However, whilst lifestyle is important, this actually isn’t the main reason we hear for wanting to move into private equity. Without a doubt the main reason we hear is that IB professionals want to be part of a journey. They want to see the outcome of their work, to be involved in improving a firm, and see projects through rather than just providing and advisory service. Whilst short-term earnings may be affected, many individuals like the idea of having carried interest and benefitting from longer term lucrative incentives. It’s well known that private equity can be an extremely lucrative career once your career is established.  It’s often a hard argument for banks to overcome, i.e. good pay, buy-side, and working closely with portfolio companies. For those passionate about M&A, though, in theory you may see a thinning of the field whereby there’s less competition for senior roles. There is no doubt that working in investment banking gives individuals amazing rolodex and for some the camaraderie is hard to beat.

It's hard to know when the boom in financial services will end. However, we could be in this environment for some time. Therefore, firms will need to look beyond traditional talent pools for talent. We’re already starting to see with financial services firms making great strides with their diversity programmes. A key part of this may be looking beyond traditional qualifications or Russell Group Universities to  identify highly intelligent and talented individuals from a wider range of backgrounds for the analysts of tomorrow. Until these programmes start taking effect though, the future is very bright for junior investment banking staff, as salaries will continue to rise.