MS S&T equities vs. BofA securitized products
Hi, I'm trying to decide between the two 2024 SA offers. I've heard that MS is best in equities, but BofA is also great for securitized products given its retail bank and big balance sheet.
I guess the best way to approach the decision is to figure out what my dream career is and see which opportunity aligns to that more, but truth be told I'm not sure what exactly I want to do in finance.
I'm a pretty quantitative guy, and value my sleep and free time. The MS program would allow me to rotate through both quant and non quant desks, while BofA would rotate through the ABS and RMBS sides. I'm attracted to the clearly defined work hours in S&T, but also concerned if it may be limiting in terms of career opportunities. For BofA, I've heard the role is much more banking-esque so I assume it may give me a more transferrable skill set, but I don't know how bad the hours will be. Also, might be interested in working in Asia much later in my career, so MS might be better in that aspect?
Appreciate all advice, thanks for your help.
Bump same decision to make lol
Can you confirm if the offer you from Morgan Stanley was from their IED division? If so, when was your super day?
I had my super day last Thursday but haven’t heard anything yet
Haven't actually received offer from MS, they said it would take 2 weeks, but I posted since if I did receive it, I wouldn't have much time to weigh my options.
Is it london or ny? Curious as well as I have just accepted an offer for securitized products trading at another BB. I am also a quantitative guy (physics msc). I know the guys come in around 8 in the morning, not sure what time they finish though.
Personally, for someone with a quant background, I think an equity derivatives desk is more interesting than structured finance: juniors on EQD get to code a bit, have to price (and so have to know the models) and overall is a much more quantitative product. It's more niche but who cares: s&t seats are super hard to get and if you get a job you like you can reach 500k/yr comp in 5-8 yrs with quite good hours. And btw there are probably 200 people in total on the street who trade eqd/exotics so, especially coming from MS, you will always have a job if you are good.
The BofA role would be much more banking-esque, my work would include origination, structuring and marketing, so I guess the big question I need to answer is whether I want to trade or bank.
I know a guy doing BofA securitisation, he goes into work at 8/9AM and he goes out around 9PM, he does a full 12/13 hours a day. No work on the weekends.
Very helpful actually thanks! Any pros or cons specifically?
I interned in one of those securitization banking groups. I'm going to get MS for this, but in terms of the actual job, I think it is literally one of the most tedious jobs in SnT. Your client/ the issuer will come to you with the collateral they want, and I think you run the same processes for each of these originations with some tweaks. There's only i think high level analysis of the underlying because there's so many in the securitization and the arranger does not give a shit. Hours can get really bad even without weekend work. But probably longer term in terms of career growth, it is better than many equity trading desks including equity derivatives because it is a larger market with many buyside counterparts.
Can I pm you? Will be on GS/MS/JPM Structured Products Group as an intern next summer.
If you value sleep and free time, equities in general is going to be the better bet. Echoing the above comment, equity derivatives seems like a good fit for you if quantitatively inclined and MS is number 1 in that product
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