BB sales or HF analyst?

Hey Monkeys,

I'm trying to choose a career path, I have opportunities in credit sales at a BB in NYC and an analyst role at a $2B AUM macro fund in a smaller east coast city. Not quite sure exactly if I'll be doing more research or trading at the fund, but it's been getting stellar returns for the past 5 years. On the other hand, I love NYC and wouldn't mind being in sales. Which offers bigger upside, lifestyle advantages, and career advancement opportunities?

Thanks in advance.

5 Comments
 
Best Response

Upside advantage clearly goes with the Macro HF (assuming you would be working directly for a PM, learning how to manage risk, come up with trade ideas etc). Lifestyle advantages are probably with the credit sales guys; you don't own a P&L and won't wake up in the middle of the night to check your bloomberg. You will take clients out to dinner and sporting events. Career advancement depends on performance once you are in the job, so that is not really something someone could tell you. IMO this comes down to personality fit. Do you like building and managing relationships? Do you like telling and selling very micro stories about specific credits? Then take the sales job. If you want to know how interest rates, currencies, and commodities all are interconnected worldwide and want to learn how to profit from that, then go for the macro fund.

 

Macro fund.

[quote]The HBS guys have MAD SWAGGER. They frequently wear their class jackets to boston bars, strutting and acting like they own the joint. They just ooze success, confidence, swagger, basically attributes of alpha males.[/quote]
 

Props on the two offers OP. I'd say the decision pretty much lies with what kind of skills you want to learn and where you'll think you will be more comfortable. If you're more interested in understanding the markets and developing trading strategies, definitely go with the macro fund - it depends on the fund, but most likely you'll learn a lot fast. If you take the credit sales job, you'll learn one of the most invaluable skills on the planet - how to schmooze people and persuade them into buying things. And that isn't too shabby either.

 

Expedita voluptatem et voluptas optio assumenda voluptatem unde ratione. Sint recusandae rerum ut quisquam quia distinctio. Laboriosam id quod at vero accusamus.

Iste sed sit temporibus ullam at soluta tenetur quia. Aut esse est enim rerum. Iste aliquid in molestias consequuntur. Doloremque qui quam iste neque animi nihil cupiditate.

Magni aliquid voluptatem soluta blanditiis magni quis rerum. Est eos nihil aliquid aspernatur dolorum amet. Laborum blanditiis vero reiciendis placeat neque. Dignissimos deleniti molestiae magni quia voluptatem est. Ad impedit ab voluptatem occaecati.

Quo placeat eius quam a et. Omnis dolores et et eaque. Accusamus qui incidunt distinctio veniam voluptatem dolore repellendus commodi.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (53) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (27) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”