Future and current bankers- do you feel that you are helping society?

This is mainly aimed at people looking to go into front office banking in the future but also to current bankers:
Do you feel that you are/will do meaningful work as a banker and not just earning money? Do you feel that you are/will look back on your career as a (non-financially) rewarding and meaningful one?

It seems that most front office investment bankers (especially those in trading) don't seem to be contributing much to society and that they don't seem to deserve their pay checks (not my opinion, just the view of the general public). Just wondered what future bankers thought of this.

Ok. First things first, the economy is not based on who's the most 'deserving' of the money that they make - it's never been that and never will be. You have to bear in mind that bankers get paid so much (even the support staff) because they are near a waterfall of money; the closer you are to said waterfall the more you'll get wet, whether you like it or not.

What bankers and traders do is provide a service. The bankers help negotiate, value, advise on and sell large-scale M&A/financing deals between corporate entities. Traders typically provide liquidity to the markets by taking the other side of trades as well as help to facilitate client orders. These activities, without bankers and traders, would not be available. That means, capital would be tied up in the markets and companies would find it hard to source financing for expansion or for strategic moves (like a merger or acquisition) to make them more competitive.

All of this would trickle down to the day-to-day lives of workers, shareholders and stakeholders being represented by the corporations and institutional investors. Company A can't expand? Well, there won't be any new job creation for that company. Pension fund B wants to exit a trade? Oops, a nice chunk of someone's savings is going to decay from the unfavourable pricing/costs of executing that trade without a trader.

Anyway, the point is, FO bankers are needed in order to facilitate high level transactions. And these transactions shape the global landscape constantly - what might just look like 'money making' to you, is actually a much more nuanced and complex system by which our financial services industry supports.

So, on a micro level, no it doesn't really affect me and the compensation is commensurate to the market place. However, in the grand scheme of things the work that I'll eventually do will help to underpin a secret financial machine - unseen to the everyday person. Besides, why wouldn't I want to bust my ass in order to reap the rewards out there?

Posted from TSR Mobile

Alright thanks but I stated in the original post that it wasn't my opinion that bankers were paid too much or didn't deserve it- it was that of the general public. But do our ink that you'll look back on your career and think that you've truly achieved something in your career apart from making money?

Well, If I put in a crap ton of hours to work on high-octane deals that could potentially shape the business world - why wouldn't I?

Besides I want to use the money to set up a charitable foundation later down the line and possibly use it as a safety net for when I create my own company.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Ok now that's an amazing plan. What type of company do you want to create? Tech-related? Btw, thanks for giving me such a detailed and informative answer earlier on in this thread.

Thanks!

Yeah, It'll be a technology company. I'm hoping to bring some of the cutting edge tech into fruition (full immersion VR, nanobots, etc) but of course that requires a heavy amount of investment to realise.

Thanks!

Yeah, It'll be a technology company. I'm hoping to bring some of the cutting edge tech into fruition (full immersion VR, nanobots, etc) but of course that requires a heavy amount of investment to realise.

don't @ me prince