Comments on: A Day In The Life Of An Investment Banking Analyst

By: Inquisitor

Inquisitor — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:26:33 +0000

AltESV: It’s on my to-do list. I’ve gotten busier at work lately (well, until today) and have over 100 ideas for new articles but just haven’t had the time yet to write everything.

But since you asked, I’ll try to have this one ready for next week.

By: AltESV

AltESV — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:25:57 +0000

Still waiting on the best day, does it even exist?

By: Inquisitor

Inquisitor — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:21:09 +0000

Yeah the Analyst really is a pitch book jockey. Stay tuned for my best 24 hour period… sometimes the Analyst monkey can actually rise above mere pitch books!

By: Living Off Dividends

Living Off Dividends — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 10:32:03 +0000

according to a UCLA alumni I once spoke to, “the Investment Banking Analyst is nothing but a glorified pitch-book jockey”.

I guess he was right!

By: Inquisitor

Inquisitor — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:42:20 +0000

Shane, thanks for the comments and tips. I’ll go through and change these links today.

In terms of responding to Associates who haven’t been Analysts before, I think it depends greatly on the person - I’ve had some who are great and some who are terrible. Generally I am patient at first but if I see an Associate keeps trying to do unproductive things or is consistently bad, I will gently point it out by suggesting an alternative or saying something like, “Ok, I can do that but it will take xx hours. If we did this instead, it would take xx minutes. What do you think?”

In the worst case, if an Associate really does not improve and continues being terrible for months, I will bring it to the attention of someone even more senior. This has only happened to me once so far though.

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:34:08 +0000

I enjoy the blog. Good content.
Just one question for you, how do you (analysts) respond when you have an associate above you who never had to go through the analyst years?

Also, make the links tou include popup in a separate window. Keeps traffic at your blog.

By: Proud Ex-Analyst

Proud Ex-Analyst — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 06:09:49 +0000

These are some awesome posts. I always thought you had one of the greatest blogging styles. Good work, homes! This post had me r.o.t.f.l.o.l.

This looks like a particularly crappy day. I hope your best day has something to do with client interaction. My best days in banking were definitely when I could talk directly with CEOs and CFOs about their businesses. This is what banking can offer a young professional that few other jobs can - the opportunity to learn about various industries directly from the people who had built or led the client company.

Some other reactions:

8AM-9AM: It’s great to see that other analysts have wasted many a day “adding/deleting commas, capitalizing nouns or changing font sizes.” Actually, that’s just professional services for ya.

3:00PM: I always thought it was a bad habit to drink more than a couple cups of coffee each day. I think it’s especially true that once you start work in banking and pick up habits of coffee overload and not working out, it’s all over. You’ll be a fatass in no time!

3:30PM: Ain’t it great? Four years after Spitzer’s settlement, there are even fewer Sell ratings now. See link: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2007/12/wall-street-sell-ratings-even-scarcer.html. It makes me so angry how screwed up Wall Street is.