Investment Banking (2 Viewers)

[Trebla]

Says the accountant lol

Actuarial grads get a pretty comfortable salary upon graduating. However, you can obtain a much greater salary pretty quickly. If you've completed your part II exemptions upon graduating, you should be able to expect ~$150k in a few years time. The salary that an actuary earns upon completing part III is the "high actuarial salary" that most people talk about, which can be around $300k.

Source: Graduating tutor (actuarial), my former finance tutor working as a management consultant alongside actuaries, graduates from Finity consulting and Optiver at networking events and executives within actuarial society.

I don't like being a wanker with 'sources', but I don't really want to start an argument on BoS over something as meaningless as graduate salaries, so I thought I'd best put it in this post.

Salary isn't that greatly dependent on your qualifications. You can have all the relevant Actuarial Part III qualifications but your salary is hugely dependent on your experience and value to the company.

I have no idea who your networks are but all the actuaries I know who completed their Part III's rarely even get $150k+ salaries unless they've had experience for at least 5+ years.

Also, $300k is pretty ridiculous (and I daresay exaggerated) and only makes sense if you're the Appointed Actuary of a large insurance company (which takes at least 10+ years of experience to get to and very few people actually can claim to be that).

 

[Trebla]

With respect to IB, the reason the salaries are high is partly because the hours are long. When you calculate their base salary per hour then it is pretty 'average'. The real moolah comes when you get your bonuses but that is obviously contingent on you performing well. If you don't perform well then expect to be removed very quickly. This also applies to other areas like management consulting or prop trading where you get paid heaps as a grad but the trade off is a cut throat culture.

 

[v1]

So, I was wondering, after being at USYD & UTS's open days yesterday, what would be suitable majors to undertake at Uni, so as to be able to get into Investment Banking. Both uni's said they don't have an Investment Banking course itself, but said that each of their majors i.e. Economics, Finance, Accounting etc all contribute. So what would you guys say is the better majors to undertake? Thanks.

Bachelor of Investment Banking... hahaha how easy would life be. then to find out you will have to work 2x as much as other grads and lose your soul for the first few years of your 20s unless thats your thing. If you love working 14~ hours a day then go for it, but if you dont think u can last, pls just do what u enjoy

edit:
i heard a double degree - bachelor of microsoft office majoring in powerpoint and word with bachelor of proofreading major in formatting and punctuation improves ur chances heaps

 

[mreditor16]

Says the accountant lol

Actuarial grads get a pretty comfortable salary upon graduating. However, you can obtain a much greater salary pretty quickly. If you've completed your part II exemptions upon graduating, you should be able to expect ~$150k in a few years time. The salary that an actuary earns upon completing part III is the "high actuarial salary" that most people talk about, which can be around $300k.

Source: Graduating tutor (actuarial), my former finance tutor working as a management consultant alongside actuaries, graduates from Finity consulting and Optiver at networking events and executives within actuarial society.

I don't like being a wanker with 'sources', but I don't really want to start an argument on BoS over something as meaningless as graduate salaries, so I thought I'd best put it in this post.

You dont state any figure for a grad salary(which is the topic), what i stated is just fine, i have already mentioned about consulting which seems to be your main sources. I didnt state a general salary,i stated specific job salarirs that can be gotten as an actuarial as many don't actually go into pure actuarial work.

So yeah, thanks for the contribution.

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Salary isn't that greatly dependent on your qualifications. You can have all the relevant Actuarial Part III qualifications but your salary is hugely dependent on your experience and value to the company.

I have no idea who your networks are but all the actuaries I know who completed their Part III's rarely even get $150k+ salaries unless they've had experience for at least 5+ years.

Also, $300k is pretty ridiculous (and I daresay exaggerated) and only makes sense if you're the Appointed Actuary of a large insurance company (which takes at least 10+ years of experience to get to and very few people actually can claim to be that).

From the people I've talked to, an actuarial graduate with Part I and Part II exemptions will probably land an entry level actuarial role (e.g. Actuarial Analyst) upon graduation, which typically pays between $60k and $80k. From what I hear, the highest paid actuarial roles with only Part I and Part II under your belt is $100k (and that's really stretching it). However, once one obtains Part III, initially you're looking at $100k + jobs, and only after years and years of experience and climbing the ladder, do you actually start looking at $250k type salaries.

 

[enoilgam]

With respect to IB, the reason the salaries are high is partly because the hours are long. When you calculate their base salary per hour then it is pretty 'average'. The real moolah comes when you get your bonuses but that is obviously contingent on you performing well. If you don't perform well then expect to be removed very quickly. This also applies to other areas like management consulting or prop trading where you get paid heaps as a grad but the trade off is a cut throat culture.

This pretty much - IB is glamorous but you have to work for your money. Even in top tier law the culture is very cut-throat, if you arent bringing home the bacon they weed you out, graduate, associate or partner.

 

[asi9]

Finance is the most common major for IB in Australia but definitely not a necessity. As long you have high marks in your degree (whatever it may be), demonstrate a strong interest in investment banking through your work experience and/or ECs and can write a coherent cover letter, then you should be getting interviews.

 

[asi9]

But if you're insistent on doing a commerce degree, the strongest degrees for breaking into IB (outside of Co-op and other degrees that offer industry placements) would be Com/LLB at USYD

 

[obliviousninja]

Nah unsw matey

 

[RealiseNothing]

Says the accountant lol

Actuarial grads get a pretty comfortable salary upon graduating. However, you can obtain a much greater salary pretty quickly. If you've completed your part II exemptions upon graduating, you should be able to expect ~$150k in a few years time. The salary that an actuary earns upon completing part III is the "high actuarial salary" that most people talk about, which can be around $300k.

Source: Graduating tutor (actuarial), my former finance tutor working as a management consultant alongside actuaries, graduates from Finity consulting and Optiver at networking events and executives within actuarial society.

I don't like being a wanker with 'sources', but I don't really want to start an argument on BoS over something as meaningless as graduate salaries, so I thought I'd best put it in this post.

LOL

why are you asking Optiver about actuary salaries? They dont do that brah

 

[asi9]

As far as I know, the highest paying company for actuaries is Finity Consulting at ~$95k. Optiver have a similar base, but they also pay a bonus as a % of your desk's PnL I believe. They are also not an actuarial firm; they're prop traders.

 

[Vagabond]

Dare I ask what is it about IB which appeals to the new generation of young business/commerce degree kids? How many know what it actually entails?

(same question/threads get asked every year - I'm surprised noone has trolled the Op with "B Commerce (Finance/Investment Banking)" or better yet, "B Investment Banking")

I feel the same way about people wanting to work for large law firms. At least in banking you get paid.

 

[RishBonjour99]

I feel the same way about people wanting to work for large law firms. At least in banking you get paid.

Large law firms is pretty much the same. Prestige and your exit opportunities are great. If you did comm/law at usyd and had a 80 plus wam, not uncommon to see you jumping around from big law, IB and even mbb. Some people only care about money and leave mbb for optiver lol. The prestige of your company and the deals you're working on does play a part if you're looking to make moves in your career or further study (e.g. mba at harvard). How many people from kpmg audit have an mba from harvard?

 

[Vagabond]

Large law firms is pretty much the same. Prestige and your exit opportunities are great. If you did comm/law at usyd and had a 80 plus wam, not uncommon to see you jumping around from big law, IB and even mbb. Some people only care about money and leave mbb for optiver lol. The prestige of your company and the deals you're working on does play a part if you're looking to make moves in your career or further study (e.g. mba at harvard). How many people from kpmg audit have an mba from harvard?

Yeah my point was the law environment is stressful, hours are long and pay is pretty average until you're much more senior. In IB though, there's a lot of people with shorter-term career plans, e.g. just wanting to save enough money so they can start a business or take larger risks in their 20's.

Arguably we are in a great position inside Australia where MBA's (even those from Harvard) are entirely unnecessary as you can land permanent jobs in banking and consulting straight out of your bachelors. The NPV on working 3-5 years for only ~$50k in HECs costs for a job that requires an MBA in the U.S. is very lucrative. The trade-off is we don't really have the same exit opportunities in P/E, hedge funds or San Francisco unless you leave the country.

 

[enoilgam]

I feel the same way about people wanting to work for large law firms. At least in banking you get paid.

Commerce is an extremely vast field and there is a lot out there which most uni students have probably never heard of let alone considered.

 

[RishBonjour99]

Yeah my point was the law environment is stressful, hours are long and pay is pretty average until you're much more senior. In IB though, there's a lot of people with shorter-term career plans, e.g. just wanting to save enough money so they can start a business or take larger risks in their 20's.

Arguably we are in a great position inside Australia where MBA's (even those from Harvard) are entirely unnecessary as you can land permanent jobs in banking and consulting straight out of your bachelors. The NPV on working 3-5 years for only ~$50k in HECs costs for a job that requires an MBA in the U.S. is very lucrative. The trade-off is we don't really have the same exit opportunities in P/E, hedge funds or San Francisco unless you leave the country.

I certainly agree with you - Australia places substantially less emphasis on further education than mosy other countries. In the US, mba associate programs are almost as common as undergrad recruits into mbb or IB. Doesn't happen in Australia. Most people gunning for IB/MBB wouldn't want to confined to a market like Australia anyway so that's not an issue. Blackstone still has a fairly good practice in australia it seems like.

Even when you reach partner status in big law (which is a hugee if and takes a very long time) money is capped around 1.5m. Not worth slogging for that long.

It is probably also important to note that money isn't everything. One of my law professors once basically described his time at a big 6 as "people getting paid a bit more to do the same shit and going back to hating their life". Said 3 of his colleagues went into IB in late 30s and 2 went to med school. If you don't enjoy, DEFINITELY not the place to be.

 

[Jinks]

For me the biggest attraction to IB is basically the breadth of future opportunities that the experience could lead to.

That's not to say I think someone should aim for IB if they know they'll hate it but it's always nice to know that the skills you're developing are marketable to the broader business world (domestically and internationally). This gives you the ability to work somewhere because you want to, not because you have to (whether that's staying in banking and making a career out of it, moving to a corporate or starting a business).

If you're a business student and love following markets and deals I think banking is the place to be.

 

[Kaido]

I'm also curious and have a few questions:

1. Which is more desirable when recruiting IB: B Comm (Hons) or a B Comm double degree?
2. If the double degree is more desirable, what is the most favourable counterpart: Actuarial Studies; Science (Maths); Science or Engineering?

 

[pomsky]

Likewise, also have a few questions to ask.

I've talked to several commerce students and they've mentioned the other desirable graduate job aside from investment banking was management consulting. Does management consulting offer the same breadth and exit opportunities that Jinx mentioned IB gave? Are the hours similar? And what would you prefer given the choice between the two?

Finally, would combined commerce / law be any attractive to IB? (In comparison to the double degrees Kaido listed)

Happy new year guys!

Sent from my XT1068 using Tapatalk

 

[Jinks]

All the questions above have been covered in previous topics so it might be worth searching around rather than discussing again.

While both attract similar calibre of people they're still different roles and arguably set you up for different opportunities in the future - it all comes down to the individual regarding preference.

 

[RealiseNothing]

Likewise, also have a few questions to ask.

I've talked to several commerce students and they've mentioned the other desirable graduate job aside from investment banking was management consulting. Does management consulting offer the same breadth and exit opportunities that Jinx mentioned IB gave? Are the hours similar? And what would you prefer given the choice between the two?

Finally, would combined commerce / law be any attractive to IB? (In comparison to the double degrees Kaido listed)

Happy new year guys!

Another pretty good option is prop trading, but it's very hard to get into and the exit opportunities aren't good (but when you're making that much you don't really need any lol).