from M&A to Sales in Corporate & IB division of a BB??
Pros and cons of moving from a career in M&A to one in Sales in the Corporate & IB Markets division of a BB?
Any feedback regarding Sales life?
First thing to note is that 'sales' is very broad so its hard to compare to M&A with blanket statements. For example hardcore hours are true for M&A no matter what. But sales hours have a lot of variability depending on desk/product.
The main differences to consider will be:
1. Hours: Irrespective of desk, hours will be considerably less than M&A (but ultimately depends on the desk).
2. Comp: Comp will be less across the board. Bonus will be 30-40% of what your M&A bonus will be.
3. Exit opps: Sales exit opps aren't great. You could move to other sales roles, maybe investor relations, but it doesn't get much better than that. You won't be going from sales to PE anytime soon.
4. Future: Future of S&T is gloomy. Nobody knows what will happen, but headcount will keep getting reduced. Some say that salespeople can never be replaced as relationships are what drive the business. But that won't stop banks from consolidating, and reducing headcount across the board. My guess is that salespeople will start covering more clients/products, thus allowing for less headcount. This will mean longer hours as well.
My perspective is mostly equities. But this will happen to FICC as well in due time. Sales within S&T isn't really a career anymore, in my opinion. It is more a thing to do for some years and jump ship. Pay is still decent considering we're all monkeys with nothing more than an UG degree. But who knows what it'll look like in 10-15 years.
My advice would be to gun for desks that are close to IB. Such as Special situations, CLOs structuring, things like that. Illiquid products that require some of the IB skillset due to fundamental analysis/credit structure analysis, etc. These are very general comments but hard to be more specific without details regarding the desk you're gunning for.
only thing I know is that it’s a sales position within the Corporate & IB Markets division of a BB
Also, I think I didn't do a good enough job of highlighting the pros.
The work is arguably more interesting. You're not updating slides all day. You're speaking with clients, and serving as a liaison between the traders and the client. Depending on the desk, you might be tasked with generating ideas. Although the truth is they probably don't give a crap (they have their own ideas) but everyone likes being treated like a VIP, right?
Coming from M&A, you'll love the hours. You'll probably be in by 6:30-7am but out by 6pm. Trust me, it feels good to get out of the bank while there's still daylight (during summer).
Finally, I would say the trading floor is just a whole different monster than an IB floor. A lot more yelling, phone slamming (occasionally), and free food, courtesy of brokers. And forget about weekend work. Unless you're in FX or something like that, nobody bothers you during the weekends.
So, yes, a WIN in terms of lifestyle and overall satisfaction, I would say. Just need to carefully consider comp, future of the industry, and exit opps.
Best of luck!
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