"Every junior MD & director in my investment banking team is frustrated"
I work for a US investment bank in London, and everyone I know here above vice president (VP) level is frustrated. Everyone complains. Everyone would like to leave; everyone is locked in.
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People complain and complain. It's the stock. It's the compensation. It's the senior staff. It's the politics and it's the dishonesty.
All the junior MDs and directors I know would leave immediately if they were offered voluntary redundancy. Unfortunately, it's never offered to the people who want it. Everyone here knows that if you say you'd be interested in taking voluntary redundancy, you'll probably be kept on and paid no bonus, or forced out with minimal severance. - I know of multiple people that this happened to last year.
It's a difficult situation. Directors have worked here for six or seven years and have a lot of deferred stock. The exit opportunities are minimal. - There are very few opportunities on offer at this level at other banks, and the golden handcuffs make us prohibitively expensive. Premium banks hire very few people at director level, and lower tier banks can't afford us. If they're hiring a mid-level banker, most places would prefer a vice president as VPs have more humility. That includes funds.
It means we're stuck here. The other exit options - corporate development, for example - pay far less than director-level jobs in banks. The only option is to do something entirely different with a far lower cost of living. Sheep farming, maybe.
Hamish Green is a pseudonym
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