It doesn’t really work like that. Salaries/bonuses for junior-through-mid-level staff are generally set based on market norms and overall deal activity and fees in the year. If fees are up by 10%, compensation will be up by something in that range (and vice versa if down).

Most of the variable component in compensation or individual teams and their performance goes to the MDs. When times are good, they get huge upside, and when the market is terrible, they take a huge pay cut (see: the past 2 years).

For a 0.1% fee on a $30 billion deal, something like $5-10 million may be set aside for the team responsible, but the MDs will take the bulk of it, and at large banks, the fees will be distributed between *a lot* of MDs, even ones who were not directly responsible for closing the deal. This explains why most MDs, even those who worked on $30 billion closed deals, are typically not going to earn above the low millions in total compensation per year.

Yes, Goldman does not have traditional industry vs. product groups and tends to do most of the deal work internally in the industry groups. I believe the M&A team there is for smaller / more unusual / one-off deals and is probably a worse overall experience than working in a strong industry group.

No, it is considered asset management or investment management.

Thank you for the post. Quick question. Is a role at “HSBC Global Asset management – Investments ” also considered investment banking?

I know that it is not a traditional group when we think of IBD. But is it still considered Investment banking?

Yes, in some cases it is easier for banks with large Balance Sheets to do deals, but it’s not like a bank is going to turn down a deal just because it doesn’t also win the financing mandate.

If you know what you’re talking about, it’s fine to bring up modeling experience. Just make sure you know some of the numbers and how your work affected the deal.

-“In the current environment (2020), though, that’s far less of a factor, and banks are more than happy to earn just the advisory fee if someone else is providing the financing.” Can you elaborate on that? Isn’t that easier for banks with large balance sheet (BAML, JPM, Citi) to do the deals?

– Can you add more color on why it’s not great to speak about the modelling experience in interviews? If I did the prelimianry valuation analysis (DCF, comps, LBO, etc.) in the internship, what should be an ideal flow to talk about in the interview?

Thank you very much Brain! Really appreciate it!

Thanks for reading!