Junior Investment Banker- Umfrage: Lernen ist das Wichtigste

Junior Investment Banker- Quo Vadis?

Since the Financial Crisis, the image of Investment Banks has been seriously damaged.

The lower level of activity during the crisis, the smaller bonuses, the increase in deferred compensations have largely contributed in making an Investment Banking career lees attractive. 

As a result, Investment banks are now confronted with difficulties  in hiring strong junior candidates:

„Best in class“ students prefer to join Tech companies such as Google or Facebook.

Public opinion put pressure on banks to reduce work hours for juniors.

Candidates with strong execution exeprience are hard to find.

The pursuit of a better work/life balance has decreased mobility.

Investment banks are already making the necessary changes to attract junior candidates (worldwide increase of Analysts base salaries, strong increase of Associates and VP base salaries across Europe).

However, in order to understand the aspiration of juniors in the Investment banking sector in German speaking countries, and help close future recruitment, we have conducted a survey across Junior Investment Banker.

The response rate is 8% (102 persons).

The survey was carried out with bankers  mostly focused on M&A and Leverage Finance and working on a wide range of financial firms.

Three focus groups have been defined: Analysts, Associates and Vice Presidents.

 Q:WHAT IS YOUR NEXT JOB MOVE MOST LIKELY TO BE?

• More than half the Analyst in Investment Banking aspire to remain in Banking
• The majority of Associates aspire to move to the buyside
• More than half of VPs wish to move to a  corporate role

REASONS TO MOVE – HIGH PROBABILITY TO MOVE

• 23% of the Analysts and Associates and 22% of the VPs were very likely to make a next job move in the next 12 months
• “better opportunity to learn” is a key factor to retain juniors
• Compensation is an important factor at VP level

• Analysts & Associates who are  very likely to move have been mostly disappointed by compensation and low learning curve
• Work/life balance is not a predominant factor to move

REASONS TO STAY – ANALYST AND ASSOCIATES

• For Analyst and Associates who will stay at their job learning is more important and they are quite happy with their learning curve
• Work life balance is an issue for them but not important enough to make them leave
• Slighty happier with comp than the group „very likely to move within next 12 months“

WHERE TO MOVE WITH A HIGH PROBABILITY TO MOVE IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS

• Lack of learning curve, a better platform and unattractive compensation are the main driver for Analyst, Associates and VPs to move to another investment bank
• Joining a start-up is perceived as an exciting move because the junior will learn more things

SCOPE AND PARTICIPANTS

• Since the Financial Crisis, the image of Investment Banks has been seriously damaged
• The lower level of activity during the crisis, the smaller bonuses, the increase in deferred compensations have largely contributed in making an Investment Banking career lees attractive
• As a result, Investment banks are now confronted with difficulties  in hiring strong junior candidates:
  • „Best in class“ students prefer to join Tech companies such as Google or Facebook
  • Public opinion put pressure on banks to reduce work hours for juniors
  • Candidates with strong execution exeprience are hard to find
  • The pursuit of a better work/life balance has decreased mobility
• Investment banks are already making the necessary changes to attract junior candidates (worldwide increase of Analysts base salaries, strong increase of Associates and VP base salaries across Europe).
• However, in order to understand the aspiration of juniors in the Investment banking sector in German speaking countries, and help close future recruitment, we have conducted a survey across junior bankers in Investment Banking.
• The response rate is 8% (102 persons).

The survey was carried out with bankers  mostly focused on M&A and Leverage Finance and working on a wide range of financial firms.

Three focus groups have been defined: Analysts, Associates and Vice Presidents

Q:WHAT IS YOUR NEXT JOB MOVE MOST LIKELY TO BE?

• More than half the Analyst in Investment Banking aspire to remain in Banking
• The majority of Associates aspire to move to the buyside
• More than half of VPs wish to move to a  corporate role

REASONS TO MOVE – HIGH PROBABILITY TO MOVE

• 23% of the Analysts and Associates and 22% of the VPs were very likely to make a next job move in the next 12 months
• “better opportunity to learn” is a key factor to retain juniors
• Compensation is an important factor at VP level

• Analysts & Associates who are  very likely to move have been mostly disappointed by compensation and low learning curve
• Work/life balance is not a predominant factor to move

REASONS TO STAY – ANALYST AND ASSOCIATES

• For Analyst and Associates who will stay at their job learning is more important and they are quite happy with their learning curve
• Work life balance is an issue for them but not important enough to make them leave
• Slighty happier with comp than the group „very likely to move within next 12 months“

WHERE TO MOVE WITH A HIGH PROBABILITY TO MOVE IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS

• Lack of learning curve, a better platform and unattractive compensation are the main driver for Analyst, Associates and VPs to move to another investment bank
• Joining a start-up is perceived as an exciting move because the junior will learn more things