First Light on the IB Industry

This week, during a longer than average break for lunch, I had the good luck of having some time to talk with an MBA colleague that works in the IB area of a major Portuguese Bank.

It was not only a very good lunch but also a very interesting conversation, as he gave me very good details about the kind of activities that exist within the IB division of Portuguese Banks:

- what are the major trends in the industry;

- which banks are doing better than the others;

- what is the average pay,

- etc...

and, I believe, most importantly, he gave me is own personal and sincere opinion about the work he did!

All in all, it was a great opportunity to get to know more about the IB industry and to prepare myself better for the banking week that is coming next week to the MBA.

I have already schedule a conversation with a friend working in PE, I hope it is as good as this one was.

Just a final though regarding the MBA. It is being far more intense than I expected, work just keeps piling up! Fortunately I have a very good work group which allows us all to be very efficient in a collaborative way.

Nevertheless, even though the MBA is being more intense than I had though, it is still a "walk in the park" if I compare it with my last 3 years as a management consultant - I'm now able to go to the gym and to have dinner with my family during the week days at a normal time ;-)