Risk Department in a Investment bank

Apologies in advance if my question is too disorganized or if this topic has already been discussed. Just wanted get opinions/comments on risk jobs (associate level) within an investment bank. How are these regarded in general in comparison to other associate level openings? I came across a job posting that mentioned a credit portfolio research type of role within the risk department. Other than sector/industry research that analysts do, I was not aware of any other type of “research”?! More importantly, is the risk department a good place to start your IB career from? Any help/comments regarding these would be useful to me.

I hear SG is hiring.

IB have risk departments? Who would have thought…

I believe risk department is mutually exclusive with compliance.

be careful - there are a lot of investment banks that say they have “risk management” divisions, but make sure you really do some due diligence on the teams there. you might find yourself working with guys like these: http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/5360/jimhensoncharacters8hf.jpg

It sounds like a position in the credit risk department (as opposed to market risk department). If that is the case, it is a middle office position where you perform credit analysis on your bank’s derivatives counterparties and loan facilities, and may also involve managing credit exposure with individual counterparties (this part would involve some interaction with the FO trading and lending desks). The The first question is whether you really want to start your career in MO… if you enter credit risk as an associate the pay is ok (but you can’t compare $$$ with your buddies who are associates in banking/PE/etc) and the hours are reasonable/under your own control… but if you are more ambitious you may want to seek a FO role now rather than trying to move when you are more senior.

I would agree with LIII in Tokyo. Credit risk depts tend to be “clerical” in nature (although the math is sophisticated) and there is a limited amount of decision making. You are far away from the action but you work in a quieter environment and work fewer hours. Market risk tends to be closer to the decisions (you may end up being on the investment committees and interact with traders and their positions daily) but it is more hectic and demanding.