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What are the Pros and Cons of working in retail?

What are the pros and cons of working in sales and trading as opposed to investment banking?

  • What are the pros and cons of working in each? Note: S&T stands for Sales and Trading and IBD stands for Investment Banking Division (say, M&A, LevFin etc.)

  • Answer:

    S&T: - less hours (you have weekends) - different kind of pressure: accute during market peak hours - less money (maybe from 10% to 30% less) - less career options down the road - bullying "dorm" culture IB: - more hours - constant high-pressure environment - harsh "cold" culture - more money - no weekends, no pre-planned vacations (or high chance of cancellation) - very broad post-IB career options - very high level client interactions

Francisco Souza Homem de Mello at Quora Visit the source

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It's hard to generalize about S&T.  For one thing, "sales" and "trading" are two separate roles that could hardly be more different in the skills they require or the kinds of people they attract.  And S&T also encompasses a bunch of other roles such as structurers (which is what I do) and quants.  Furthermore there is a vast array of different products that banks trade and cultures vary greatly among desks.  IBD roles seem somewhat more limited and uniform, at least within a bank.  In my experience, in S&T: You will probably work fewer hours than in IBD, but the hours will still be long (particularly if you are trading/structuring a complex product) and you will probably have to start very early You may make less money than in IBD, or you may make more (this depends on a lot of things) You may be stressed out during market hours (if you are trading/selling a "flow" product).  Or you may have project based work and often not care whether the market is open (if you are trading a complex/structured product). You may be subjected to a frat house culture, but probably not (I think this is an old stereotype that is seldom accurate nowadays).  Given the increased complexity of products over the last few decades, some desks are downright nerdy. You will definitely have fewer exit options than in IBD On the other hand, your chances of moving into senior management at the bank are probably greater.  Most I-bank CEOs are from an S&T background.

Richard Warfield

To reduce the amount of redundancy on the web, I'll link here: http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/sales-trading-vs-investment-banking-part-1-recruiting/ http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/sales-trading-vs-investment-banking-part-2-lifestyle/ S&T - work capital market hours for the exchange you're covering (however, trading on the Nikkei out of Chicago will probably be a killer IBD - nice pay, but you'll spend hours and hours (usually evenings to early mornings) reviewing and rehashing the same model and pitchbook

Jacob Vincent

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