Best banks to work in Corporate Banking?

I'm really looking to get into Corporate Banking, but there's not a lot of information out there compared to IB. I know some banks put corp. under the Commercial Umbrella while others put corp. under the IB umbrella, which that is more what I'm interested in. 

I've seen a lot of people saying conflicting things about the hours worked, some say 45-50 others say 70, obviously it depends on where you work. 

What are the best places to work in Corporate Banking in terms of the ratio of pay to work life balance? 

20 Comments
 

JPM CCBSI is one of the highest on the street. Most of the time you'll be expecting 60-70 hour work weeks but can go up to 90-100 on some deals. + The training is located in NYC and mixed in with the IB analyst class (New analysts in CCBSI & IB are required to complete Series 79 and Series 63).

 
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WF, JPM, BoA, or Citi will be Admin agent on just about every deal. If they aren't Admin, they almost certainly will be JLA/JBR. PNC is really strong in the area, don't see them on every deal, but the deals they are on they will usually be Admin/JLA. These banks work the most hours because of this.  These banks pay the standard 85K as analyst with the standard pay bumps each year. 

GS/MS/CS are usually on the hairier deals given the higher internal hurdles I imagine they have and the lesser balance sheets. Usually when these banks are on deals they will receive above Documentation Agent, but I honestly don't see them as Admin/JLA/JBR on too many deals. I'm not sure about hours or pay.

The Canadian 5 do pretty well in the space. Bang for your buck, I think this is the sweet spot. They all pay 90K base for an analyst (no bumps between analyst years) and on some of the weaker teams I've heard it's common to work 40-50 hours/week (up to 65 during deals). Probably the easiest 6-figures at 22 you can find.

Regional banks are strong in the space too. I see a lot of Regions, U.S Bank, Truist. U.S Bank is surprisingly strong. Can't speak to hours or pay, but hours should be pretty easy. Think 50 or so average.

Other foreign banks (Credit Agricole, MUFG, SocGen, Mizuho), are on some deals, but I've never seen them as Admin or JLA. I've heard some rumors that the credit analysis and due diligence done at these banks are nonsense. Can't confirm from a primary source, but I wouldn't expect Analysts here to work many hours at all. Can't speak to pay.

Keep in mind that most of this info is based on the syndication tables I look at and some from speaking to other Analysts. Banks structure their CB groups very differently and its important to do you due diligence on the group before accepting an offer. This is just a rough outline that should give you an idea of who plays in the space and what to expect from hours and pay.

Overall:

Experience - JPM, WF, BoA...Citi...PNC...GS, MS, CS...U.S Bank, Regions, C5...Other foreign banks.

Pay/Hour - C5...Other foreign banks...JPM, WF, BoA, Citi, PNC...U.S Bank, Regions...GS, MS, CS

Hope that helps. I wrote this pretty fast so let me know if anything contradicts or you want further clarification.

 

If we’re speaking on the more desirable form of true CB, that is bundled under the ‘CIB’ umbrella. You just hyped up PNC and US Bank because they have big balance sheets, sure, but their lack of IB divisions defeat the purpose or what makes CB cool - that is to use the balance sheet to optimize client relationships / maximize cap mkts and advisory fees for the bank. It’s nice to have balance sheet and a lot of them do, but bank credit isn’t where the investment banks make their money. So, without a strong IB or S&T franchise to push, it’s not optimal at all…

 

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