Going from IB to ECM or DCM? Anyone made this move?
Any of you had unpleasant experience with general IB, and segued to Capital Markets? If so, has this been a positive or negative move for you?
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Have anecdotally seen this happen, and being honest it kind of depends what you want. Are you committed to banking, or do you want to head to the buyside?
If you're committed, then do you like a more markets-oriented environment, or do you like to be more knees-deep in 1-2 M&A deals in a single year (speaking from a junior perspective)? Different people have different preferences, and I would say most of the seniors who have transitioned from one or the other are pretty happy with their choices
Great, thanks, this is what I suspected -- that if you want a more markets-oriented job, where the daily changes of the market actually have an impact on your work, then GCM is more of the way to go. I guess if one wants to explore PE opportunities, then IB is obviously better... but do you think if one makes the decision to change to GCM AFTER their 2 year IB analyst program, this would be too late? (vs. making the decision right out of school?)
Thanks!
Assuming you're in a pure execution role then (b/c in Coverage you would've had some cap markets exposure)
I honestly don't see why after 2 years wouldn't be possible. By then you would've known someone within the bank who would be willing to vouch for you, at for some firms at the end of A2A you get to change teams. Tap your network (or that of those more senior than you)
One thing I would advise though, is that don't make your choice of career on the premise that the grass is greener b/c your current situation is unpalatable. Think about what you really want to do (noting that it could even be outside banking). Talk to people across ECM, IG DCM, HY DCM, SPG, etc. - find out what they do, what they love and hate about their jobs. For all you know, in a hypothetical situation where you do make the jump to DCM, you will miss the more in-depth analysis that an execution role offers and start to dislike merely pricing based on curves.
Sounds like great advice -- gather as much info. as possible... thanks! And I'll take that advice right now, by asking you...
What area of IB are you in? And can you please explain the types of tasks you do, and what you do and don't like about your job? (we can take this to a PM, if you prefer)
Sorry, don't mean to give you more "work," but would appreciate hearing anything you have to say about your job... thanks!
No worries - I can keep it fairly general.
Work in Leveraged DCM - so underwriting of high yield and lev loan instruments. Am on the syndicate side so mainly involves (i) supporting structuring with the origination team, (ii) pricing, (iii) talking to investors, (iv) understanding general market trends (where spreads are, funds inflow / outflow, where pricing of other deals have landed).
What I like (i) many deals (nature of debt), (ii) bit more in-depth vs vanilla DCM, (iii) generalist across industries. Dislike: (i) Exits not as great as say M&A for PE type roles, (ii) When markets go dry, they get really dry. Great team culture though which is a plus
I think others have already provided some solid considerations and answered your question about why one might prefer to go for M&A, Coverage or ECM/DCM. So I will chip in with my personal experience from making the (reverse) switch and some additional points to consider. (Note that I am based in Europe so things might be slightly different from a US perspective).
My background: Started out working in DCM for >2 years across Syndicate, Origination and Liability Management (due to internal reorganisation of team structure). This gave me really good insight into what roles the different teams play in the transactions as well as good exposure to a lot of different industries and companies across the entire credit spectrum, which helped me tremendously in figuring out which areas I am most interested in working further with. For me this turned out to be the more hairy and complex transactions in HY/LM, while I am less excited about IG, FIG or SSA deals.
However, I felt that I did not develop my modelling skills or more in-depth business understanding (think operational models etc.) enough and thus decided to make an internal transfer to our M&A team to ensure that I would pick up these skills before I was too senior to successfully make a switch. 2 years further down the road I am very satisfied with the move and feel that it has definitely strengthened my profile.
When it comes to my next step, I am stil making up my mind, but here are some of the key considerations I have had so far: * Staying for a career in banking. Will I keep finding these roles interesting and satisfying in the long run? Potentially yes for all of them, but it will be very dependent on the niche / product / industry that I cover. Naturally the quality and prestige of the platform is also very important. * Buyside exit opportunities. Do I want to do PE/VC? Then I need to have solid experience, incl. strong modelling skills, from an M&A, Coverage or LevFin team. ECM/DCM will typically not help develop the right skill set for this and it might be difficult breaking in. Timing wise there is also a quite limited window of opportunity to successfully break into PE/VC.
* Alternative buyside exit opportunities (credit). Do I want to work for a credit fund? Potentially yes, but it will be very dependent on the fund type (IG, HY, Direct Lending, Distressed etc.). Slightly more flex on the timing window to make the switch. * Alternative less "hyped" exit opportunities. In case I decide to quit banking at a later stage or if I want better work-life balance. M&A and Coverage will cater more towards a role in Corporate Development/Internal M&A teams, while DCM would be the highway for a role in Treasury.
As also mentioned by others, at the end of the day it really comes down to what you want from your job and your personal preferences in terms of what you are most interested in. It can be really hard to know what you will enjoy before you try it yourself, and there are so many nuances / niches that you can specialise within, which will make a huge difference for your experience within the same division. Your best bet is probably to narrow down the area you are interested in by speaking to as many different people working in the teams that you find interesting.
Hope this helps! Feel free to shoot me a PM, if you have additional questions and are interested in more specific details about my experience.
Wow, just super-helpful, thanks! This is what's so great about WSO -- getting to hear the experiences, persepctives and opinions of people who have experienced what you're curious about. I'm gonna PM you with further questions, thanks!
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