Barclays

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Ermmm why do you say compliance is a cost centre? And why is cost centre this bad or so not looked upon?

Compliance does not generate any revenue of their own. They support revenue generators to make sure they dont fk up on the regulatory things and end up losing all the revenue due to heavy fines. It is not exactly bad to be in compliance, it is merely societal pressures to always aim for the best and it is thus just general advice to always aim to be in the depts that are the ones responsible and contribute greatest to the growth of the company so that you can make the best career and money out of it. But if you are happy with doing compliance work, then so be it too. As long as you are happy and contented, then that is great as well.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Are these revenue generating departments in other words are also sales… RMs they are pretty much similar to salesperson and insurance agents but they just work in a bank. It doesn’t really require much skills to be a RM, the barrier to entry is low. Of course IB is another thing but how often do people get a chance to enter IB, usually only those from affluent families or have connections tend to enter as a fresh grad much easier than the majority. Not picking a fight here but just sharing…

But curious you know how strategy seems prestigious too… so is strategy roles in banks considered support role too? 😬

Revenue generators are not just RMs, so so so so many people are involved and considered revenue generators. Taking PB as an example, you need investment specialists, product specialists to support the RM and all of them are revenue generators. In SnT, traders are also revenue generators, not just the sales people.

And it certainly may not need that much skills to be a RM (unlike a software engineer), but the barrier to entry to be a RM in PB / Corporate Banking is HIGH. because top students will apply for it and competition is stiff. you simply cannot compare the calibre of people going to AIA/GE to sell insurance and those that are going for PB/Corporate Banking in Banks. And you still need to know some **** in order to sell, esp when you are not just selling insurance to your uncle and auntie but to more sophisticated UHNW or corporate clients.

Strategy roles in banks are also considered support roles.

Are you guys serious?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

You get to become a product manager and learn alot of valuable skills which could be applied in tech/FinTech firms too. Plus, with UOB's acquisition of Citi's consumer banking franchise in ASEAN, you may also get to manage credit cards on a regional level at a greater depth now. Career progression in RB in general is not that great per say but compared to compliance, it should be atleast equal, or better if you are prove to be good at managing the products and driving sales.

Let's assume you are a capable person and you will do well in either compliance / credit cards. If so, then in the long-run you will definitely be able to earn more in credit cards. Skillsets wise very hard to compare as they are really different. But exit ops for compliance is mostly still compliance. With product management skills, the exit ops are wider.

lol but it still retail banking which is many worlds apart from ib. and no never had a retail CC person ended up in ib in the future, selling to your aunty and uncle is not the same as dealing with c suite coporate transactions

depending on what you do in compliance- if you are involved in larger complex structured corp fin deals, you still have shot at ib/pb. i have seen compliance people move across to the business before at the junior level. still a step to take but at least there's precedence.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes, can. Seen it happen in GS (from MO functions like Operations into Asset Management / Wealth Management Advisors). But the flexibility of such internal movements differ from bank to bank. Not sure how flexible Barclays is on this. And even in GS, for such a move to happen, it doesn't just happen because you want to. There must be headcount available to take you into the other dept, and you must network hard to get someone influential from that other dept to pull you in (and convince them you have some kind of transferrable skillset / actively building the required skillset outside of work so you are not useless to them), with the HR knowing your intentions, all while managing your current line managers/seniors and not letting the whole team know you are actively trying to leave AND manage your own current work in an area you do not have much interest in. Basically, a painful process to make the switch and stars must be aligned. So don't count on it to happen the way you want it to.

It's easier to move from strategy to a revenue generating role though, compared to compliance.

Thanks for sharing! You sound so knowledgeable on banking stuff, it’s great you’re sharing more I’m sure it helps those who aren’t familiar with the banking industry.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Yes, can. Seen it happen in GS (from MO functions like Operations into Asset Management / Wealth Management Advisors). But the flexibility of such internal movements differ from bank to bank. Not sure how flexible Barclays is on this. And even in GS, for such a move to happen, it doesn't just happen because you want to. There must be headcount available to take you into the other dept, and you must network hard to get someone influential from that other dept to pull you in (and convince them you have some kind of transferrable skillset / actively building the required skillset outside of work so you are not useless to them), with the HR knowing your intentions, all while managing your current line managers/seniors and not letting the whole team know you are actively trying to leave AND manage your own current work in an area you do not have much interest in. Basically, a painful process to make the switch and stars must be aligned. So don't count on it to happen the way you want it to.

It's easier to move from strategy to a revenue generating role though, compared to compliance.

Hmmm so is strategy considered a support role? Or where does it fall into? Sounds like strategy also equally respected in a sense but also not revenue generating department

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Compliance does not generate any revenue of their own. They support revenue generators to make sure they dont fk up on the regulatory things and end up losing all the revenue due to heavy fines. It is not exactly bad to be in compliance, it is merely societal pressures to always aim for the best and it is thus just general advice to always aim to be in the depts that are the ones responsible and contribute greatest to the growth of the company so that you can make the best career and money out of it. But if you are happy with doing compliance work, then so be it too. As long as you are happy and contented, then that is great as well.

Make sense though, thanks mate for sharing on this. Totally agree societal pressure where we always hear IB when people ask about banking…

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Revenue generators are not just RMs, so so so so many people are involved and considered revenue generators. Taking PB as an example, you need investment specialists, product specialists to support the RM and all of them are revenue generators. In SnT, traders are also revenue generators, not just the sales people.

And it certainly may not need that much skills to be a RM (unlike a software engineer), but the barrier to entry to be a RM in PB / Corporate Banking is HIGH. because top students will apply for it and competition is stiff. you simply cannot compare the calibre of people going to AIA/GE to sell insurance and those that are going for PB/Corporate Banking in Banks. And you still need to know some **** in order to sell, esp when you are not just selling insurance to your uncle and auntie but to more sophisticated UHNW or corporate clients.

Strategy roles in banks are also considered support roles.

Fair enough, I think corporate banking is over rated tbh. IB and private banking definitely stiff competition cos that’s what everyone knows when it comes to banking it’s the top tier roles… but prolly those who cmi to IB and private banking would end up considering corporate banking or retail banking and of course they will be many students who ranges from FCH to mediocre grades which make it more competitive.

But isn’t strategy always deem prestigious too? Maybe when it comes to banks, it becomes less prestigious 😂 end up falls under support role 😬

Strategy roles are well-respected if you are mid-career and aiming to move to a managerial position. It gives you the broader perspective and opportunities to network and interact with my higher ups. If you're a graduate doing strategy, high chance you will just be a pure worker doing all the admin/manual work and not learn much. Strategy teams have to hire fresh grads because someone still needs to do the boring work.

anyone heard back for barclays global markets graduate programme?