Investment Banking vs Management Consulting in Italy
Hi guys! I've read a lot of topics but it's the first time I'm actively participating on WSO.
I'm currently enrolled in an MSc at the only target school in Italy and I'm doing an internship at a search fund. I'm considering both BB and MBB and I'd like to have some information (salaries, work/life balance, exit opps) related to Italy (or at least Continental Europe), because especially for BB Milan is not comparable with NY or LDN.
For now, these are my thoughts (based also on related topics) :
Banking
Higher salaries
Less travels
Consulting
Better work/life balance
More exit opps
My impression is the work at the bottom of the ladder appears more interesting in consulting than in banking, can you confirm that? Also I know that MBA is not needed in IB to go from Analyst to Associate, but what about going from analyst (or associate consultant) to consultant? I know MBB pay you top MBA programs, but how it's difficult to get those funds? Ideally I'd like to work 2 or 3 years and then move to US for a top MBA program.
Thanks a lot!
Let's start with exit opps. On another thread a member highlighted that for PE (if that is what you want to do) Italian office MBB is a solid choice over Italian office IB (https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/european-regional-office-at-top-…).
Better work life balance for MC in Italy is also debatable - I have friends at MBBs in Milan who pull the same hours (until 11/12pm at night) as IB people.
IB also depends on the firm. Lazard is brutal in Milan, BBs are pretty heavy (although less than London and NYC) whilst the Italian MMs are pretty chilled.
Thank you vero much!
Yeah I think IB in regional office is considered like a B series work compared to IB in LDN or NY or to MBB.
PE could be an interesting exit opp but what are other exit opps for IB? It seems MBB give you much broader exit opps due to a less specific work.
My advice: go with IB if you can
This advice is simply horrible. @Intern_from_Italy" do not follow it.
Exit opps for IB regional office are shit. You go into PE (locally) or stay in banking whilst with MBB consulting (or consulting in general) you can pivot to PE, a different kind of consulting or infinite corporate roles (strategy, finance, operations or marketing for all the industries you can think of).
Pay is highly comparable. MBBs in Milan pay about EUR40K a year which is on par with the IBs in the same place. Sure, bonuses may be higher in IB but overall comp will not be that different for Milan and certainly not for the difference in hours worked
Yes, IB hours are bad but not as bad as London. You know London IB hours can easily be 9am to 1-2am right? You won't get that in Milan. MBB will probably be more lenient but it's still a pain to get a 6am flight from Linate and end up in the middle of fucking nowhere for a week. Hours suck for both, depends if you want to give up sleep to be in an office late at night or in an airport early in the morning
I'm sure MBBs hire a lot of people in Milan but all of the 7-8 BB (depending if you count DB) have offices in Milan and hire people in their IB divisions. If you add all of the BB, EBs and decent MMs in Milan compared to the MBBs and T2s of MC in Milan, you have fewer places in consulting.
I think at most 5% of people who go into IB stay in IB because they prefer it to PE. People actively make the decision to go into IB because they know in 1-2 years they can head to a PE firm so saying they prefer staying in IB to PE is bullshit. The link I posted wasn't about moving from regional IB to regional PE, it was about moving from regional MBB or regional IB to London PE and in that field, MBB wins by far.
The bottom line is that if you want to start in IB and do that for a few years (including moving to London or NYC IB) then pivot to PE, IB in Milan isn't a bad choice. If you want to keep more options open, do (in my opinion) more interesting work and have better chances at London PE recruiting, go with MBBs in Milan
Thanks!
This is the typical post of somebody who speaks without knowing things. Dude, I used to be there and I know that pays are not comparable (€110k all inc plus different benefit, in consulting you get €40/50k)
In terms of exit, trust me dude, I saw people moving to corporate roles, to consulting roles, to PE, etc. , but a lot of people don’t care to move to PE, because from associate level hours are really few (~50/60 pw, a part from few exceptions) and pay is well above the Italian average (Ass 1 makes some 20/30k signing, ~100/115k base plus bonus, at least 40/50k). Would you leave for a PE with a 500m AUM? Would you move to London where the COL is much higher and you actually have to work?
For MMB is different, because you are making much much less and PE means making 50/70 grounds more every year.
Hours - again, another point that Demonstrates you are speaking randomly. Milan (as Paris) is famous for pulling together the worse hours on the street as Analyst (Analysts1 make at least 2am every night, and when I say every night I mean litteraly every f night, plus almost all the weekends in). In London you are much more protected (even under a legal point of view for hours). At associate level things are changing. Even London guys admit this.
Hiring a: JPM 1, BAML 1/2, GS 0, Lazard 2/3, RTH 2/3, CS 1, BAR 0, Citi no idea, MS 1, should I go on?
To be crystal clear: I don’t like Milan. I don’t like the culture and the dealflow is insanely low in bad years and in certain places, but if you want to stay in Italy, represents a better place to be, in my opinion. If you don’t like you can always move back to MMB, but you can’t do the Opposite. And btw, I am not saying MBB is a bad choice, but I asked for advice and I give you my opinion based on real facts, not on things/post read on WSO
Yeah I know things are better from Associates and above. In fact I’m considering follow the path MBB -> MBA -> IB in order to skip Analyst bullshit and to have a wider experience. I think for Analyst level MBB offer more interesting work (even if for 1/2 years it’s always excel and pptx).
I know Milan is not the better piace for IB but trust me the QOL is high and the COL is not even comparable with other european cities (although the difference is reducing).
It’s rare for IBs in europe hiring post MBA associates, and in Milan it’s something that basically doesn’t exist
Also, you are speaking about “more interesting job in consulting”. Well, you know that in Italy you don’t have verticals until you are at certain level? So you can be staffed on training the Salesforce of a small insurance office in the middle of nowhere (I actually heard this story from a consultant). Or on improving the operations of a factory (and your role won’t be playing with numbers but collecting them). DO you think that in consulting you you are going to sit with the CEO of multi billion companies deciding whether or not getting into a market and whether doing it through M&A, or partnerships or whatever? In Italy is often a really operational role. A friend of mine at MBB spent 6 months arranging screws, bolts and other shit in a wharehouse 30km outside Milan
With this I don’t want to say IB is much better, just that both of them are shit at the beginning, but IB is at least a bit more high level IMO
https://www.glassdoor.ca/Salaries/milan-investment-banking-salary-SRCH_…
Overview of IB salaries in Milan - Lazard An1 makes EUR48-52K, BAML An2 makes EUR70-75K and MMs pay between EUR30-40K. MBBs pay EUR40-50K with T2s paying.
Also Milan IB salary are well below the average European financial City: https://www.emolument.com/career_advice/highest_paying_cities_banking
London's CoL is much higher, I agree but PE London (at good funds, not those with 500AUM) can have you earning £200-300K all in comp with 60-70 hour weeks, some going to 80. It's a bit longer than what you would work in Milan but overall the comp compared to CoL is very solid if you're making that kind of money
Hours are not what you said. Some firms (such as Lazard) are famous for working their analysts like slaves in places such as Milan, Paris or Madrid but generally speaking Milan doesn't have London hours. I can guarantee this from a family member being an MD at a bank in Milan and other MD colleagues of his also confirming this (from BBs, MMs etc). Yes they work hard but on average 11pm is when you leave with some nights being 1am and all-nighters being MUCH rarer than London.
Also, where are you getting the hiring numbers from? Care to share a source?
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