These are awkward times for the Citi investment banking analysts who weren't promoted
Investment banking analysts at Citi are talented people and private equity firms would like to hire them.
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This is the informed opinion of David Friedland, Citi’s ex-Goldman new co-head of North America investment banking. Friedland told Bloomberg yesterday that Citi has “top talent and top talent has opportunities.”
It is reportedly to stop this top talent from pursuing private equity opportunities that Citi will begin promoting all its analysts to associates in two years rather than three next summer. Early promotions mean higher salaries and higher bonuses.
However, early promotions may also be problematic because not all Citi analysts are talented equally.
As we noted this week, Citi was already offering its analysts an expedited associate track. It was just not offering the fast track to everyone. Juniors at the bank in London tell us that only around 70% of second year analysts were told by their managing directors (MDs) that they’d be converted to associates early last summer.
That 70% are now associates 0. They will become full associates in January 2027, around two and a half years after joining Citi. When they do, sources say their salaries in London will go from £85k to £110k. They have already received an extra £20k bonus for making associate.
That’s good news for the 70%. However, it’s less good news for the circa 30% of Citi second year analysts who didn’t get the early promotion to associate a few months ago because their MDs thought they weren’t ready. They must wait.
The circa 30% won’t make associate 0 until July 2027, by which time they will have been Citi analysts for a full three years. However, in July 2027 Citi is also planning to promote its entire class of 2nd year analysts to associate 0s under the new expedited scheme it announced this week.
Citi insiders say this state of affairs is already causing some grumbling. Analysts who’ve done a full three years and whose promotions were delayed by MDs will be sitting alongside analysts who’ve only worked two years and who were promoted irrespective of performance. “It’s very frustrating for them,” says one insider.
Fortunately, Citi will only have this problem once. On balance, Citi juniors say that shortening the analyst cycle was the right thing to do – most other banks have done it already and this just brings Citi in line with everywhere else.
Citi didn’t respond to a request to comment.
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