Hello, I am a senior in high school interested in finance scared shitless of the 80+ hours of IB, PE, and HF. Evidently, these three seem to pay the big bucks and are the epitome of finance jobs. But what other options are there that pay well when factoring in hours? Especially lower stress, sustainable, somewhat known, and attainable as a fresh college grad? Thanks
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Corp dev is a common exit, but I don’t think you can go into it right out of college
Corp dev does not pay nearly as much
You can from targets, I know people who went straight to Corp Dev at medium-large-maybe-not-sexy tech firms (Indeed, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Twitch, Yahoo, AT&T type places) from targets who did summers in banking.
In finance, apart from the 3 areas you mentioned there aren’t really any that pay as much. AM used to but now due to serious fee compression and money going out the industry has been changed for the worse. Also, don’t even think about joining HF unless if you have a serious passion for trading. I’ve seen plenty of guys who dont think trading is fun enter the HF industry and get fired within a year.
There’s plenty of hedge funds with reasonable hours
Yeah there is but unless if you think trading is fun and read investor presentations for fun, then you aren’t going to make it in the hedge fund world.
I don't think you'd be successful at any of these jobs if you don't enjoy reading about companies
Why the monkey shit? Is this really a hot take? All the jobs listed involve the buying & selling of businesses. How do you possibly become good at this without enjoying learning about businesses? How can you even tolerate ~80hr/weeks if you dislike learning about businesses?
Commercial/Corporate Banking. Not going to make near the money you can in "high finance", but you'll live comfortably and enjoy your life working 40hours most weeks (at least for commercial, corp banking might be a little more)
Debt capital markets (I.e. fixed income) or bank loan syndications, easily.
Public Finance
Real Estate
I dunno about that: https://therealdeal.com/2020/02/27/employees-fleeing-toxic-team-at-newm…
Ain't no such thing as a free lunch, boys
this I think there are probably are alot of jobs you could be really good at if you spent 16 hours a day working them. I think alot of people just don't dont want to work that hard.
geez just wait till ur a senior in college so you have some fucking perspective and have matured a bit... news flash! most other 17yo don't want to work 80h/wk in a job that they don't understand either
Look into RIAs... seems to me a slower style of investment management, and yes fee compression is real but its more about the size of the firm against the AUM. Some firms rake $20-25million for only 20-25 people working at the firm!
Look into DCM and ECM, they’re both gigs that pay around the same as M&A (at least up till VP position I believe). However, their work hours are closer to 65 hours per week. The trade off is that their exit opps aren’t as strong but you can use a MBA degree to enter M&A/PE/any other industry.
With how the market has been post covid, ECM and DCM hours are closer to 80-100 than 65. We’ll see how long this trend continues to hold up but it is no “easy job.” -An ECM/DCM BB Analyst
Agree with this. Also in one of the above stated products groups and have been consistently putting in 80-90 hours a week. Cap Mkts volume up across the board.
Oh, thanks for mentioning that! Do you see these longer hours continuing over the next 5 years, or do you see it eventually dialing down to pre-covid hours? Also, if you don't mind me asking - what led you to pursue ECM/DCM over M&A?
Dont agree w. the ECM/DCM comment in this case. currently pulling 75-80, which has been the norm for my team. Hours will be comparable for teams like ECM TMT.. OP should consider some of the Sales desks in S&T (has its own stresses/risks worth considering, but in reality is still a great and highly sought after role post undergrad). Good $, at least 100-115k out of school, and good hrs, ~50-60 a week. The same goes for Equity Research (non earnings season), Credit Research, Macro strategy teams, capital raising/private placements.. all a great check, not too bad hours and you still learn a good skillset out of school. Id also add another gem at most BBs.. the instituitional asset management divisions: GSAM / JPIM / MSIM, etc etc. Hard to get a seat on the investment teams out of undergrad, but there are plenty of kids who join Portfolio Management, relationship management, fund of fund groups, third party distribution teams, who get great exposure to the investing side but learn the trade of dealing and communicating with institutional clients.
some of these seats are less sought after by those on this sight, but have great upwards mobility and ability to make good $ and not kill yourself over hours. I had a similar sentiment to you in undergrad but opted to go the IBD route. but these seats do have their merits.
Corporate Finance at the right company can be a strong option when it comes to maximizing the calculus between WLB, compensation, and career trajectory.
Corporate banking. I work 50 hours on average. Obviously have worked till 1-2AM before, but it’s rare.
Join a regional boutique bank. You'll have some 80 hour weeks for sure but they're generally ~60 hours to start
Any known reputable regional boutiques that pay well enough?
Regional banks are mostly “reputable” in that region (which is why they’re regional, after all), so just start networking with people in the Industry and get to know your area. You’ll figure out who’s who pretty quickly. My bank has a fantastic reputation in my city and a great reputation in the region, but I doubt very many would know its name if I went across the country. That’s why I say get to know your own region. Best of luck to you! If you want to explore this more later on, feel free to message me
Regional banks are mostly “reputable” in that region (which is why they’re regional, after all), so just start networking with people in the Industry and get to know your area. You’ll figure out who’s who pretty quickly. My bank has a fantastic reputation in my city and a great reputation in the region, but I doubt very many would know its name if I went across the country. That’s why I say get to know your own region. Best of luck to you! If you want to explore this more later on, feel free to message me
Regional banks are mostly “reputable” in that region (which is why they’re regional, after all), so just start networking with people in the Industry and get to know your area. You’ll figure out who’s who pretty quickly. My bank has a fantastic reputation in my city and a great reputation in the region, but I doubt very many would know its name if I went across the country. That’s why I say get to know your own region. Best of luck to you! If you want to explore this more later on, feel free to message me
That’s what I’m doing and I love it. Definitely second this. You get loads of exposure to every aspect of deals since you’re on a smaller team and that accelerates your learning curve a ton in my experience.
Hours are longer than an average job obviously but I get a full night’s sleep almost every night. Can’t complain about that.
Private banking can be a nice alternative (I may be a bit biased) but again, the pay isn’t as well as IB. Many of the BB with Private Banking branches have great analyst to associate programs.
Commodity trading (my bias is showing ig haha)
get yoselff a suga momma (or a sugar daddy)
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