The Buy-Side vs. The Sell-Side: The Worst Way to Categorize Finance Firms?

“Yo, you’ll make bank when you move to the buy-side! Screw this stupid investment banking job.”

“Yeah, I heard everyone at hedge funds makes at least $1 million and gets a castle as their signing bonus.”

“So when’s your interview?”

Ah, yes: that classic debate about the buy-side vs. the sell-side. Although the conversation above is fictional, similar exchanges are taking place in cubicles across the world as you read this.

You hear about the buy-side vs. sell-side distinction everywhere, whether you search online, browse through you message boards, or even (gasp) talk to people in real life.

The only problem is that “buy-side vs. sell-side” is the worst way to categorize financial services firms.

Money, Hours, Models, Bottles: Investment Banking in New York, California, and Everywhere In Between

“Are you guys even in the office past 8 PM? Whenever I call no one’s there.”

“New York is hella lame, people are so much better out here.”

“If you say ‘hella’ again I’m going to make you pay for the bottles next time – and maybe the models too.”

“Fine, I’ll do some research and see what I can send over. NY is still overhyped, though.”

No, it’s not another short story (don’t worry, the finale of Cold Call to Closed Deal is coming up soon) – it’s a banker from NYC and one from San Francisco talking to each other.

And you read that headline correctly: today you’ll learn how banking differs in different regions of the US rather than going off on adventures to distant lands.

As one reader pointed out a while back, “Hearing about all these different countries is great, but what about how banking is different on the east coast vs. west coast and everywhere in between?”

Traders and Brokers: Bud Fox vs. Gordon Gekko?

Assuming you’ve seen Wall Street (the awesome, original one, not the watered-down sequel) – it is a requirement to work in finance, after all – you know something about traders vs. brokers.

The traders are like lone wolves who go in and make tons of money by making quick decisions…

But supporting every successful trader is his broker – the one who actually connects buyers and sellers and makes trades go through.

Both traders and brokers are linked to the market and need to stay on top of everything that’s happening – but beyond that, they’re quite different.

So, what do traders and brokers actually do?

Which one is a better match for your personality? How do you break in?

And most importantly, who makes more money?