For those that went from IB to AM, why did you do it?
Not talkng about a fancy HF here. A lot of AM firms don't pay nearly the same as banks, although you do get that WLB.
Don't you hate making less than IB though? Sweet cash.
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For many, the increase in WLB and more interesting work outweighs the marginal decrease in pay. Roles are also much harder to find coming from IB to LO AM than the other way around, so you could always switch back if you wanted.
I believe the decrease is substantial no? Also, would it be easy to switch back? I'm not sure about this,
I think it depends on what you'd consider substantial and at what stage you switch. IB out of college is 150-200, LO AM is around 100-125. 25-75K is def a big jump, but you are still making enough to live comfortably in my opinion for someone coming out of school. 3-5 years out of school LO AM is up to 200K. But on the other end of the spectrum, PM's make a shit ton of money depending on fund size, many clearing 7 digits. I am not sure how easy it is to be honest, but I do know it is much easier then the other way around. LO AM openings are very rare, where IB openings are much less rare due to constant turnover at the junior levels.
I spent a fair amount of time debating between IB and LO AM for SA roles, and my mentors laid it out for me pretty well. You take a pay cut in AM, particularly at the entry level (comp is around 110-120k) in exchange for interesting work and much more reasonable hours. Pay scales up well with experience, and if you get the chance to be an analyst, you're clearing at least 300k starting out. Obviously then there's the path to PM
I simply decided there was more to life in my early 20s than moving logos and debugging excel models. I made an emotionally driven decision that 50-75K was worth having 30-50 extra hours in a week.
Currently in IB, and very much considering making the jump, but the pay diff is the biggest thing holding me back for now.
How big is the difference on average between BB IB and BB AM first year analyst?
Be careful with BB AM - lots of these roles are i) product or ii) sales. Neither of which are relevant for what we're discussing above. Also - the added risk you get placed here even if you want to be targeting real AM.
What's wrong with product or sales? Both roles have fairly good long term comp upswing and wlb. They aren't as high as PM or research but they are also not as stressful.
Can you expand on what you mean by products or sales?
From around 5+ years after college LO AM at a big, good firm can pay substantially more than IB if you are good, and is a hugely better job in terms of WLB and how interesting/ enjoyable it is.
Can you offer any color on what pay ranges are for 5-10 year LO analysts?
There are huge variations between and within firms but can be $500k-$1m and more total comp
Work in IB for one week and AM for one week and you’ll quickly realize that this question isn’t even worth asking. Moving from IB to LO AM is pretty difficult also. Far easier to get a seat in PE or HF.
Still can’t believe I ever worked (and at want point aspired to work) in invest banking and how awful of a job and industry it was. IB could pay 2x-3x more (which it doesn’t) and there still would be zero chance I would go back.
The work in AM is incredibly interesting. Research oriented role with significant autonomy. You spend your day reading, debating, thinking, meeting with management teams, going to visit companies, attending conferences, etc. You also meet with c-suite executives far more often than you do in banking and you’re part of the conversation. There is almost zero busy work or ridiculous manufactured deadlines.
The people are great. Might be firm dependent, but people are passionate about the work and genuinely want to show up everyday. Pretty tight knit and people look out for each other.
The WLB is incredible. Not a 40 hour a week job, but nothing like banking. Probably in the 50-60 hours a week range and no weekend work. I can commit to plans on a weekday evening that’s a month away and know with near certainty I can attend. No one is breathing down your back so you have the flexibility to allocate your time as you see most efficient.
The pay. At the junior level, the pay is only a slight discount to banking. The pay ramps pretty quickly though and has a higher ceiling than banking. Pretty feasible to make more than you would be in banking after 3 to 5 years. Would say that most tenured professionals in AM make more than their counterparts in IB.
Shit didn’t know that. For IB 1st years now you can make like 170K all in given the pay bump ? I know nothing about LO AM, isn’t the salary for a 1st year like 70-80K plus 10-20K bonus? Might be a dumb question.
Where does your 70-80k band with 10-20k bonus come from?
100-130 all in with outliers on either side. Would say skews right. More than enough 1st year out of school to actually live your 20's.
Higher but depends where you are. Top AM will probably be $130K-$150K
Shit that much? Okay...why am I in banking ?
Is IB to AM a logical step-wise move? It sounds difficult to do and much less trodden than PE/HF. Is this because IB skills are less complementary for LO or because they typically hire at the analyst level / other places than IB?
I assume if the move is so hard that it’s mostly network driven with little HH recruiting?
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