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I work on the compliance side of investment banking and can tell you, an MBA is not needed to break into this industry, depending on the role you’re interested in. If you already work for a big 4 and want to move to US, look for the only international investment banking firm in Raleigh, NC… they may also be willing to sponsor a visa and do need auditors atm.
I was fortunate enough to start in IB Client Onboarding with zero banking/finance background and later moved to Compliance. It truly all depends in what area you’re being hired. In NY the market is so saturated with finance/banking talent that the bar is quite high. In NC, that is not the case. You see police officers in compliance, former school teachers in COB, and software engineers now auditing. These are external and internal hires.
One route you could consider is breaking in through the South African offices first. I know Citi for example has an IB team based there. If you impress enough and push for it, chances are low, but you might get to rotate into the London office.
Another thing you should keep in mind is that you might have to take a “demotion” i.e. it’s very likely that they would only take you on as a senior analyst, given lack of direct IB experience.
There are a couple of Africa focussed advisory/PE firms that have an office in New York/London and then country offices in Africa - you could try break into the country office and work yourself into the New York/London office.
Another route might not be IB, but MBB consulting. BCG for example might take you on in South Africa and after a year or two (more likely than at an IB), you could rotate into another office.
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It’s a long shot .. your best route is get into a top MBA program .. a lot wants to get into IB.. and if someone does makes a recommendation, you will be competing against candidates from top tier schools and top tier MBA programs .. and to be honest when you interview, you will be interviewing with a lot of people and ppl select based on projected success and whom they can work with .. most in IB went to top tier MBA programs so they already know the product of a top tier MBA.. there are exceptions to this .. but you have already said it.. it’s a long shot ..
If i were you i would look to move internally to valuations or FDD teams, then make the jump to IB.