How's the IB lateral market? Need some advice
Hey everyone. I'm in need for some advice...
Background: I graduated from a state school (top 50) with business degree, but still considered non-target here. End of senior year, I found out about banking and put my full effort into recruiting. Early spring into late summer I reached out to 1000+ bankers/valuation people and was able to connect on phone with around 200+ of them ranging from group heads to analysts. The calls lead to a few super days/interviews, but was unable to land a FT offer. I know my material and the industry cold, but with no prior IB internships it was the hard to break in. I ended up taking a data analytics job at a financial services F250 company. The job is great, but I want a career in banking etc.
Last few months I've seen that teams are short staffed and lateral market is hot. Here's where I need some advice/direction. With my background and current job, is it possible to land into IB as a lateral given the market and what would be the best route?
If not, is there any other area's of IB to target or Valuation etc that I could lateral into? My current plan is to stay at my job for the next 2-3 years and hopefully get into a T25 MBA program then come in as an MBA associate, hopefully. However, I'm unsure if a career in data analytics is enough for a top MBA program. I know there's way more that goes into MBA application process than just your job, but I'm stressing on the job part. I feel like I only have a short window to get into banking with either landing a lateral position or MBA route.
I highly appreciate any guidance, everyone here has always been helpful.
Thanks!
Despite the general consensus, the lateral market is still very hot from my experiences. Have friends who are picking up interviews left and right in different locations. PM me for more info
Can confirm
If your role was transaction focused like Big 4 transaction advisory, corporate development, valuation advisory, etc. then I would say yes - our MM HC NY group takes 2-3 PwC TAS analysts each year. I don't think data analytics falls under the umbrella of "transaction focused" roles, but hey you could frame your experiences in a way that show off your technical skills (i.e excel, SQL, VBA, etc.). I would recommend you focus your recruiting efforts on MM and boutique banks. Some "friendly" lateral banks that I've seen take non-IB laterals: Piper Sandler, Jefferies, BMO, RBC and Stifel.
Exactly this, OP. Suggest you change to a TAS, LMM shop but major banks will not consider your profile unless you do a MFin or something
Echoing what the above posters said. My analyst class had two analysts that joined FT - one had 1 year of corp. dev experience at a F10 and the other spent a year in fixed income at a major insurer. I would recommend you do TAS / Valuation Advisory and then either lateral or join a FT analyst program. The latter would give you a buffer as you will have 5-7 weeks of training.
The lateral has been hot especially for associates since mid 2021. Analyst market was decent but has slowed down in the past few months, but expect it to pick back up in the July - August timeline as bonus season for analyst hits. Nevertheless, I think the analyst lateral market will not be as hot as the last 24 months as banks may be weighing on the market uncertainty in the near term.
How do you know? Have you gotten an offer?
Investment banking is the division of a bank or financial institution. Investment bankers need a strong quantitative acumen and a keen understanding of, and love for, the markets. Asset managers are tasked less often with selling.
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