Industry vs. Product Coverage
Looking at a long term career, which is typically seen as more beneficial in terms of opportunities for growth and compensation in say like focusing on M&A/RX vs TMT/C&R/HC. Same question for investing, do people that focus on a certain sector do better vs those in more product investing (distressed debt, deep value, etc.)
I can only really answer for IB, and I'm really biased because (obviously) I only work in one of those (senior in a sector coverage team).
What I found is that, at the junior level, product teams can be more interesting - you usually will be faced with learning the product inside-out, and get your hands dirty with models, legal documents, and typically see more execution (your team does marketing of course, but is more commonly roped into a situation when there's actually something live going on. It's also potentially easier to differentiate yourself versus your peer set if you're extra hardworking or smart, as your work is more technical and easier to objectively measure (again potentially). My juniors in sector coverage will spend a lot of time making one page or strip profiles, data mining, maintaing comps, and other standard (but both relatively dull whilst important) tasks.
That said, at the senior level, I'm much more in favour of sector coverage. Firstly, and this is a personal view, I think it's much more interesting. You get to learn a lot about a relatively niche area, meet CEOs, go on (hopefully interesting) site tours. Moreover, your pitch is not standard - your job is not to go to a client with specific product and hope that you're the most cost-competitive versus peers, but to go to a client with a genuinely interesting idea conceptually (any bank can show a client a bunch of well-known opportunities in the X sector, but to get hired, you need to be smart and help them think a bit differently). Because of that (again, my insight into life as a senior in a product team is very limited), I think it's easier to differentiate myself in sector than product (I guess that by the time you're MD in product, you know that product insde-out and there is relatively little more to learn or differentiate myself from a competitor). Of course, the very best MDs in product will be able to differentiate.
Differentiation (to answer your question) leads to growth and comp.
I'm sure those in product teams can bring another perspective here!
Can you touch on the transition from product to coverage as a senior banker? Was it challenging to build momentum early on after switching? Did you have pre-existing relationships in the vertical or were you able to leverage relationships via a colleague already on the coverage? Trying to gain a better understanding of the early days of switching and how to navigate potential challenges. Appreciate your insight.
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