<p>When people in college say they're "going into investment banking" or looking for a first-year analyst position, are they usually referring to the traditional investment banking division of M&A/CorpFin? Or do a lot first years go into S&T as well?</p>
<p>Is sales and trading only for those with strong quantitative backgrounds (Masters/ Ph.D)?</p>
<p>Also...which pays better? =)</p>
<p>Generally people are referring to the M&A/Corporate Finance side when saying "investment banking," but in many houses the S&T is also considered part of the investment banking. Plenty of first years go into S&T, though I don't think quite as many as banking (thought not 100% positive).</p>
<p>S&T is certainly not only for those with strong quant backgrounds, I'd daresay even many traders only have a BA. For sales, its good to be analytical and understand the products, but most importantly have a good personality. Getting into S&T, though, its definitely beneficial to be comfortable with numbers.</p>
<p>Pay wise it depends. At the lowest levels I think they both earn about the same. S&T probably has more opportunity for large bonuses, but the bonuses are largely based on P&L... so you need to be good at it in order to get it. Less hierarchal than banking.</p>