Commercial Banking

Assume you don't want to be an investment banking hardo working 110 hours per week EVER. If you had to choose between a career in commercial banking or a career in corporate banking, which would you choose and why? Commercial Banking: Pay starts at 80K All-In out of Undergrad Pay hits ceiling around...

07 Apr 2021

Hey everyone. The ink has just barely dried on my accepted offer to join a boutique private equity firm as an analyst, but I think now is a better time than any to tell you how I made the jump to private equity from a VERY non-target background. My Bio: A little bit about me: I graduated from a...

12 Jan 2018

Currently looking to get into commercial banking and was wondering if the WSO community had any thoughts on which industry sectors / specializations tended to be the most profitable specifically within the commercial banking division (i.e. excluding investment & corporate banking, asset management)....

08 Apr 2021

Question for those in the know on Commercial Banking. Can you please tell me what a career would look like as a Commercial Banking Relationship Manager in a smaller tier city (think ~200k population) with a regional bank? Some specific questions to hopefully help drive a discussion. What is a day in...

11 Jun 2020

I recently graduated from a target west coast school and have been working at a mid-size (~$100BN AUM) bank for 9 months now as a "specialty banking" credit analyst in a rotational pool (2 year program). Pay is decent (not great for LA though), 40-50 hour work weeks (firm likes to sell that point...

21 Apr 2022

Share below! Role: (Analyst, Associate, Vp, Etc) Type of role: Commercial or Corporate Type of bank: (BB, Super regional, regional, community, etc) Base salary:$ Bonus:$

13 Jan 2022

Looking to learn more about commercial banking. I've pretty much read every thread on the forum about it but felt a lot of information was limited and didn't provide perspective to what the career is like outside of your 20s and early 30s. What is comp like for EVPs/MDs? Lifestyle? Any other ranks...

05 Aug 2020

Howdy all, I'm a long-time lurker on this site, finally decided to post and say hi. About Me: - I'm a 10 year commercial banking veteran that got started in 2008-2009 going through a super-regional's FLDP right out of school. - Spent time in various credit functions during and after the Crisis and...

19 Apr 2018

Hello all, I am currently deciding between two offers, one from a top 50 bank (50B in total loan assets) and the other from a much much smaller bank (about 300M loan assets). Top 50 Bank: Credit support position, 60K, no formal credit training (its not a credit analyst position), promises to expose...

16 Dec 2021

In the spirit of sharing, I figured I would set up one of these to help out those interested in learning more about Commercial Banking. As there is no separate sub forum, it is hard to find up to date/current info. Commercial Baking isn't super sexy like IB, but it's a good W/L balance gig that pays...

29 Jul 2017

Slow day at work today, studying for CFA, but taking some breaks here and there. I don't think there is a lot of information on this board as it relates to commercial banking, at least from the perspective of more junior employees with under 5 years experience. Not sure if there will be a lot of...

20 May 2018

I have two internship offers, one from JPM for Middle Market Banking/Specialized Industries (MMBSI, Commercial Banking, Charlotte,NC).... The other is from Rio Tinto for Finance (Salt Lake City). I'm from a big ten fairly non-target school, not entirely sure what career field I want to start in,...

24 Feb 2021

Current CB summer intern. I've got the possibility of staying with my current institution through the school year part-time in a new department learning how to code (mostly SQL, but also a bit of Python, VBA and R). Everyone in the RE industry talks about starting early and getting your reps in, and...

10 Aug 2021

Hi Monkeys, After a lot of job searching over the past two months, I finally landed an interview at a pretty regional commercial bank for a credit analyst position. This role is in the special assets group which deals mostly with distressed loans, OREO etc. Obviously this is much different than your...

19 Aug 2020

Hello, I am a recent graduate from a top 25 university, where I studied math and finance and came out with a strong, but not phenomenal 3.70 GPA. I was in the honors program and I would like to hope that many employers recognize the strength of a 3.70 given the math degree. Around graduation, I...

22 Jan 2021

Hi, so currently currently a Sophomore with a 4.0 at one of the public universities in Arizona, majoring in Political Science, and I had some questions about the Commercial Banking industry if you wouldn't mind answering some of them as I'm curious of whether or not I can get into it. 1. Am I able...

25 Jun 2020

I graduated 3 years ago with a BS degree in Finance, good GPA at a pretty good school and started working in a Commercial Banking Leadership Program. I then worked as a commercial credit Analyst for about 18 months before getting promoted to a portfolio manager working directly under a CRE lender....

21 Oct 2020

Hello Everyone, I'm a non-target student who has a superday coming up next week with JP Morgan for a 2018 SA position with their MM Banking and Specialized Industries Group. This will be my first superday, and I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge/tips on what technicals to know for JPM's...

11 Oct 2017

I will doing a summer internship at a large bank within their commercial banking division this summer. I pivoted late in my college career after planning on going to grad school for bio research and this will be my only experience in financial services. Unfortunately, the internship is in a location...

20 Apr 2022

Background: ABL at a BB. As the title says, what type of 'Transaction Experience' should I list on my resume to best spin/highlight my experience if I want to lateral into a IB position or a MM credit fund/PE firm, if possible? A majority of my time is spent on the portfolio side (working with...

25 Apr 2018

Background: 1.5 yrs in ABL at a BB covering a variety of industries: manufacturing, distribution, materials, consumer products, etc. mainly with sub-investment grade/distressed companies. Non-target; sub 3.7 GPA. Any advice on how to position this experience to lateral into a 1st year IB analyst...

28 Feb 2018

Hi there WSO community. I've been a long time reader of this forum but post very rarely. In my time perusing the forum, I've seen little or no attention payed to Silicon Valley Bank, a high-tech commercial bank whose main clients are startups. I'm also aware that this post may not belong on this...

17 May 2018

I work in the transactions division of a Mid-Tier bank, and while my partnership with the RMs remains strong, my boss is expecting us to start generating our own accounts and then loop in the bank to open commercial checking/saving accounts. He said in our group we have been to reliant on our RM...

03 Jul 2020

I've seen the two talked about separately on this site.. Can somebody explain to me the difference? In my group, while we do structure asset-based facilities (revolvers, term loans) to MM companies on a club (us and one other/a few banks involved) and syndicated basis, we also have loans where we...

24 May 2018

Also pointing this here since I want to reach some people who currently work in Commercial Banking. --- I work at an Upper MM PE fund and am in the second year of my Pre-MBA Associate stint. Prior to PE, I worked at an elite strategy consulting boutique (think LEK/Parthenon) doing PE DD work. I'm...

01 Mar 2018

Hello all, J.P. Morgan had their super day for their 2 year CB program about 2 weeks ago. I have gotten a pre-offer via phone call about a week ago but am still waiting on the actual offer letter does anybody know how long I should expect to wait? If any of you have any insights into the program it...

13 Nov 2021

Long story made short; studied Finance and Econ for state non-target, got into selling mortgages after graduation (1 yr experience thus far) and I'm interested in commercial banking. First internship was one year part time in investment advisory, second intern as commercial mortgage analyst for a...

23 Sep 2019

Hello all, I figure I'll start off with a quick background so you can provide the most insight: - Recent Non-Target college undergrad, GPA: 3.94 - Didn't realize I wanted to do IB until last 3 months of undergrad - 6 months experience in Corporate Banking division of a Regional Bank - Credit...

08 Nov 2015

I have two different offers and was wondering if anyone could weigh in on them 1. Big 5 Bank (Canadian) Commercial banking development program in T3 city average comp, 9-12 months of training then straight into a RM role 2. Large Canadian credit union commercial banking analyst in T1 city in...

30 Oct 2020

I'm evaluating if I should leave my current position and would appreciate some opinions on whether my position is as bad as I think it is or if I need to be patient and put in my time. I currently work as an analyst on a private equity coverage team with a regional bank (

28 Oct 2020

Hi all, I wanted to ask you guys what you think of commercial banking and what the exit opportunities are. I'm currently interested in the role because it provides a good stepping stone route into corporate banking. For those who work in commercial banking, what are base pay and bonuses like? What...

21 Jun 2022

Hello all, I am currently deciding between two offers, both from regional commercial banks (~$10B in Assets). One offer is less money and offers a formal credit training program, while the second is a lot more money, but with no credit training. The goal is to move into a LevFin role down the line,...

27 Mar 2019

Alright, I need some advice, recruiters, bankers, commercial real estate and tech world folks. I have come to a crossroads in my career. I received a finance degree in 2013, hired right out of school to work for a commercial real estate lender. I was there for about 5 years and recently moved to a...

16 Dec 2018

Im currently working in the "Lev Fin" group at a MM .commercial bank (think US Bank, Capital One, Citizens Bank). To avoid any confusion, we don't have an IB division so our version of Lev Fin refers to the specific lending team that specialize in financing deals backed by PE firms (LBOs, Dividend...

09 Mar 2017

How is deal flow/ activity in FIG impacted by economic downturns and recessions? Is it typically more or less recession proof? Also how will rising interest rates impact FIG deal flow as commercial banks have to alter their strategies which have relied on super low rates in the past?

29 Apr 2022

Hey everyone. I have a interview for the JP Morgan Chase Commercial Banking Analyst Program coming up, and I was wondering if anyone knows anything about this interview or the analyst program? Has anybody ever had this this interview? What types of questions are asked? Anyone know the salary they...

22 May 2018

Alright monkeys. I was recently offered an FT grad role in Lloyds Bank's Commercial Bank in London. Having had a look through previous posts on the board, I couldn't find much in the way of discussion about people's experience working in the Bank or the general view of Lloyds from the rest of the...

23 Dec 2019

I have a Powerday (Capital One's Equivalent of a Super Day) in a few weeks for Capital One's Commercial Rotation Associate Program. There are opportunities to rotate through quite a few groups, including Capital Markets, Healthcare Real Estate, Commercial Real Estate, Energy Banking, FIG, and Middle...

08 Dec 2021

With heightened investment in commercial lending across many big banks and the similarities between what investment bankers and commercial/corporate bankers do, where do you think base salaries and bonuses will be 5-10 years from now in the commercial banking space? I personally think that as...

15 Aug 2019

Hey everyone, thanks to all the help from here and other resources I managed to get myself into a CB analyst role at a big Canadian bank and I have a few months to prepare. I want to really excel at this role and work my way into the corporate baking group ASAP and I was wondering if anyone could...

05 Mar 2021

Not sure if there are any commercial lenders on this forum, but any advice is appreciated. I've been considering going the path of a commercial lender, my background is in CRE brokerage. A few banks I've talked to typically start people in a credit analyst position before moving to a commercial...

29 Jan 2019

Just started as a commercial credit analyst in a BB. Basically assessing credit risk. Obviously we do modelling, although only from templates at this stage. People who stay in this role tend to either move up the ranks within credit risk or become relationship managers. The work is interesting, I'm...

11 Dec 2016

I have been a credit analyst/ underwriter for a niche insurance company for about 6 years. I had a setback early in my career (4 jobs in 4 years) so I have stayed in the company for a while to rinse the "jumper" label. I have worked up to a level with reasonable pay, good work-life balance and...

21 Jan 2020

Hey guys, I'm at a bit of a crossroads with my career. Ultimately, I'd like to either keep working my way up at my commercial bank (it's a super cushy lifestyle for how little we actually work), or move into a credit focused/distressed/turnaround PE fund. I'm in our bank's rotational credit training...

24 May 2018

I came across an interesting article in The Atlantic entitled, "In the Era of Greed, Meet America's Good Bank: USAA", and I couldn't agree more. You see, I used to do business with each of the Too Big To Fail banks, until I wrote my plan. I had sizable accounts open at B of A, Citi, Chase, and Wells...

31 Jan 2012

I know these types of stories are a dime a dozen these days, but I've been a consumer of WSO posts for a couple of years now, and have felt it's time to be a producer content wise. I wanted to share my story (and lessons learned along the way) of how I broke into investment banking and became a...

08 May 2015

This is a throwaway account. I work in a small PE shop after relationship manager at commercial bank (1.5 yrs) and actuary (1.5 yrs) in a frontier country. A year ago my brother, 4 years older than me, became a CEO of a mid tier commercial bank. Not to be an opportunist but we are very close, how he...

15 Jan 2018

To all, What are the strengths/weakness of choosing offers between a BB Commerical Banking Analyst Program, Boutique MM IB, or Boutique MM PE? Assuming the desired path is: BB IB ---> Large PE Fund After my reasearch, it appears that this is what I've come up with so far. BB CB Strengths: Stable and...

08 Jan 2013

Currently at a BB doing commercial banking and while the pay to hours ratio is great, I don't see myself doing this long term. What are common exit ops you've seen from commercial banking analysts at places like JPM / BAML / Citi etc.?

22 Jan 2021

Hi all, I am located in Canada and I have been with a small Asset Management company as a buy-side analyst for about 2.5 years here in Toronto (not a well known company). I am looking to switch into commercial banking and I wouldn't mind starting from junior or even credit analysis or account...

23 Aug 2017