle market

I have two summer analyst internship offers -- ECM at BAML, and IBD at Nomura. I loved the people at both, and am having a hard time deciding. I've asked a lot of people for their inputs as well and have gotten different answers -- some people say the value of IBD over ECM outweighs (including in terms of exit opps), and others say that as a summer analyst I should prioritize the BAML brand name. I was wondering if anyone here had any thoughts. It would be very much appreciated!

3 Comments
 

I'd agree with those that say to prioritize the BAML brand name. I feel like it will give you the most flexibility in the future. I say this particularly because ECM (imo) isn't far enough removed from IB to warrant dropping down to Nomura; ex: it's more related to IB than PWM.

Either way, congrats on the offers! What a great problem to have haha.

Maximum effort.
 
Best Response

If I'm right in assuming your goal is to eventually do IBD, then you're likely going to have to do full time recruiting (for IBD), or try to lateral down the line. Not clear about each bank and how they do things, but as a sort of general guideline, I'd try to approach it like this:

(1) If you went to BAML, talk to people and see how possible it'd be to internally transfer to IBD for full time

(2) What is going to give you a better shot at landing FT/lateral ibd interviews? Brand v. Experience

(3) How important is it for you personally to get real experience in IBD as opposed to capital markets?

Personally, I think you can't go wrong. From what I've seen with myself and friends, both on your resume will allow you to get BB and EB IBD first rounds during FT recruiting.

 

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