The standard answer to the question is probably YES…but…I've secured a couple of interviews for Equity research (Associate) at a couple of leading IB's.I'm currently a MC working with Consumer/Retail clients.Base salary quoted is £60K which is just less than what I'm on now, I don't really have any IB friends working in front office roles so have no idea if 100 - 200% bonuses apply (or ever did).I do fancy a change of role but really need to understand what bonus is realistic before I effectively make a career change and take a slight pay cut…can anyone offer an insight?(the Agents view is...we'll you can guess)

Equity research is not an area where u'll get 100-200% bonuses.. The bonus in the equity research area will be pretty much as in MC i.e. 10-30%.It is never a bad time to join research. Their work is always the same, no matter the economic outlook. In every market situation, there will be always the need for company analysis.

Isn't Equity Research the place where they do loooooooooong hours?

Me... again (how boring).Bonuses will be low to non-existent this year, and this will lead to quite a lot of movement in the market soon as it will reduce the need for bonus buy outs to move from IB to IB, so if you are going to make the move make it now while you are an attractive proposition (once everyone has found they could move with little or no buy out, or the bonus is so low as to warrant walking away from it you will be facing stiff competition from experienced analysts). You should also take into consideration this will place you straight into the front office - many people join the middle office with a view to making this move and frankly it rarely happens. From research you could - it will be a push, but possible and has been done - move to the trading side. If you want to make so much money you can wipe your nose on £50 notes, prop trading it the chair you want.The market will recover sooner or later, and if you can hold on you will get the big bonuses - once on track 100 - 130% would be reasonable to expect at Associate 1 level. But forget fast tracking like MC - you will need to do your 3 years at A level, and the move to VP is difficult - this is the critical point (much more so than bonus): can you identify a potential sponsor/mentor in the business? You'll need an MD level sponsor to ride out the current turbulence in the market. Even Goldman, which was looking like a safe bet, are cutting deep - but they want to make room for new blood, and in this market they can afford to do so and attract the best talent washing round the square mile.My advice (for what it is worth) is to go for it but with you eyes open - this will be the best opportunity to make this move you are likely to get in the entire economic cycle.

Mars - thanks for the advice.I think NOW is the time too, I've got the opportunity and if don't grasp it - it may never come again.The low base/lack of bonus this year, coupled with the steep learning curve I'll have to go through sours it a little.BUT my motivation is I want a change of scene and so I'll give it a shot.

Nope, in research they work very normal hours, surely less than any MC in the world!!

Congrats on the interviews.May I ask, how/where you sourced the job --- IB company website, specialist site, monster? I am looking for similar opportunities but as a consultant with no FS exp, don't know where to start looking.thx

The biggest banks and especially the BB are making huge write downs so hiring is very localised and limited to experienced hires, but the real movers now are the 2nd tier banks who struggled to compete with tier 1 until the crunch; get your cv in front of tier 2 banks either directly (through their websites) or an agent dealing with IBs. There IS still strong hiring for the right people, and like MC they are nervous about cutting too deep on hiring then having to rehire everyone when the market swings upwards. Emerging markets are also drawing the experienced hires away from London (one of the few places still hiring strongly at A3+ level) so there is room in London, Paris (a little more than London I suspect as the crunch has been slower to hit them) and NY but you need to move quickly. Don't bother in August, the whole aparatus shuts down for holidays though.Lack of specific FS experience won't be an issue - if you don't have specific front office experience (assuming you are considering front office?) they will simply look at you in the same light as headache - skills which can be transferred and some typically deep sector knowledge ( MCs make very good Analysts).

Thanks...i'm assuming...UBS, Merril, credit suisse, are 2nd tier?

Merrill are tier 1, UBS tier 1 in wealth management, prob be tier 2 IB, credit suisse tier 2 globally excl the BB, otherwise tier 1 for European banks.

Please let me live after this question, but you guys always talk about "BB"...what does it mean?It's not Bradford and Bingley, I am guessing...Like I said, a straight answer would be really nice!

BB means Bulge Bracket - a term used for the biggest grossing (and therefore most elite) US banks.

"MCs make very good Analysts"What of strategy anaylsts in industry (2years experience, no-MBA)?

An MBA is useful for IB but I would recommend thinking it through very carefully as the environment when you graduate will be different from now. Worth noting that IB itself (i.e. advisory) has been very badly hit but areas like FX, Equities etc are still strong. If you want to move you need to do something to demonstrate an interest in the area (and to learn about it - no blagging it here I'm afraid!); a Masters in Finance would be more useful than an MBA, but either will do from a reputable university. A good point for both headache and anon is to also look at hedge funds - they have been stepping up hiring just as IBs are faltering (because they are not as regulated as IBs and thus were able to keep their exposure the mortgage market low to nil and are on the receiving end of CDO so liquidity is not their immediate point of panic like IB). Most have had a haircut but nothing like what banks are demanding of each other, so they are liquid and looking to hire (a lot).

Thanks a lot Mars! You're always a great help...I can now fully exploit Google power armed with the correct keyword.