NewVHUp67

Stay at Commercial Bank or go to Investment Bank?

Currently a Commercial Bank Associate with JPMorgan, been at the bank for <year. Was curious about what other opportunities are out there and applied, interviewed, and was offered a job with a small healthcare investment bank. The comp is significantly more, primarily remote, team seems really solid, and my background prior to commercial banking is in healthcare CorpDev. My only worries are going from a large company to a small company and that I have not done that much time at current job. Has anyone made similar transitions and have advice? What do you think take the new offer or stay? Am I thinking about this too much? Current TC = $110K+$20K Bonus Offered TC = $175K+$75K+ Bonus

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Amazon ytnS32 Apr 18, 2022

I have worked in commercial banking and then moved to big tech finance, so I will give you my perspective on commercial banking (I have friends and close associates in IBD, so will also add my opinion based on secondhand information ) Commercial banking might remain interesting for the first few years as you get to interact and work with a number of companies & industries which gives a good understanding of the overall business landscape. Since the clients are relatively smaller companies you tend to have some influence over your clients which feels empowering. However, after a few years, more than a deal maker you end up becoming someone who is managing the distribution because the senior you get the deals start looking simplistic and easy to handle and for me that became boring. The bonuses are also moderate and every now and then there are industry downturns which wipe out the bonuses (so be ready for that). Advantage is that hours are not as crazy and after a couple of years things seem to be under control so the stress levels reduce substantially. This is also fuelled by the fact that competitors usually collaborate on larger deals. While in IBD (considering you get into a front end role), deals are always difficult but are heavily profitable,hence higher bonuses. It would keep you stressed but the money would be substantially more, especially at mid- senior levels. In my experience exit options from IBD are more lucrative than the ones you get after commercial banking. So, I would be inclined towards IBD because of the opportunities but you can decided if you are ok with crazy hours and high stress.