Hi. I'm a mid-senior level VP at the US's largest IB (the one with the red umbrella), working in Market Risk Mgt - line mgt + budget responsibilitiy. Prev exp includes prop trading FX deriv's and IT in risk mgt too - total 9+ years. Have MBA and 1st class hons in maths related subject. Looking to move out of IB and into strat consulting. Main worries relate to a potential income drop and level I may go into a new firm at - expect 'Manager' level, but who knows... Any advice?

If money is your main motivator (and there is nothing wrong with that) then I would dtay in IB, and perhaps look for an alternative service line. Your right about the income drop. I cant guess what your on because I have manyh friends who are in IB at all around the same level, but with quite different salaries working in the same service line albiet in different companies. Your more likely to earn more money at the likes of Bain, BCG, McK etc which im sure you know. However, if you were to find a boutique consultancy or one that specializes in your area of skill then you may be on to a little earner. The level you would come in at in general in consulting would vary on the firm and how good your 'chat' is during interviews. If you can sell yourself well the better chance you have at coming in at a higher level. The most likely incident, I believe is that you would prob come in lower than you want but the firm will promise swift promotion if you do well. Best of luck. p.s. 'red umbrella' stumped me?!

Thanks anon. I wouldn't say money is my main motivator, but we all have to pay the bills right... to be honest, I'd accept a much smaller bonus, but the salary pays the monthly mortgage bill! My issue is that although I obviously have no direct strategy consulting experience, I was hoping to avoid dropping to MBA graduate level... I do have lots of Basel 2 (Exposure at Default for traded products, rather than the more common LGD on banking book exp) which I kind of hope might give me an 'in' - but perhaps thats more relevent to a full service house, than a pure strat firm... Any other views out there, or indeed if people have made this move before, how'd it go?

Red Umbrella + large US IB = Citigroup

Cheers mate, it clicked later on. I was abit behind the pace this morning!!

Actually if you dont mind I have a question for you. My cousin is considering moving into IB after his MBA, I think either into asset management or global investment research..im not too sure but one of those lines if my memory serves me correctly. He is curious to know how much fresh MBAs can earn (average) both as a base salary and with bonus? He is motivated by money believe me. which lines except trading pay the best/offer the best rewards. Cheers

Straight investment banking (M&A + structured products etc) probably pays the best, hours are awful, and its as cut-throat as trading, but they play a longer game... but it'd take several years as a 'gimp' before serious cash reward, even with an MBA. Research - depends if you become a star or not (and few do these days post .com crash). Again, same with asset management - if you manage to get yourself a name, the skys the limit. As with everything, it depends on his abilities.

Thanks for that. Could you give a ball park figure (£) of what he could expect straight out of an MBA as a base salary and bonus. Do you think the trade off with hours is worth it?

Could vary hugely, depending on prev experience, position applied for and if you join as part of an associate program or not. Est avg basic 45-65k gbp with bonus of 0-50%, prob around 20-30% realistically... though, again, could be much more depending... there also tends to be approx 10% non-contrib pension plus other benefits like share options/car/etc - although all highly variable (car a rareity). If he/she has no IB exp at all, I'd recommend reading economist/FT/ etc etc to at least get a feel for biz - beyond that the general rule of thumb is, if you work in a producing centre, you'll get more than in a non-producing centre. Top tier firms are also very different from 2nd tier and lower - top tier much more segmented, bigger pay, but narrow - smaller firms tend to seek more generalists, poss faster career progression, but pay less - you takes your pick....

Thanks for that. One last thing if I may. If one was to join as part of the associate program, how would that affect your previous post?

My advice. Try to join a multi faceted consultancy like acn or deloitte - in financial services. Play HUGE importance to the clients / relationships you have made in your career. Also, 9 yrs of experience in consultancy is snr manager level. do that for a few years (where salary will drop compared to IB) and then if you can, go to partner. Average partner salary at deloitte strategy department last year was 700k (sterling). Dont know how much youre making now but that is not too bad to take home to the Mrs... drop me a line if you want to meet / speak in private.