Hours in Canadian IB & Canadian Career Progression
Hi, I'm a U.S. rising senior (Currently 17) and wondering about Canadian IB options. I've got decent options in America (undergrad: UNC/Duke/Brown are all decently likely) & can definitely make it into Queens/Ivey. A good bit of my family/close family friends do or did banking/PE related stuff, so its always been an industry that I've found interesting. I've got family in Canada & have recently begun to think about IB in Canada. Ik that in the U.S. you generally go Analyst 2 yrs->PE 2 yrs ->MBA -> PE/Corp Dev/Whatever you want, but I'm not sure what the "track" is in Canada. Anyways, I wanted to ask about the lifestyle/culture of being an IB analyst at the big canadian banks (Are hours better than U.S./Is culture toxic) as well as the traditional career progression path (Does it involve the Canadian pension funds - if it does, does anyone know the hours there?).
Klayzer, hey, look at the bright side, at least you didn't get a ton of monkey shit thrown at you...here is my best guess on threads that might be helpful:
Hope that helps.
anyone know?
bump.
Disclaimer: I've got friends and acquaintances in banking here, so its all second hand information.
Hours are apparently better than the US, but not by too much. This is especially true in groups like BMO M&M.
I think it is a bit more common to see career bankers in Canada (not too sure on this), because of our limited career opportunities. I know its common for bankers to move into the pension funds after two years, but some funds like OTTP now hire direct from undergrad (coop/internship gets converted full time). Hours are better at the pension funds, and comp is solid too.
Other options for PE include firms like Onex and Altas. These firms pretty much hire only Ivey or Queens kids, while in the pension funds, you have a crap ton of kids from Waterloo and Laurier too I believe.
Hedge fund exits are even more rare, outside of a few funds like Polar, we have barely any funds. Even those hedge funds want people from a quantitative background - unless you're at Waterloo or the University of Toronto for some CS or Math related degree, tough luck.
As you can probably tell, our buyside exits are pretty limited LOL. There are some smaller firms, like REITs, that you can exit into.
MBAs seem to be a lot more rare in Canada. Work experience is prized above all else. The only bankers I know who pursued their MBA went to the US to do their MBA.
Can't speak too much on hours. I'd imagine you end somewhere between 9pm to 1 am, depending on the group and deal flow. Usually closer to 11pm. Anyone with experience, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Regarding hiring, while the Big Five recruit heavily from other universities too (i.e. Waterloo, Laurier, etc), if you want to work at a BB office in Toronto or at an EB like Lazard, Greenhill, or Evercore, you definitely wanna get into Ivey or Queens. From personal experience, Ivey was easy to get into, not too sure about Queens (plenty of my friends got in there too, not too too hard either). Business programs in Canada are generally easier to get into than something like, say, McMaster Health Sciences or Waterloo Software Engineering. When you apply, try to quantify your experiences and put numbers in your essays.
I don't know which path you ended up choosing but if you haven't made your decision yet, here's my 2 cents (coming from a AN1 at a Big 5 Bank in Toronto):
I deeply regret not choosing a T15 US undergraduate program I had an offer for, and instead opting to go for a Canadian target. Yes, I ended up breaking into Bay Street but I must tell you it was a tough battle. The # of seats here are very limited and as the poster above mentioned, the # of buyside seats are even more limited. There is no set path to PE since most PE firms (except ONEX and Altas) usually don't have available seats to do "on-cycle recruiting". Hours worked is slighlt better than US however comp is lower and exit opps are not as desirable (which are the 2 main factors that make this job bearable in your first few years". Bc of all these factors usually a significant portion of bankers in Canada end up staying and becoming Career Bankers.
What do your hours end up looking like on a usual day? As in, when can you usually expect to finish up by?
Would you say having a CFA and Ivey MBA would help someone break into the industry? Unless I get a corporate sponsor I really can't invest going to a top 15 MBA at USD or Euro prices. I went through the number it would cost between $250K(USD) to $280K(USD) while I prefer to live in Canada so I would be making $CDN.
Tempora non explicabo et quibusdam repudiandae et eveniet. Aspernatur iusto hic recusandae.
Repellat ut omnis omnis a. Earum molestiae minus qui sequi dolorem. Sequi esse molestiae aut totam porro iure aspernatur. Repellat quasi consequuntur ex.
Numquam ad quas vitae pariatur in. Cum voluptatem ut nesciunt quibusdam ea eius et. Qui eum ut quam aspernatur sed sit. Sequi quis veniam nobis quae quia non porro et.
Quas repudiandae corporis voluptatem repellat alias debitis voluptates. Animi maiores quas modi tenetur rerum vero qui. Voluptatem cupiditate numquam et explicabo cupiditate. Rem consequatur qui voluptatem. At eum consectetur nam quam illum inventore ex. Sit non ea tempora itaque quasi asperiores.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...