Do Bankers Entertain Clients?
Working in a Sales/Broker oriented SA position I have seen the fair share of entertaining of clients (games/concerts/dinners)
While it seems like IB analysts are at their desks for the majority of the time, do VP's/Associates "entertain clients" or are most meetings done in the board room in the business conference setting? Are analysts ever brought along to the more social events?
Sure they do. Some banks host events, such as industry conferences, golf outings, etc. It isn't a monthly thing, more like annual, but they invite clients and get a round of golf or dinner in before and after the event.
Also, every now and then I go to lunch with a few bankers that pick up the tab and we chat about life, deals, the market, etc.
If by entertain you mean getting down on our hands and knees and blowing; then yes, we do that everyday.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?
Yes they do. Especially at higher (MD) level, but also at lower levels. As compbanker said, sometimes there are bankers who take me out to lunch/drinks to chat... though they usually try to "randomly" bring up a possible investment target or arrange a meeting with an RE developer looking for capital...
I also remember back when my pops was an exec at a manufacturing company that bankers and other such fee-earners would take the family / my parents out to dinners and the like with some regularity. My dad would regularly go to golf outings and all that and eventually was introduced by a banker friend of ours to both (1) the PE firm that bought into his company and (2) the public company that acquired his company a few years after that
yes, they frequent strip clubs together. this is not fabrication.
and by that i mean MD's. no you dont get to go have fun while an analyst - theres that pitchbook to be done remember? even though theres no chance of landing the mandate....
client entertainment in sales (Originally Posted: 05/25/2008)
Haven't seen any discussion of client entertainment in sales...I've heard everything from just lunches / dinners and hosting various events, to going to strip clubs all the time. Any insight on what it entails?
Yeah I'm interested in finding that out as well.
I have never been to a strip club or heard of anyone on my team taking clients to strip clubs. That's not to say it doesn't happen, but people must be really hush about it and I don't know how they could get the secretary to expense that stuff. The entertainment that usually happens is dinner, drinks, and clubbing.
However our traders get taken to strip clubs with regularity by brokers and talk about it all the time.
Other than the normal dinners/drinks, we have had ski trips, sporting events, wine tastings, and other things like that for clients. But given the conditions right now don't expect to go into sales and be going out 3 times a week. Plus it's not really that fun because you can't actually drink as much as the clients can.
Thanks, it sounds much more low-key and professional than I expected than. I understand it's not that much fun because it is work after all, but it's interesting to hear what it is.
Just to clarify then, the brokers that take out the traders are the ones clearing their trades, if i understant correctly? (ie different from sales)
What product do you trade / sell, if you don't mind?
"Just to clarify then, the brokers that take out the traders are the ones clearing their trades, if i understant correctly? (ie different from sales)"
brokers faciliate trades between dealers.
Sales- Breaking In, also Client Entertainment Ques. (Originally Posted: 05/13/2011)
Hey all. I go to a non-target state school, liberal arts major, econ minor, GPA IB, S&T, and ER, and think that the sales side of S&T would be a good fit for me. I'm particularly interested in the fast paced work environment of sales traders, coupled with the importance of strong communication and the ability to synthesize information in a concise and pointed manner.
My understanding is that my best shot is to cold email and call, starting with my alumni network. What do I do once I exhaust this resource? How do I go about finding names and contact information of sales traders, so I can gather more information about this field and learn how they broke in?
Secondly, what are the ups and downs to entertaining clients? Do most sales guys see this as a drag, or do they find it an enjoyable part of their job?
Thanks guys. All my best
interested too.
Are you looking for an internship or FT?
I graduate May 2011; I would take an internship or a full time position. What are your stats, and what's pushing you toward S&T as opposed to ER, IB, etc?
So you graduate this month? Nice! You planning to do a master degree?
I live in Europe, second year bachelor (out of 3). I've always been leaning more towards IB, but I don't really want to be an excel monkey 12 hours a day doing nothing useful in my opinion.
S&T is more individual work and you get rewarded for what you do, if you sell well you earn, if you don't, well then u don't earn basically. I speak 3 languages which is also useful in S&T. ER I also find interesting, but there's less client interaction.
Why do you think sales would be a good fit for you?
You can look people up through Bloomberg. Also you can use Linkedin, but you may have to pay for an account to browse through people without knowing their name.
I graduate next year. My question (sorry for OT) is: Is it easier to break into Fixed income than equity trading? With fixed income I'm mainly talking about government bonds and similar. I'm kind of interested in macroeconomics so I'm thinking that might be for me. How hard is it to move between the areas? What is pay like?
I use LinkedIn for networking, have added a couple of classmates there already. Thinking one should add as many people as possible before they forget about you. You never know when you might need them.
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