Citi is shortening the analyst program for its junior investment bankers to two years, from three. Co-head of North America investment banking David Friedland said the tweak aligns Citi with some competitors and gives rising bankers a quicker on-ramp to responsibility and higher pay. The hope is that a faster track makes it less appealing to jump to rival banks, private-market investors or hedge funds.
This is part of a broader push to attract and keep top talent in a tight market where buyout firms have been hiring aggressively from Wall Street. Since then, he has recruited a large cohort of bankers from competitors, with many coming from JPMorgan.
How quickly a bank promotes juniors says a lot about how hard it is to keep them. Market Briefs covers Wall Street free every weekday.
The timeline shift revives last year's debate over junior-banker retention, as bank leaders resisted private equity firms pulling their recruiting calendars earlier. At JPMorgan Chase, some bankers observed new hires dodging mandatory onboarding to chase their next roles within days of starting. JPMorgan warned that any analyst taking an external offer within 18 months of joining would be terminated, and it also told juniors they could be promoted to associate after two and a half years.
Several banks, including Citi, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, put in place policies mandating that juniors report when they have accepted roles at other firms. Amid these changes, backers say emerging artificial-intelligence tools that take on the drudge tasks will let bankers engage with clients sooner in their careers.
Citi says current third-year analysts are scheduled to be elevated to associate on Jan. 1, contingent on performance, and the typical climb from analyst to vice president is now expected to take about 5 1/2 years instead of 6 1/2. Bigger picture, banks are redrawing career ladders to keep talent in-house, which can influence how quickly deals get done and who is calling on companies you invest in or work for.
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