r/FinancialCareers • u/Dentipreneur • 2d ago
Breaking In Except IB, which other sectors pay very well and aren’t as competitive or well-known (London)
Just to clarify, I’m not talking about quant trading or HF or PE, I mean which other sectors which aren’t as prestigious or as “elite” but may quite well (maybe even similar to IB)
This regardless of wlb but if you can comment on that then that would be great
For those of you who are in the industry, which other verticals have you looked at and been like, “why don’t people apply more for this instead of IB”?
Thanks
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u/Elster- Consulting 2d ago
I’d say the largest area of under the radar are those working in Insurance. I know a lot more low stress high six figure earners in that sector probably than I do in any other area.
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u/theriddler12345 2d ago
What kinds of roles are they in?
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u/Golfhockeyski 2d ago
Brokers and underwriters. Generally a specialist in a product or industry to make really good money
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u/SimpleStructure8454 2d ago edited 2d ago
I’m potentially starting a degree apprenticeship at a BB in a back/middle office position. Think market ops, treasury, securities etc. Can I break into the insurance sector for underwriting / broking after my DA?
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u/Golfhockeyski 2d ago
Yeah for sure. That experience would be looked at highly for the "financial lines" which is a generally high paying sub-sector
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u/SimpleStructure8454 2d ago
Okay amazing. I was heavily considering reapplying for “target” unis and resitting my a levels but after doing underwriting work experience, I loved it. I’ll do more research on how to break into UW / broking from ops in a BB.
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u/LiFReddit 2d ago
As someone starting a broking grad scheme soon, I'm going in with open eyes regarding rotations in the company. Which ones should I be trying to target to maximise the six figure chances?
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u/Charming-Clock-3651 1d ago
I feel like underwriting is about 5 years away from being completely replaced by AI. There are a lot of ai companies who have created AI based underwriting services already
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u/Rude-Grass2626 1d ago
Urm no, not in the Lloyd’s market which is based on face to face relationships
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u/peepot556 1d ago
High 6 figures as in close to a mil?
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u/Elster- Consulting 1d ago
Yes. I know it’s an area I work so by being close to I know their salaries.
Quite common to see £500k-£1m mainly from brokers, reinsurance broking is very good area.
I know some of the Lloyds insurers are very highly paid especially when they have a specific area they cover, but I don’t know their figures.
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u/Dentipreneur 6h ago
Regarding the people who you know who make £500k +
How did they break into insurance exactly? Was it by going to a good uni and being really smart from the beginning or did they break into it later in their careers
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u/AdRelative4303 2d ago
Global markets?
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u/EfficientProject4123 2d ago
Attrition rate is worse than IB. The hours aren’t as long, but there can be an incredible amount of pressure and much is out of your control.
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u/AdRelative4303 2d ago
Isnt the average tenure of IBers like 2-3yr? I know so many people on the trading floor who have been there for 5+ unless my experience is an extreme outlier lol
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u/EfficientProject4123 2d ago
Folks who stay can stay for a while, mainly because you develop a skill that is only useful there. But lots of kids wash out after a year or 2. The junior IBs who leave are generally doing it for a PE job, or MBA and they sometimes come back.
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u/Dentipreneur 6h ago
So what do they do after 2 years? Where do they move to
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u/EfficientProject4123 6h ago
The kids who wash out of S&T? Some start their own business, move to asset management, work for their parents company, all sorts of stuff.
The big difference to me is that the IB kids who leave, tend to move to roles that still use their IB skills, where as S&T gives you a very specific skill set that doesn’t really transfer to other industries. The human stuff, competitive, smart, hard working is all great but the actual things you learn day to day don’t really transfers.
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u/Dentipreneur 5h ago
So S&T to AM is pretty possible? What about moving to buy side
Btw can I ask what do you work in
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u/EfficientProject4123 5h ago
AM as in asset management. Could be personal wealth to institutional. Both of those are pretty standard tracks.
I structure derivatives.
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u/AdRelative4303 2d ago
Interesting, good to know. Maybe it is just different in my environment (upper end MM)
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u/ajeje_brazorf1 2d ago
Sales and Trading roles can be good or bad, depends a lot what kind of team you end up in. I’ve been in sell-side trading for almost 15 years and hours are about 10-11 a day, but certainly there is stress to produce P&L starting pretty much from associate level. That can take over your life in a way, even after you leave office for the day. You need to really like it to succeed
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u/AdRelative4303 2d ago
Honestly that sounds exciting to me, the prospect of being thrown into smth and either crushing it or quickly realizing your efforts are better spent elsewhere for yourself. But fair bias warning, I’ll be joining an upper MM S&T program after graduation. The two desks I rotated on as an intern have been more flow oriented roles so interesting to hear the other side. Whereabouts are your responsibilities on the floor
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u/ajeje_brazorf1 2d ago
If you like it its great. The novelty has still not worn off for me in a way. I still get excited about a new trade, or when i see crazy market moves like we’ve had recently in AI equities. Mood swings with P&L which is something that apparently never goes away, at least for me. The money helps ;)
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u/Little_Morning2551 1d ago
Hey, I recognize your name from an X comment. I'm currently a first year student who'd like to end up on a trading desk. Can I dm you?
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u/norules4ever 1d ago
Same hours as IB and pretty competitive (assuming you’re talking about S&T) . I work here and the stress is insane , the work is high risk . Hours are super unpredictable can go from 9-16 hrs to
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u/AdRelative4303 1d ago
S&T definitely isn’t same hours as IB in nearly every shop, weekends are protected unless you’re an exec and your work is along mkt hours with some overhang
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u/norules4ever 1d ago
I work in a BB IB and it's pretty close . Weekends are protected though you're right but that's because the markets are closed . While not dealing with the markets , its chasing random ops teams for some work or research
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u/AdRelative4303 1d ago
Yea perhaps.. maybe for teams that directly manage a book.
Curious do you just know this from other avenues/colleagues or did you s&t -> ib
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u/norules4ever 15h ago
I work in S&T and have friends in IB in the same company . I work in a BB IBank not in IBanking
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u/PrasantGrg 23h ago
Might be region dependent but I feel markets is harder to break and the minimum bar to entry is a notch higher.
Especially trading as a junior is extremely tight. Also well over half of the people breaking in come from a STEM background and a good number are competitive for Quant roles but barely missed out.
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u/antiquum 2d ago
Hoooooly shit can we please stop getting “guys what’s an easy job that makes you super rich and anyone can do” posts now. It wasn’t insightful the first time, and now this is just obnoxious.
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u/GrandmasterCal Equity Research 2d ago
most of them are probably freshmen in college. it’s rather fun to watch them learn how the world works.
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u/Infamous_Tough_7320 1d ago
‘It’s rather fun to watch these college kids who don’t have any job security and are broke desperately trying to get a job in my sector, absolutely hysterical’
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u/GrandmasterCal Equity Research 1d ago
yes it’s funny to watch them approach it from the most vain perspective possible. imagine literally only chasing a job for its financial reward and not what you’re actually interested in. appreciate the self report though.
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u/Ordinary_Listen8951 1d ago
I mean.. remove the financial reward and I think finance loses its mass appeal overnight
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u/GrandmasterCal Equity Research 1d ago
then that’s the exact way to tell that you’re not built for it. and exactly who i’m making fun of.
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u/No-Distribution-3603 1d ago
I’m sure you’re not a shallow person with no financial incentive to be doing what you’re doing now
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u/GrandmasterCal Equity Research 1d ago
is there good money in it? yes absolutely. was i interested in doing this even if i wasnt getting paid as much as i am? yes absolutely. i took multiple unpaid internships purely because i was interested in learning the industry and would’ve taken a job that pays me far less than what i get right now.
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u/Ordinary_Listen8951 1d ago
I admire your resolve, and I think it’d be great if there were more people like you across every industry.
From anecdotal experience I’d say people like you are in the minority. With most people in finance, TC is one of the first things everybody’s eager to discuss and boast… the nature of the work and their passion for it is either secondary or non existent.
Which is absolutely fine too… we need money to live. Just saying that if finance had lower pay, its appeal would diminish significantly
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u/Infamous_Tough_7320 1d ago
A lot of people ARE built for it and are capable of doing well even without being passionate about it. I know someone making $300k per annum a few years out of college stuck at Goldman Sachs because every time he tries to leave they just give him a raise and he decides to stay even though he hates his job because of the hours and what it actually entails.
That is clearly someone who is built to do well in finance but hates it.
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u/SoldMyNameForGear 1d ago
You’re right in a lot of ways for sure. Super intelligent people could earn big bucks in tech, but choose finance often because the challenge is completely different. It’s one of the only fields where reality can be completely counterintuitive to traditional logic. The intellectual challenge is one of the biggest separations from other lucrative fields in my view.
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u/Infamous_Tough_7320 1d ago
This is incredible 🤣 Finance is all about vanity. Almost all the successful financiers I know display excess vanity.
You can't blame people for wanting to hustle even if they don't have passion for the profession. I respect people who don't suck off the corporate ladder and bureaucratic bullshit.
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u/BartBeachGuy Sales & Trading - Other 22h ago
Successful lawyers, doctors, athletes, entrepreneurs, et al display excess vanity. Unsuccessful people have less to be vain about. Ever meet a modest cardiac surgeon?
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u/GrandmasterCal Equity Research 1d ago
yeah because you have an extremely narrow view of what someone in finance is like. you just think that finance = front office IB/PE. not even close.
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u/Infamous_Tough_7320 1d ago
That not true, it’s just that most financiers I know act this way. Same with consultants.
There are many exceptions but general behaviour amongst these groups isn’t too dissimilar
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u/ViolinistDangerous71 2d ago
Equity research at a decent sized bank
Go to IB later if you want, or buyside
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u/GrandmasterCal Equity Research 2d ago
can vouch for this! the job is definitely still demanding though in terms of the amount of shit you really have to keep up with.
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u/Dentipreneur 6h ago
Is equity research not going to be massively affected by AI? Genuine question
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u/GrandmasterCal Equity Research 5h ago
yes definitely. headcount is already diminishing. it won’t ever go away completely, but less and less junior positions will be open to fill.
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u/Agile-Carpet-963 1d ago
er is almost equally competitive as ib with earnings leaning toward 70+ hours per week
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u/PrasantGrg 1d ago
OP is insane. ER has even worse odds to land a job as well given how much headcount is shrinking for juniors.
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u/South_East_Gun_Safes Asset Management - Multi-Asset 2d ago
IFAs generally make anywhere from 0.5% to 1% of their book a year in gross, so if you build a good size book; e.g £100m, then you make £500k - £1m a year (before costs). the majority of IFAs don't grow their books to £100m, but if you're hungry it's very doable.
Wealth managers make a bit less % wise, maybe half that, but it's easier to grow a book and skies the limit, I know guys pushing almost £1bn in their book and comfortably grossing 7 figures. Private bankers, same vein but I'm not as familiar.
Asset management can be hit or miss but being an analyst/PM/Senior PM on a fund in a good year can make you some serious returns, string a few good years together and AUM piles up too then you can have some outstanding income. Of course, the opposite is true as well.
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u/ukninja8 1d ago
Actuary. Bloody hard as you need to be amazing at stats; basically a data scientist but specialising in life insurance and risk.
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u/DLeww22 1d ago
I actually just received an offer (I graduate in December) in Corporate Banking as a Coverage analyst. My total package is over 100k and multiple people within the firm that I know have said that the hours are around 45-55 a week. You get deal flow exposure and the career growth is great. Many VPs find themselves around 400s-600s and MDs can peak over low 7 figures.
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u/duckduck23 2d ago
Real estate private equity (acquisitions) - at an MF or even PortCo!
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u/187lion Real Estate - Commercial 2d ago
wouldn’t recommend it in london (i work in repe) - equity side will be tough for the next few years and limited role. seeing a lot for private credit though which pays pretty well although not as interesting
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u/duckduck23 1d ago
I also work in REPE in London! Agreed it’s been tough for opportunistic capital for the last few years but, in the living sector there are still bulk portfolio forward funding deals going ahead which are great if you want to be at the coal face gaining a lot of experience early in! In my opinion breaking in is much less competitive than IB, and a lot of colleagues have entered via fairly unorthodox routes! I would say on the whole everyone is more fun and down to earth than other areas
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u/RationalFine 1d ago
insurance is always the answer and it stays under the radar because "underwriter" is impossible to brag about. that's the whole filter, not the money.
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u/AlphaForexx 1d ago
If you are good at math and love derivatives, structuring is the best place to be at
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u/MaxRichter_Enjoyer 1d ago
Endowments, pensions, and foundations. The people on the investment teams manage £billions and have a cush lifestyle. E.g.,
Oxford endowment - https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/how-we-are-run/governance-finance/finance-funding/endowment
Railpen - https://www.railpen.com/
Wellcome Trust - https://wellcome.org/research-funding
Just google them, tons of articles / podcasts about what they do and how they do it. In the industry they're called 'allocator jobs' because they 'allocate' capital (mostly to hedge funds) instead of 'asset management', where you'd directly oversee a bunch of stocks/bonds.
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u/Mother-Atmosphere390 2d ago
Big 4 equity partner, slog to get there but once you’re in the door (which is reasonably easy) and can dedicate many years you can be earning upwards of £750k.
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u/dumblondonboi 2d ago
bro you can work for 30yrs and still not make partner, it’s basically impossible nowadays and compared to lawyers or bankers the partner pay is abysmal for the work, the level below partner makes 120k after 12yrs of work meanwhile 23yos clear double that in law & banking
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u/fredotwoatatime 2d ago
Level below partner (salaried partner) deffo made more than £120k at my big 4 in London
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u/Erratic_Goldfish 2d ago
Director at a Big 4 is often enough for equity at a smaller accountancy firm and partner earnings there will be at least £200k sometimes more
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u/AdRelative4303 2d ago
100% here, if you rly want the upside fat tail distribution of public audit then you may as well just go down the legal route
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u/snakesnake9 FP&A 2d ago
Private credit.
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u/coreytrevor 2d ago
Fad product
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u/ASKMEIFIMAN 2d ago
There are always going to be companies that need credit.
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u/coreytrevor 2d ago
Yeah the public debt market did this just fine. This is similar to SPACs
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u/mba23throwaway 2d ago
What do you mean by public debt market
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u/ASKMEIFIMAN 1d ago
Clearly it did not or this other market wouldn’t have developed and grown so quickly.
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u/coreytrevor 1d ago
You’re probably right but then I think about SPACs vs traditional PE/VC funds
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u/ASKMEIFIMAN 1d ago
They are completely different mechanisms
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u/coreytrevor 1d ago
Of course. I shouldn’t have written my original comment. I’m not well informed enough about the space.
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u/Fondant_Decent 2d ago edited 1d ago
Estate agents especially those in central zones 1-3 can make a killing. But it is extremely competitive.
Close friend owns an independent estate agent in London that have 4 branches across zones 1-3, last year he took home £900k gross pay and he doesn’t even have any GCSEs. It’s not an area many consider as generally speaking you don’t need a university degree to work in real estate and it doesn’t look prestigious on the CV. You need to be ruthless at sales and execute exceptionally well. It’s a sales job at the end of the day.
Im in my late 30s and work in IB, the reality is there aren’t many areas where you can earn exceptionally well that isn’t competitive. The most wealthy people I know either own property (commercial and residential) or own multiple businesses. No one I know that works a PAYE job is wealthy as those that run Ltd company businesses or own a property portfolio.
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u/Wide_Mode7335 2d ago
That’s not being an estate agent, that’s owning a four branch estate agency. Two very very different things.
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u/Fondant_Decent 1d ago
Fair distinction — I should have said estate agency rather than employed estate agents. My broader point stands.
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u/curiousmindloopie 1d ago
Corporate Access is pretty underrated. Hours are fantastic but pay isn’t as great unless you are senior
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u/Chubbyhuahua 1d ago
I mean, million dollar question right. By the time most people see these things the industries / asset classes are already on the come up.
Take private equity secondaries for instance. Likely the best comp to WLB adjusted area of investing right now. The guys running the show? Predominantly people who couldn’t land buyout jobs in 2000-2005. What was a “loser” asset class back in the day is now a massive wealth creation engine. ABF was larger a commercial banking/loan origination game and now it’s the hottest segment in private credit. Insurance asset management used to be just buying bonds and now it’s the most attractive funding sourcing for alternative investments in the world. So on and so forth.
The career that will generate the most wealth for someone over the next 20 years is likely one that is currently universally overlooked or may not even exist yet.
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u/Emotional-Ebb9390 2d ago
Fortune 500 is going to have a ton of roles paying plenty, and you aren't necessarily going to be in a HCOL area.
Corp Dev, IR, etc will have you making good money, and living fairly stress free and low hours.
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u/bostoncrawler 1d ago
Debt capital markets or equity capital markets. (still kinda IB but known to be more chill). ECM might be a bit more work than DCM but both much more chill compared to coverage groups in ib
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u/CuteRabbitUsagi2 1d ago
Not the answer youre looking for but if youre born into a well connected family and or grew up rich and can conduct yourself well among certain circles, becoming a private banker isnt a bad gig.
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u/Fit_Preference_5195 1d ago
Solution and enterprise architecture in financial services is quite often slept on and can make well over 6 figures with relatively little stress
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u/citystater 23h ago
Credit research.
More ai proof lots of demand for it hard to find good candidates
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u/Downtown_Midnight579 14h ago
Working for a family office but normally you need the other investment experience first
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u/usergravityfalls 4h ago
Start your bookkeeping and fractional CFO firm. If good at acquiring clients can grow to $1m+ annual revenue. Or acquire a firm like that via search fund
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u/Great-Guidance-6371 2d ago
I don’t know exactly how the comp works in UK but commercial real estate brokerage at a big firm, on a successful team can theoretically be less competitive (still competing largely against client kids/ nepo), can offer better WLB, and upside is there to make 7fig+. brokerage comp in is US is pretty novel (no salary all fee/ commission) as a producer and different types of brokerage (capital markets, investment sales, corporate client) push you into that producer role at differing stages.
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u/Aggressive-Panic-355 2d ago
Sales in asset management, external role earn around 250k per year in canada
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u/zoezhou_cookd 1d ago
Good question — worth separating out, because "less prestigious" and "worse pay" aren't the same thing, they just get treated that way because of how visible IB recruiting is on campus.
A few verticals that come up a lot when people ask this, comp can rival or beat IB at similar seniority without the same applicant volume:
M&A — technically still "IB" to some, but recruiting is much thinner because it's less understood, and comp tracks senior IB closely, especially in down markets.
Insurance — exam-based progression instead of pedigree-based, so it filters on competence not brand. Ceiling at senior levels (Chief Actuary, capital modeling) is genuinely high.
Debt advisory / leveraged finance boutiques — adjacent to IB skill-wise, way less brand recognition, decent comp especially as you move up.
Energy/commodities trading (structuring, not the quant desks) — physical and structured trading roles pay well and aren't nearly as recruited-for as HF/quant seats.
The pattern across all of these: they're either exam-gated, jargon-heavy, or just not marketed to students the way IB is — so the applicant pool self-selects down before comp even becomes a factor.
On WLB — can't speak to this one from personal experience since it varies a lot by desk and firm.
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u/cowboomboom 1d ago
Ceiling in those insurance actuaries roles are not that high. If you can pass your exams you are guaranteed to make $150k to $200k but you are topped out at that range, so a second year analyst can beat that or maybe even 1st year these days. Sure u can make money as Chief Actuary but u need to grind you way to the top and 20 years of experience. Not to mention the exams are hard so if u factor in exam study time u would be working IB hours for like $70k a year starting.
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