Investment Bankers / Brokers

Don't own up to being a Banker - it's a dirty word these days. If you dislike someone you no longer use the w'er word it's Banker. "Oh you Baaannnkkkeeerrrrr" :)

Think OP was still doing A levels during the crisis so can't be blamed.

Not a Banker or Broker but wouldn't have minded at one point of my life. Unfortunatley I've not yet had an opportunity to work on trading systems but would be right up my street though(I work in IT)
 
sports_brah said:
Everyone is a damn VP, it has got no meaning at all haha.

PB is definitely changing as well. Competition is extremely fierce and clients are extremely demanding. Process improvement seems to be the name of the game there. Additionally, a lot of jobs are being moved across to India. Obviously all the BO (Settlements, recs, cash) has gone out there already, but a lot of MO jobs are also going. I noticed that a lot especially UBS, had to deal with the India offices for settlements, it wasn't easy as they don't have access to the FO so it's usually back and forward and extremely frustrating especially when the markets are about to close and a trade has yet to settle... ffs

On the plus side, lots of companies (Barclays, Deutsche etc) have left the realm after not being successful, so once the focus on cost reduction is over, it should pick up a bit. The fed interest rates will help bring a bit of positivity as well. :)
Exactly, I hope it picks up and recruitment for junior positions increase. So far the short end of the yield curve has not provided enough for FICC to really play around with. I think it has to do with the fact that banks now rely on short term interest rates to benchmark what the treasury offers for its financing. With ST rates increasing we should see a pick up in zero coupons. Ofcourse, the long term rate rise will help the leveraged financing team. But my craft is really ST and MT ends of the curve.

What sort of experience are you looking to hear about? Are you trying to find the path that you wish to push down? Are you pursuing qualifications (CFA etc)?

In all honesty I was unsure what to expect, I had 0 expectations. However, I would have appreciated any one who was trading or had any quant background to seek what type of languages they was using. i am still progressing in this field. I am currently sitting my regulatory and securities exam. After that's done I am going full throttle on CFA Level 1. I want to try to break into the M&A scene or the PE if I can't secure a decent enough sell side job. It's not easy at all but amassing experience is the only thing I can do
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DarrenM343 said:
Don't own up to being a Banker - it's a dirty word these days. If you dislike someone you no longer use the w'er word it's Banker. "Oh you Baaannnkkkeeerrrrr" :)
I totally understand the sentiment towards my craft, but I am not a Banker. My line of work is most definitely regarded as more quant based. I am also transitioning into sales, which is amazing experience. I love talking to people and trying to understand them. The ability to make money out of this is something I am confident that I will be able to do ;)

Think OP was still doing A levels during the crisis so can't be blamed.
Exactly!

Not a Banker or Broker but wouldn't have minded at one point of my life. Unfortunatley I've not yet had an opportunity to work on trading systems but would be right up my street though(I work in IT)How comes you didn't get the opportunity. The banks are moving from the usual sales trader role and now E-trading is taking over the world. If you have c++ java python c# R VBA, you stand a great chance to break through. On the other hand, they are starting to outsource all their jobs. I would take a look at online job boards for contractual placements in I.T. but most these jobs are for operations and not aimed at developing the algo trading. Those jobs are given to mathematical / engineering background guys.
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omar1 said:
Anyway, it's stupid to argue about the technicalities of the definition. Clearly the purpose of this was just to meet some cool people and share our experiences. I take you are not involved in this industry, what do you do?
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correct, am not in the banking industry but most clients I work with are banks

previously worked as a trader but not at a bank now I'm in the fintech industry

you're probably better off looking at forums like wilmott for quant related stuff and wall street oasis for general banking/career related stuff... though the latter seems to be full of students who are rather erm full of themselves
 
Could have worked for an IB as a move from Big Four Accountancy firm. Several friends have. Decided the hours weren't worth it. Now they own £600k+ houses and earn over £100k pa but have only ate at that house once in the past month and work 7am to 11pm regularly during the week with at least half days at weekends. No thanks! I'm happy with a small two bed and half the salary but a 9am - 5.30pm role with a 4pm Friday finish.
 
omar1 said:
Friends around me (similar age and experience), who were able to join some decent programs are on around 50,000 as starting analysts. Their bonuses will be nice too this year due to the resurgence of deal making, and in about 1 years time they will be on around 80-100k before bonus.
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£50k for first year analysts sounds about right, but a second year analyst would very likely be below the £80k-£100k you mentioned. We've just run a search for a first year Associate PE mandate, and most 3-4 year M&A sell side types are on around £80k bases with decent bonuses. Same goes for the PE advisory and buy out firms, but at 4 years they can hit the £100k level.

Within FICC front office the salary ranges can vary, but for example we had an offer for credit trading analyst at a formerly tier one firm. He had 2.5 years' trading experience, traded a couple of his own books, and was on a £65k base and a £15k bonus. Some can be higher than that amount, but the average base for a 4 year FICC front office employee at a decent firm would be around £80k-£100k.

As to your other point about moving into MA or PE, I'd aim to do it as soon as possible if you're currently in FICC. Moving from capital markets into IB or private markets can be quite a tricky thing to do, so with your short amount of experience I'd try to make the move sooner rather than later :)
 
toshj said:
£50k for first year analysts sounds about right, but a second year analyst would very likely be below the £80k-£100k you mentioned. We've just run a search for a first year Associate PE mandate, and most 3-4 year M&A sell side types are on around £80k bases with decent bonuses. Same goes for the PE advisory and buy out firms, but at 4 years they can hit the £100k level.

Within FICC front office the salary ranges can vary, but for example we had an offer for credit trading analyst at a formerly tier one firm. He had 2.5 years' trading experience, traded a couple of his own books, and was on a £65k base and a £15k bonus. Some can be higher than that amount, but the average base for a 4 year FICC front office employee at a decent firm would be around £80k-£100k.

As to your other point about moving into MA or PE, I'd aim to do it as soon as possible if you're currently in FICC. Moving from capital markets into IB or private markets can be quite a tricky thing to do, so with your short amount of experience I'd try to make the move sooner rather than later :)
It's so difficult, but I am going to try again - just so much on my plate I never applied this year. I do like the financial markets though, so maybe a good area for me to go down with be equity. We will see... but thank you for your input. This is why I mainly posted - to see what experience and knowledge people had.
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Kemik said:
Could have worked for an IB as a move from Big Four Accountancy firm. Several friends have. Decided the hours weren't worth it. Now they own £600k+ houses and earn over £100k pa but have only ate at that house once in the past month and work 7am to 11pm regularly during the week with at least half days at weekends. No thanks! I'm happy with a small two bed and half the salary but a 9am - 5.30pm role with a 4pm Friday finish.
To be honest, when you enjoy what you do - you utlimately don't mind the hours. Cient dinners at the Gavroche, memberships to prestige private members clubs are a few perks of the industry that makes up for the limited hours at home. To be honest whilst you are young - work hard and party hard
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dowie said:
correct, am not in the banking industry but most clients I work with are banks
Okay I understand that. That is exactly like me.

previously worked as a trader but not at a bank now I'm in the fintech industry
What type of Fintech are you doing. What was you trading previously? and what platform was you using? Do you run algo or was it just technical analysis style of trading

you're probably better off looking at forums like wilmott for quant related stuff and wall street oasis for general banking/career related stuff... though the latter seems to be full of students who are rather erm full of themselves
I hate WSO, it's full of punks. I am nothing like them - I prefer to be kind and humble to people and enjoy learning about others experiences. WSO seems to be full of young *******s that just boast about their GPA /GMAT, and brag about how they went to Oxford or top BB and the numerous internships they had. Willmott is a great one but its skewed towards CFQ guys. Whilst I am a strong mathematic student - it is not something I have vast experience in.
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Many thanks for everyones input!
 
If you love it, then it is perfect for you. But money wise, £100k gross isn't all that different to £60-70k gross once you pay tax. Compare 7.30am - 10.30pm to 9am - 5.30pm and the net £ per hour isn't vastly different.

It's whatever you enjoy/want from life, leisure time or work time. I'm ignoring the comparative cultures in both ha. I know far too many women who have done IB and then decided it wasn't for them because of the attitude and culture IB's attract. In fact, I interviewed a IB graduate who wanted to join a Big Four and left the IB simply because he disagreed with some of the things he was asked to do.

Marketing graduates selling products designed by maths graduates doesn't really work as the marketing guys have no idea of the risks that are involved.
 
If you are young and single the ours mean a lot less and the salary can be relatively more valuable. It is very tempting to work hard and get the big bucks, paying off student loans and getting that house deposit, all the boys toys etc. An then move industries to a soemthign with a better work-life balance, with a lower salary but since you have paid off most of you mortgae already finances are a lot less important.


If you have a family the extra income is never worth it over the time with children.
 
Bankers, just about the worst type of career going. Even worse than estate agents. Thieving back stabbing horrible, out to fleece you for all they can and won't mind stabbing your granny to death to rob you types.

Directly responsible for the worlds financial problems due to their greed. No offence to OP or anyone :p
 
Kemik said:
Marketing graduates selling products designed by maths graduates doesn't really work as the marketing guys have no idea of the risks that are involved.
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Salespeople within investment banks aren't ever likely to be hired with marketing degrees, almost all would have batchelors or masters in finance, business, economics, maths, engineering, etc. Sometimes you'll find graduates from humanities, but who've attended strong universities.
 
skylineGTRlover said:
What type of Fintech are you doing.
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worked in a few areas - mostly FX now though

What was you trading previously? and what platform was you using? Do you run algo or was it just technical analysis style of trading
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bund, bobl, schatz

used TT, shared a CQG subscription with the guy who sat next to me, but I didn't really use much technical analysis

a mix of manual and semi-automated trading, if I saw an opportunity to scalp a few ticks in the bund I'd take it etc...

TT's autospreader was crap for various reasons so had to make use of TT's autotrader product in conjunction with excel, though it was certainly a very crude approach, you'd likely get completely raped these days frankly and the number of people trading in this way has declined massively
 
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