Choosing between Internships
April 26, 2024
by an member from Florida State University in Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
My goal is to get into Investment Banking. Currently I have..,
1. an offer for a fully remote internship in IB at an extremely small company (1 owner, 1 Vp, 1 associate, 2 interns).
2. A remote offer (with opportunity for some in person meetings) at a larger firm for a SYNDICATE internship. I was told this is similar to IB in some ways. The other plus for this internship would be that I applied for their IB team and they suggested I try this instead, so could potentially move into their IB team post internship? If perform well, this wasn’t told to me; would be my plan though.
from Indiana University, Bloomington/Indianapolis in Miami, FL, USA
BUT - this all depends on your goals - from what I can read into (and like many other students). I'm guessing you probably want a traditional investment banking experience working in some form of the two 1) industry team (industrials, CNR, TMT, healthcare, ect.) 2) product group (M&A, DCM, ECM, Lev Fin ). If your goal is to go from IB >> PE, it is always best to optimize for that path out of the gates so you have the least amount of friction. These days, PE shops are recruiting and signing IB analysts 2-3 years in advance of their start date at the PE firm (which is absolutely insane by the way). In general, it's easier to move laterally to "better" IB shops if you have direct IB experience vs. syndicate experience. Its harder to go from syndicate to IB role the farther you get into your career (say 2-3 years into syndicate role for example). That not to say it cant be done because many have, but its harder. This isn't a one-size-fits-all, but here is my lame generalizations of each role:
Syndicate is different in the sense that your role is more limited to the end of the process of an IPO/debt issuance/secondary issuance. Depending on the syndicate desk you sit in, your primary responsibilities will be facilitating the process between issuer and investor - raising capital from investors, market update calls, coordinating roadshows & investor meetings, documentation, compliance, ect. Your daily schedule and exposure will be more tied to the markets (get in at 6-7am pre market, wrap at 5/6/7pm at market close depending on the team).
In an IB group, the role is multi-dimensional in the sense that you serve as an advisor at the base of the companies needs. So whether they want to sell to a strategic, do an IPO, issue debt, acquire a competitor, want to expand into a different market - an investment banker is there to serve all those needs and pulls in all the necessary internal/external partners (sometimes including a syndicate desk) to make it happen. Your primary responsibilities will be creating pitch decks & presentations, roadshow materials, financial modeling, industry research to name a few. Your daily schedule/hours, well, I think you probably can imagine, its not tied to opens and close of financial markets and likely more intense.
Now to my advice directly on your question - 100% agree with what folks are saying it's all about who you surround yourself with / mentorship. What you also need to consider here is will the syndicate internship really lead to a full-time IB role? You could be a year or two in before you lateral. But sometimes its better to get your foot in the door at a large bank. Don't get sucked into false promises, make sure they have a solid mobility program and you can see a path to IB if that's what you want. The other opportunity at a small shop I like, you will get hands on experience with a lean deal team with probably a flat structure. Everybody will be doing everything. I think here its important to understand how the team operates, the experience of the current members, what types of deals they work on, and expectations of analyst/intern. I know this is very EARLY in your professional career, so you are in a great spot either way. But if I were you, I think I would go with the small shop which will set up your trajectory in IB a bit better. Of course this advice is all based on you mentioning you want to get into IB and me assuming that's the standard coverage/industry/product group route most students pursue.
from INSEAD in Chicago, IL, USA