Ex-Bank of America MD's advice on making $100m in banks: "Be obedient. Play the game"

Matthias Schwarz spent 20 years working on trading floors in investment banks and he well understands the art of climbing the slippery pole in financial services. Before he left Bank of America in 2021, Schwarz was head of EMEA credit trading there. For the past five years, he's been running his family office and Career Capital One, a careers coaching service specifically for people above vice president (VP) level in banks. Schwarz doesn't want his clients to make the mistakes he did.

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"I teach my clients patience," he says. "Always look at the cost-benefit of doing things."

Schwarz says the cost-benefit calculation that's relevant is the cost-benefit to you, and not to the bank.

Too many people in banks get caught up with the notion that something is being done wrong and can be improved. "They push hard to advance their division, their desk, or their own agenda. They try to overcome hurdles for their desk or their circle, and they try very aggressively to remove roadblocks. But these banks have functioned with these roadblocks in place for decades," says Schwarz. "You think it’s the end of the world, but to the bank it's a mosquito bite and it doesn't matter. If you try to kill the mosquito with a bazooka, you are becoming the problem."

Schwarz says there are two methods of really succeeding in financial services careers: fast, and slow. Much is written about the fast track with the enormous paydays offered to top traders who move to hedge funds. Less is said about the faceless people at the top of banks who take the slow route and occupy senior positions for 15 years or more. 

"They clip the coupons, and the coupons are massive," says Schwarz. Super senior people in regulatory roles like head of fixed income, head of markets, or CEO of a particular country, are typically earning at least $5m a year, he says. Over a 20 year period, they make as much as the top hedge fund managers. "They advance, and advance, and advance. It's a slow grind." 

If you want to take this slower, steadier route, Schwarz says you need to "be obedient, play the game." The long game is not easy; it requires a totally different set of skills to making $100m over a few years at a top multistrategy hedge fund. 

Those skills are evident through observation. Look at how the people in the senior seats who are playing the long game behave, says Schwarz. "If you look at these individuals, you might think they are shallow, unimpressive, and don't know much about the business. That is not true, but this is the impression they give, by never having an opinion on anything."

People playing the long game will never have an opinion on a problem, because then it will become their problem, says Schwarz. They will never praise anyone, because if that person falls out of favour, they will be exposed. They will never go out on a limb to push an idea. But most importantly, "They will never have open animosity. They will never say anything against anyone."

This is where most people go wrong, says Schwarz. They become impassioned about their business. They make enemies. Most fatally, they complain to HR. "People don’t realise that HR won't kill the other person - they'll turn around and kill you," says Schwarz.

Playing the long game means becoming inscrutable. Have no friends at work. Have no enemies. Ensure that as little is known about you as possible. 

Unfortunately, Schwarz says you can only really behave like this once you already occupy a senior role. But it's a way of being that's worth cultivating as you progress up the hierarchy. In every situation, the number one question you need to ask yourself is what issues mean for your own personal career, not for the organisation, he advises. 

"The key lesson is: don't pick fights, don't make enemies, and be likeable no matter how unpleasant the situation is," Schwarz commands. "If you are pissing people off, even for the right reasons, it is not rewarded."

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