Management consultant vs investment banker

The differences between management consultants and investment bankers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a management consultant and an investment banker. Additionally, an investment banker has an average salary of $162,715, which is higher than the $99,360 average annual salary of a management consultant.

The top three skills for a management consultant include healthcare, project management and portfolio. The most important skills for an investment banker are financial services, discounted cash flow, and capital markets.

Management consultant vs investment banker overview

	Management Consultant	Investment Banker
Yearly salary	$99,360	$162,715
Hourly rate	$47.77	$78.23
Growth rate	11%	10%
Number of jobs	153,045	28,460
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age	44	43
Years of experience	4	4

What does a management consultant do?

A management consultant's responsibility focuses on conducting an in-depth analysis of a company or business, including its target market. Through their findings, they can devise strategies that will help the business grow and attain a significant profit. There are also instances when a management consultant must solve particular issues that will require them to investigate the problem, assess damages, identify risks, and recommend the best solutions to take. Furthermore, a management consultant must adhere to the company's vision, mission, and policies at all times.

What does an investment banker do?

An investment banker is responsible for selling and issuing securities and financial assets to the stock markets to generate money and raise capital for organizations and financial institutions. Investment bankers also work with private clients to advise them of investment options and financial transactions according to the market's condition and clients' interests. They handle the clients' investment portfolios and create propositions for acquisitions and company mergers. An investment banker must have excellent knowledge of the financial and stock industry, as well as having excellent analytical skills to review statistical data and determine the best financial strategies.

Management consultant vs investment banker salary

Management consultants and investment bankers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Management Consultant	Investment Banker
Average salary	$99,360	$162,715
Salary range	Between $72,000 And $136,000	Between $95,000 And $276,000
Highest paying City	Jersey City, NJ	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Alaska
Best paying company	Apple	Citi
Best paying industry	Technology	Real Estate

Differences between management consultant and investment banker education

There are a few differences between a management consultant and an investment banker in terms of educational background:

	Management Consultant	Investment Banker
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 67%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	University of Pennsylvania

Management consultant vs investment banker demographics

Here are the differences between management consultants' and investment bankers' demographics:

	Management Consultant	Investment Banker
Average age	44	43
Gender ratio	Male, 65.9% Female, 34.1%	Male, 76.2% Female, 23.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 13.6% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 5.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.5% Asian, 12.4% White, 66.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	12%	6%

Differences between management consultant and investment banker duties and responsibilities

Management consultant example responsibilities.

Streamline and program manage operations for end-to-end creation of all assets using Smartsheet.
Lead daily agile scrum meetings towards the end of the development phase of the project.
Monitor and control project schedule for SaaS product to achieve project deliveries in at least 95th percentile.
Lead teams in implementation of value map streaming, ISO 9000 and waste reduction in manufacturing process.
Manage functional design team activities using baseline scope document information and develop process standards in line with SDLC methodologies.
Develop light-weight (fast) proprietary cloud-base licensing engine and UI to manage and track end user subscription licenses.

Investment banker example responsibilities.

Utilize Bloomberg system and company proprietary research to actively monitor portfolios and manage trading activities to achieve customers' goals.
Provide service for existing brokerage accounts, manage accounts, annuities, and securities-base lines of credit.
Attain NMLS identification number for mortgage origination.
Generate reporting data from Salesforce platform to facilitate growth and manage firm operations.
Manage customer portfolios, service relationships, and used profiling analysis tools to identify cross-selling opportunities.
Manage a variety of internal initiatives including merchandising, cross-selling, customer retention programs and promotional campaigns.

Management consultant vs investment banker skills

Common management consultant skills

Healthcare, 9%
Project Management, 7%
Portfolio, 6%
Business Process, 5%
Business Strategy, 5%
Business Development, 4%

Common investment banker skills

Financial Services, 6%
Discounted Cash Flow, 6%
Capital Markets, 6%
Financial Statements, 6%
Client Relationships, 4%
Securities, 4%

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Management Consultant vs Investment Banker

Updated January 8, 2025

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