IB to Credit Research

Hi! Currently an analyst at a BB (DCM/Lev Fin) and have been considering moving into a credit research or fixed income research role (I think research could be a better fit for me).

Would anyone in a credit research role be able to talk about their experience, the hours, the comp and especially exits ops? I’ve learned a ton but I don’t think I would want to originate deals in the future.

How similar is it to Equity Research? Do you solely track corporates or is there larger markets research involved also? Is there a formal training program for research analysts similar to IB?

Thank you so much! Appreciate all input!

 
Most Helpful

Hey,

I’m working as a Credit Researcher in HSBC and based on my experience I would say:

- Except for earnings season, hours overall are not that hectic. It really depends how much you want to put in (depth of model used, analyzing each corporate action in detail, etc.), what sector(s) you are covering, and how many companies are there in your portfolio.  

- Salary is okay, but probably your total pay will be higher within IB.

- Regarding exit opps, most of the senior guys have been doing this for decades in my team. Common changes that I have seen include: changing sectors, changing products (IG, HY, ABS, etc.) or moving to equity or sell-side.

- I believe it’s not that different from equity research. In credit we primarily care about leverage coverage and liquidity of the company, and have to deal with much less "noise" that is a big driver in equities. However, cause in equities you have more upside (with credit in most cases you just care about getting the par value + coupons), I think equities could be a bit more active and exciting. 

- At HSBC we have insight to macro market research and should be very familiar with our sector's dynamics, but it’s the PM that does the proper yield analysis where macro factors really come into play.

-I'm doing the CFA L3, but would say the material in L1 and L2 are much more relevant for this role (although not needed). Depending on your budget, Moody's seem to have some nice trainings, CreditSight has a good one as well, S&P Ratings wrote a good back in the days, and otherwise any modelling and accounting skills are welcomed

Note that HSBC is a very big bank, so the experience of someone working in a small AM firm may be very different.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions.

 

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