Which career would make more money over time?

[baffledbaoutmycareer]

Big 4, consulting OR
Back office at an asset manager

taking into account career progression, exit opps etc.

Big 4 consulting definitely.

Yes, consulting

Depends how far you go. Getting to Partner (equity, not salaried) in the big 4 will take your soul, but hit >£1m . The pay on the way isn’t that great.

In general finance is better paid and you get to fund manger, it’s big cheque time.

I’m in financial services.

I also see what people earn. LTIPS or RSU’s are when it’s interesting.

What are LTIPS or RSU’s ?

Is there any way you can go from Big 4 to fund manager?
e.g. big 4 to IB to HF?

RSU - stock (restricted stock unit)
LTIPS - stock (long term incentive plan)

both are usually linked to performance.

I’ve seen banking to big 4. Top of your game, of course the advisory companies want you - and your black book.

Advisory seem to go into government jobs, or burn out.

Clearly my experience and not scientific.

Hedge funds are the bottom feeders in term of equality. It’s the last bastion on the old boys club. There and PE.

How old are you?

There were 1000 £1m bankers in the city a few years ago. I know that KPMG used to have ‘the million £ club’ (partners, not advertised), but the members weren’t 250k strong.

The money, is where the money is.

what on earth is black book at big 4?
Advisory seem to go into government jobs, or burn out.--- what does that mean, you mean advisory big 4
I am 22

how many million pound partners are there in the big 4?

Black book is your contacts and network of people.

Advisory/consultants, burn out

Not sure on partners, but not as many as bankers, that’s for sure. It may well be on their accounts. Remember, however smart they are, they are a service. I know several equity partners and none earn like my bankers/fund managers.

What’s your degree in?

Fund management is a specialised skill requiring intimate knowledge of investment,markets etc.
Consulting - I assume you mean management consulting - is a more generalised skillset focusing on business strategy.

Unless you mean tech consulting, or one of the other 'consultings'?

What is your back office role in - are you operations? What degree subject?

You’ve posted a few threads about where to go after Big4 / how to move around in Bug4 but it looks like you are just about to start a grad scheme?

Honestly in year 1 work hard, pass your exams and get a reputation for being a strong performer. The exams are tough and whilst everyone knows most grads move on once qualified they also expect them to play the game and show commitment during the training contract. Stop chasing the money you want in five years time and focus on getting through the training contract - they are tough and many many grads struggle to balance work and study in the first year.

You should be able to get opportunities to do secondments / work on projects outside your training area if you are smart and good at what you do. These will help you work out what you actually want to specialise in and also build out your network.

Once you are qualified the opportunities are there but trying to plan your entire career before you’ve even started is a bit OTT.

If you want to earn the biggest bucks you need to get grad scheme in IB. I believe Goldman’s start on >120k. Good luck, they break people.

My degree was in Econ
How much can top fund managers and bankers earn compared to equity partners?

back office role is tech bacc office..think cybersecurity, digitilisation
consulting at big 4 is restructuring
d

Those are two completely different career paths!
It's impossible to say which makes 'more money' than the other.
You need to do more research

It really depends. Terry Smith lives on his own private island!

Neil Woodford used to bill £400m a YEAR for investec. The biggest ever annual bonus in a listed Co was to a banker in Barclays, without googling it was something like £157m in one year. Hedge fund managers can earn $100’s of millions.

Honestly consultants are serving the bankers. You clearly have no idea how the city works if you think that anyone other than the men that run the money dominate.

The best fund managers suck funds in, and scrape off their share.

Join a Hedge Fund as an analyst.

Don’t you read the FT?

Bonus’ down

https://www.fnlondon.com/amp/articles/barclays-pays-bonuses-of-642000-to-top-investment-bankers-20230215

Bonus, not package!

OP, you are comparing the pay of the top performers at each of the sectors.

Do you have superstar quality? It is not just hard work (but there will be lots of it and a given) but luck, being in the right place at the right time and personal qualities like ambition, likeability, raw intelligence and a certain X factor, call it 'presence', 'fit, or 'looking the part', all of which does not tend to work in favour of women in cut throat male dominated industries.

I agree with LittleBT that the most important thing right now is to work hard, be the best you can and grab as many opportunities as you can. The idea is also to find out what type of job is the best and natural fit for you. The competition is tough so you want to shine in an area which you can excel, not in an area where others will naturally have an advantage. Otherwise you will burn out.

For example, if you dislike presentations, pitches, sales and schmoozing, better not to go for a front office role or a role that requires you to build a blackbook. Instead a technical role in cybersecurity or back office tech may suit you better.

Personally, from the way you write, you are not an obvious candidate for attention to detail or research skills, so don't go for jobs that require this.

Neither of the roles OP has gotten is particularly competitive compared to IB or being a hedge fund analyst
... Doubt they could manage that, especially with the level of sophistication shown here

Take consulting.

Back office in asset management has nothing to do with being a fund manager so not sure why everyone is talking about it.

Thede is lots of potential for big money as a contractor in tech - which is what youre essentially doing. The fact that it's 'back office' at a fund manager is irrelevant.

Starting to double this is a real post