A Day in the Life of an Investment Banking Analyst
“6:30 Sycophant drops by on his way out. Client meeting next Friday but wants complete turn of a pitch for first thing tomorrow morning (tomorrow morning = when he finally gets around to looking at it at some point next week). A quick calculation; there’s no way I’m getting out of here before four in the morning.”
-The Bitter Investment Banker Email
Ah, the life of an investment banking analyst.
What will your hours be? How much work do you actually do? Do you really just play Solitaire most of the day and then only work at night?
Some days you’ll be so busy that you have to discreetly use a bottle under your desk if you need to go to the bathroom.
Other days you’ll have so little to do that you can take 3-hour lunch breaks and download different themes for Windows Solitaire.
Doing investment banking is like doing drugs: on your good trips you dance in clouds of marshmallows, surrounded by beautiful women (or men) serving you fruit in canopies.
On your bad trips you scratch your eyes out and jump off buildings.
This 24-hour period was a bad trip. And unlike The Bitter Investment Banker Email, it actually happened.
7:30 AM – I am woken up by an Associate at work asking where I am. He told me to come in at 8:00 AM to send out a status report. It’s 7:30 and I’m not there yet, so a cloud of panic has descended. I roll out of bed, shower for a minute and head into work.
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM – The Associate hands me a marked-up version of the status report in question. Most of his changes consist of adding/deleting commas, capitalizing nouns or changing font sizes. I send it to our team at 8:55, in advance of our call at 9:00.
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM – Our investment banking team tells management about the buyers who are interested in them and the meetings we’ve set up.
I am vaguely listening but also working on a pitch book for an IPO in the background – multi-tasking is easy when all you do is copy and paste Excel into PowerPoint. 12:30 PM – We send out a draft of the IPO pitch book to 3 Managing Directors who will be at the meeting the next day. This is the “final” version, which means that everything will be scrapped and re-done in the next 24 hours.
12:45 PM – One of the Managing Directors is traveling and has requested a Briefing Book on the company we’re pitching because he doesn’t know anything about it. It’s not feasible to FedEx the book because he is 3,000 miles away and needs it ASAP – we need to PDF this bad boy.
1:00 PM – The Associate drops off revisions to a presentation we’re working on for another client. I tell him I don’t have bandwidth because I’m working on a big IPO pitch for the next day as well.
He tells me to finish by 5 so he can give me more changes and I can “turn” another revision by the morning. It’s probably going to be an all-nighter.
1:30 PM – One of the Managing Directors who received the Briefing Book calls another Associate (Associate #2) on my team and yells at him for sending 100 pages of material – it’s taking 30 minutes to print out everything.
The Associate takes the brunt of the damage. I’ve cleverly avoided the fallout by having Associate #2 be the point person for this project.
3:00 PM – Starbucks. The lifeblood of investment banking analysts. I go with a friend who’s in the midst of private equity interviews and we discuss how those are going.
3:30 PM – After speaking with our equity research analyst, the Managing Director decides we need to add more analysis to our pitch and focus on completely different metrics. I need to re-do most of my work.
5:00 PM – I finish up with the other client presentation that Associate #1 wanted me to finish. Now it’s a waiting game on that one as I continue revising the IPO pitch.
7:30 PM – I’m eating dinner at my desk. No time to go join everyone else today but it’s Japanese food so I’m satisfied. Meanwhile someone from Equity Capital Markets, the team responsible for IPOs, comes over and tells me to scrap all the analysis the MD wanted.
10:00 PM – I get last-minute changes from everyone else on the team. Shouldn’t take too long to process, but production can only start printing at midnight, which means I’m going to be here until 1 AM minimum.
10:15 PM – As I’m going through changes, Associate #1 stops by and has a bunch of changes to the client presentation I finished at 5 PM. I tell him I can only get started after 1 AM so I probably won’t have anything until the next morning. “Dance, monkey.”
12:30 AM – I finish up and production starts printing the presentations. Associate #2 comes over to “supervise” the production and review the finished product.
1:00 AM – I notice an inconsistency on 1 slide – stock prices have been updated earlier in the presentation but not here. Time to check over everything again.
2:00 AM – We’re done re-checking every single page for the same mistake now. Time to re-print.
2:15 AM – The printers all have paper jams and are out of ink. Since it’s late, the printing/production crew has disappeared and I have become the production team.
2:15 – 3:30 AM – I need to refill the ink and fix all the printers. This requires a group effort so I call some other analysts over to help.
4:00 AM – Go home and go to sleep. I need to wake up by 6 to finish work on the presentation Associate #1 told me to “finish by the morning.”
6:00 AM – I’ve overslept. Associate #1 is already up and has left 3 voicemails on my cell phone asking why I haven’t sent the presentation to our client yet. I Blackberry him that I was up all night working on another pitch and was going to send it by 9 but needed an hour of sleep first.
6:15 AM – 6:30 AM – As I’m coming into the office we’re trading angry emails back and forth. He says I should have emailed our entire group saying that the presentation would be late.
8:00 AM – Associate #1 strolls into the office just as I’m about to hit the “Send” button. I tell him that I’m about to send the presentation.
He tells me to email everyone twice – once to tell them that they’ll get the presentation in the next 2 minutes, and then once again to actually send the presentation.
I ignore him and just send the presentation.
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I am a finance major and pursuing my CFA. I noticed that in some previous posts you said the CFA was useless and would not help a cancidate get into investment banking. I do not understand why a CFA will not help? Could you please elaborate on this ?
Thanks,
Mike
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/stuff-investment-bankers-dont-like-cfa-activities-advanced-degrees/
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/cfa-investment-banking/
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/degrees-certifications/
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/cfa-vs-mba/
This sounds like a typical day verging on the bad end but definitely not the worst working day. I mean, did you stuff up anything major? Nope. Did you get abused repeatedly for no reason? Don’t think so. Did your emails get ignored for most of the day only to get a response at 10 just as you’re considering leave the office hereby causing you to stay another five hours? The only bad thing here is you got 1 hr of sleep. But when u consider the typical day consists of working til mid night and beyond anyway, is it really that bad???
There are probably worse days but this is the most detailed day for which I had records.
Forgive me for possibly seeing naive, but, are there no negative aspects of all the lost sleep?
From what I know about performance, sleep deprivation is the surest way to make errors (especially for repetitive, detail-oriented work).
How do bankers get around this?
Why do they not realize that all this sleep deprivation will take a tremendous drop in performance?
Eventually it does catch up with them, but if you’re young you can tolerate it better. But lots of bankers look like they’re 40+ when they’re still 25-30.
In addition to my last question, how does the sleep deprivation not cause people to make a lot of unnecessary errors?
Most of the work is mindless so it’s not that difficult… it’s not like you’re writing the Principia and need to re-invent physics.
Isn’t this a bit sad? You do mindless work but get paid a shitload?
Welcome to life after college, everything is mindless and stupid
Out of curiosty, do any of you guys think that all this work takes a toll on people’s social life. (i.e. long-term, do bankers have higher divorce rates than average, etc.)?
To me, nothing is worth losing my health and not being able to have a good family life. What do you guys think?
If you value your social life get out of finance now
Oh, god!
I’ve already majored on finance. Sad thing is I do not know what I can do besides finance, so my first job has to be in this field. IB sounds terrible to me. Trading doesn’t seem to be my piece of cake. Gotta find some other position more human in a bank!
Try to go into Management Consulting and break into a big firm like McKinzie.
U r by far the most sarcastic human being on earth lmaoooo
The rumors are true about the life of an investment banking analyst. I truly enjoyed reading this post. No wonder most investment bankers are hard to get in contact with! I read other posts where you mentioned going to forums or networking events. Do you have any websites or more information on where I can find some to attend this summer? Thanks!
Yes read the FAQ
Which sectors of banking allow for more variety than others?
Even though I know the field has a lot more monotony than most at the junior levels, I’m starting to think that variety may make me happy while I get into finance.
(Prior to going to college, I had thought that I had focus and could tolerate boredom well; however, now I realize something close to the opposite may be true). I’m hoping variety may make sense.
All jobs are monotonous to some degree so nothing really, lots of people say trading is more fun than banking though
Dude even trading gets monotonous , especially when you do not have a craving for money… its an unending game..
(I have been a derivatives trader on CME for more than a year.)
Is there no room for family life at all in the investment banking years? Also do people really loook 40 when they’re 25-30? That’s scary. Do they generally look better once they exit investment banking? I don’t even know if I want to do investment banking any more haha.
Yes most people look older than they are. Some people have families but usually they don’t have the best relationships with them.
THank you for your post. I really enjoyed reading as well. I would like to add that, as a woman, who worked in IB you are also looking at countless runs to the coffee shop to get coffee, lunches, gum…(thank God I am an athletic person). Indeed, you are paid a lot in that field but divide your high wage by all the sleepless hours and you get around $20/hour !! Reality check !
I think I would rather have a real life and enjoy life while I am still young and full of energy :)
I presume you’ve made a choice of enjoying and living your life while you’re still young and full of energy? ;)
Hello
I really enjoyed reading this article and discussion. Thanks for posting it
As a IB SA, how long would you say it takes to develop the analytical and conceptual skills behind all the Excel #s?
Depends how fast you learn and how efficient you are. I can’t answer it for you because I don’t know how you learn/work.
Can you elaborate a bit more? How long do you think the analysts/associates you work with expect you to take to learn the analytics and conceptuals? I’ve heard you do very little with technicals at the same time I’ve had friends who did an SA stint and said they learned a ton about accounting/finance
Probably a few weeks at most. It is not that complicated. Less if you do training or self-study.
So you’re telling me English/History/Econ majors from Harvard/Princeton/Yale/etc will be able to speak the lingo of an investment banker in a few weeks into the internship? Apologies for sounding skeptical but I find that a little hard to believe
We did not imply the above. What we meant was the lingo an IBing isn’t hard to pick up. You can do so a few weeks into the internship whatever your background is.
I am research analyst working in a buy side firm in Pakistan and have been covering the energy sector for the past three years. I have also been attending online lectures so that I can enhance my technical skill set related to the upstream segment (E&P companies).
I have been seriously contemplating enrolling in a uni to earn a petroleum engineering degree in order to specialize in the upstream segment. I have already completed my MBA (Major: Finance) and will be sitting for my CFA Level III in June-2012.
The reason for this post is to seek guidance and also to receive feedback so that I can make the most informed decision.
Whether you shd enroll in university to obtain a petroleum engineering degree is your call–I’m not familiar w the energy sector. CFA is good for equity research and your MBA should be helpful.
OMG….. This looks like a nightmare. I am a recent graduate and applied to become an IB analyst in London, but I guess I will reconsider that as I do want to enjoy life, or simply put : HAVE a life !
hehe I see this is very similar to a typical day in consulting. I mean, why do the same job at consulting and get paid less?
Because of the fees IB charge
Just 3 questions.
i read forbes and forture quite often. and these interviewers will ask the billionaire founders (NOT CEO) if you did not start this company, what would you be? they replied accountant. Well, assurance, CPA, audit seem to produce more founders than investment banking does. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Second questions: on working hours, which one is longer investment banking or private equity?
Third question: if i do wish to start up a company, let say family food & beverage business or property development company or maybe just like the innovative 3M. Would private equity have an edge over (deal-oriented salesman style investment banking)? Ultimately i would really like to start my own co. Thank you very much, i know its long. sorry about that.
Don’t have the stats so I can’t answer your question. Accountancy is useful because it gives you a base of understanding how business works etc but not a prerequisite to being a successful entrepreneur
Depends on the firm and your group. IB might be longer but PE has long hours too
You’ll have a sense of “ownership” in PE and you’ll also gain knowledge on evaluating portfolio companies for your firm so I’d say PE might be more useful though IBD can also be useful given the skills you gain as well as the connections you build.
Hi Guys,
1. Do you feel that finance is like a prison? (i.e. little room for creativity, lots of arbitrary/meaningless rules, etc.
2. What fields of finance are less like prison than others?
Thanks
1. Sometimes but if you want a highly creative job you wouldn’t be visiting this site right?
2. Some think that anything that requires one to sit in a cubicle/in an office the whole time feels like prison. So to be honest its not just finance, any other odd industry that requires you to sit in a cubicle (and pays way less) can feel like prison. And no I can’t answer this question because it depends on your perspective; and you are the one who controls your perspective. Some people genuinely enjoy being in banking and like the lifestyle + work FYI.
You forgot to mention: 4am-6am – dream about someday being just another overpaid greedy Wall Street VP douche
No no no, you got it wrong. 4am-6am you dream of higher position at a tier 1 PE and making more than your douchebag VP and MD
This article was fantastic..”final version” then scrapping everything. SO true. It really made me laugh!I worked in a small investment bank for 2 yrs. The hours were not as crazy. There were times of being too busy to remember going to the bathroom and other times of being bored. I’m doing my MSc Investment Analysis from the UK I’ve been out of investment banking for two years working in the finance and account dept of a company. I want to go back to that field hence my Masters. Should I apply for an analyst positions or associate positions? Some of the banking sites say if you have relevant experience and are doing your MBA or Masters in Finance you can apply for associate. Although I am not sure if I qualify for that?
If you’ve been an analyst in an IB before, I believe you shd qualify as either a third year analyst or first year associate. However, markets aren’t great so banks have been bumping people down FYI
People w MBA usually qualify as associates but as I’ve said before markets are tougher so you have to be flexible
Thanks for sharing, I am eager for a job as an Analyst in investment bank, except one thing: lack of sleep. I am going to have a master degree in finance in US, and wonder whether I need to practice sleep less from now?
May be a weired question. hope to reply…
Yes. You won’t be sleeping much in an IB. On a side note, and this is just my personal suggestion only, I’d suggest you to check out meditation because you might need that in finance and once you start meditating, you’d probably need less sleep.
Try meditating with all that coffee running in your blood system … or blood running in your coffee system.
When you meditate, you might not necessarily need the coffee to stay awake ;)
This website has a lot of helpful information, thanks for the contribution.
I had a few questions because I am looking at getting into the finance/banking industry and am curious as to which path I should take.
First off, what courses are best suited for entry into the finance industry. I am primarily interested in dealing with stocks/stock market.
Secondly, are there any other banking/finance jobs that don’t require such long working hours? After looking at a career website I found a job closely related to an IB but the job title is listed as “Money Manager.” Investment banker is listed as another job but this one lists the core tasks as “Meet with investment bankers about investment opportunities,research companies to invest in and
Arrange transactions to make investments,” to name a few. Do you know if the job title is accurate and if so, are the hours really only 40 to 65 hours a week?
Lastly, I’m a Canadian so I’d probably be looking at a job on Bay Street (our Wall St.), am I right to assume the hours are probably no better?
Sorry for the long post but I would really appreciate if you could answer some of my questions. I totally understand if your unable to respond for any reason.
Thanks
1. Finance/Accounting
2. Private Banking/Asset Management
3. They should be relatively decent cause Canadians in general are pretty relaxed
I am an IB analyst at a large Canadian bank in Toronto – the hours are marginally better than NYC but completely depends on the group. Mining/Oil&Gas will work at least as long as NYC IB (average over 80 hrs per week for sure) but sectors with less deal flow can have better hours (in the 60-80 range).
Thanks for the reply! Do you know if private banking/asset management is generally an entry level job out of university? Also when you say the hours are relatively decent in Canada, do you mean work weeks are less than 80 hours or around the same? Thanks again!
Yes it can be
I’d think so – maybe max 60 hours a week but I haven’t worked in Canada so perhaps readers have better insights!
See my post above regarding hours in Canadian Banks
Firstly congrats on this site its really gonna help balance the field and giive some of those out of the know a better chance but here’s my, somewhat unrelated question As civil engineering student i got a 2:2 in first year cause i wasnt bothered can i still apply to investment banks for intenships who require a 2:1 minimum?
Yes you can though I’m not sure if you’ll make the cutoff.
I’m kind of in the same boat, seeing as I had 2.5 in aerospace engineering after freshman year. But basically you just have to man up and work your ass of the following year. Got a 3.7 my second year
Some great insights here and very similar to experiences I’ve found in Project Finance but at least I got to sleep for more than 2 hours! I’ve been away from banking 10 years getting a life with the family so how hard will it be to return to analysis & PF or IB life? Appreciate your ideas. thanks
How hard – depends on how much work & time you are willing to put in to land yourself the job and actually perform well on the job. I’d suggest you to figure out what you want to do w your career and what you are willing to “trade off” for the IB/PE lifestyle first
It is a very nice discussion. It is quite scary if I don’t get full sleep. Anyways I have completed my MBA in finance and currently working in sales & marketing field. Now I want to switch in finance field again. I have two options in my hand, one of forex trader and other one is IB analyst. I have 2 questions
1. Should I change sales jobs to finance one as I am not liking sales job but getting a good amount of money in it???
2. Which option should I choose either Trading or IB??
I would appreciate your suggestions.
Thanks
1. Depends on what your priorities are – can’t answer for you
2. Depends on what your goals are – you might want to refer to articles on our site re day in life of the two different roles. They can give you better ideas
I am a statistics major undergraduate student. What can I do for preparing to apply investment banking now?
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/get-a-banking-job/
hi i am english and am doing my a levels and i will soon hopefully going to uniuversity and maby going on some internships. for a career in the future i am thinking of these things, i am interested in: finance, business management, consultancy and running them, law and starting my own business. what jobs would you recommend i don’t mind working more than 9 – 5 but i don’t want my job to be very stressful and boring. i was wondering out of business management/law/finance(not just IB)/consultancy what would you recommend that pays well but doesn’t have to long hours. also for business management/Law/Finance(not just IB)consultancy how stressful, long are the hours, ‘interesting’ which offer lhigh salaries?thanks. i need to make up my mind very soon.
You might be interested in corp development & private banking
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/corporate-development-on-the-job/
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/private-banking/
But they do require hard work too
thank you and is there a website that compares all the careers by pay hours exit opps and things like thats. what about law and accountant vs acturary how do they compare with pb and corp dev? what about working my way up in a company (what company would you recommend for my interests) i am just afraid that when i get to managerial roles i will have ib stree and hours with less pay. what about being a consultant or is there other jobs that you can recommend. i just need a website that compares all these jobs so i can make a descision and work towards something
thanks.
You can try vault.
Other than that, I think you need to network and talk to as many people as you can.
Start from yourself though – figure out what inspires you and what you’re really good at and then make a decision from that place
Hi, I’m a Sociology and Anthropology graduate and am interested in getting into Investment Banking. With a totally unrelated degree do you think there is any chance this is possible?
Yes if you know how to pitch your story, have relevant finance/modelling experience and knowledge
Hi Guys,
Can you estimate how much sleep each division of investment people get, on average?
E.g.
I-Bankers: 4 Hours a Night
Sales/Trade: 6 Hours a Night
Money Manager: 7 Hours a Night
Portfolio Man: 8 Hours a Night
Thanks
IBD – Bad days: No sleep; Very Good days: 7-9 hours; Mediocre days: 5-6 hours – also depends on your team, your bank, business cycle and how you structure your time!
The rest – about right but in S&T you socialize w clients quite a bit so you may get little sleep if you went out late the night before
Hi Nicole,
I’m an engineering grad followed by which I started my own company and ran for 3 years. Although we didnt make any money in that, our experience of dealing with CXO level people at both large private organisations and governmental bodies gave me good experience. Also, I did, market research, basic accounting, legal paperwork, presentations, team building, product development and marketing as an entrepreneur.
I’m now applying at large PE firms.
Question:
1) What parts of my experience should I speak more of?
2) I know only basic finance(balance sheets, cash flow, taxation etc). What will be the exact modelling techniques that I will need to learn to atleast be eligible for the first month of my job?
Stuff like valuation, LBO etc
Thanks very much. I hope you have a really good day :)
1. Your operational experience
2. DCF, LBO – http://breakingintowallstreet.com/biws/excel-fundamentals-advanced-modeling/ should help.
In your case, PE firms would be curious as to why you want PE now. Honestly, it can be challenging for you to break in without modeling/finance experience. However, if you are very familiar w a particular industry and the PE firm you’re applying for is doing a deal on that particular industry, you can position yourself as the junior operations guy instead of the investments guy
Thanks Nicole for the reply.
> As you mentioned, I’m infact quite knowledgeable about the power sector and most
PE invest in power!
> How much do the operations analyst make as against the invest analyst?
> I always believed that financial modelling/techniques are formulas at the end of the day, which can be learnt. Why should they be so essential to these jobs rather than core leadership qualities which every organisation craves for? And as I read on this website, learning them takes about a month or so!
> As to why PE now, I believe in being associated with the fast paced growth environment and dealing with many businesses being more fun, challenging and at the same time offering a higher learning potential rather than just one company. Also, learning core financial and valuation skills is a very important trait if anybody wants to do an international business today. That’s my story! can I make it better?
Thanks for your time.
I don’t know – I think its pretty much the same but I would focus on obtaining the role first
Because the modeling skills are crucial for firms to analyze investments etc – you need such skills as an analyst and progress in the ladder. If you don’t want to do modeling, I wouldn’t go into IB/PE esp at the junior level
You can always make your story better but hard to help you out here on the comments page. Good luck!
I am interested in the communication within a company and other companies, presenting pitch books and giving presentations in meetings. But without having to do the mathematical work myself, rather present information given to me. Is that a realistic job in the investment banking field and does it pay well?
Also, I don’t mean not have any math or knowledge involved, but more focused on communication and presentations for a company.
Unless you are very senior in IB, you’ll have to do the modeling work, even if its just cross-checking your juniors’ models; this alone requires solid modeling skills
I’d suggest you to look at sales/marketing roles in asset management firms/private banks. They might interest you more. If you are interested in these roles (AM & PB) and you don’t have a finance background, I’d suggest you to check out CFA (At least level 1) to boost your chances.
How about for boutique firms? Is this usually true as well?
More or less though the deals you will be doing may be different, and you may take on more responsibility/broader exposure if your team is small. On the other hand, you may also be doing less deals if the boutique firm doesn’t have enough business…
Hello
I’m 17 and I did not get any a’s in gcse mainly b and c’s.
And I have not really done well in my first year of as so I will be retaking.
If I retake and get 3 a’s is there still a chance of me getting into ib
A good freind of mine worked in the city for a few years and has decided to be selfemployed. He said I would have to get into a top UNi or atleast get a first and said that I would need to have a good excuse for why I retook and why I want to do in.
He said due to personal experience he thinks
it’s best to leave school and get a job in a
corporAte company and try get into the city
work way up.and he said there are less small
jobs in the city.
What option would you say is more safe as I don’t think England will recover from this ressesion housing prices may falll.
And in in UNi would be a good experience as all the assignment etc would make the work much easier
Yes I believe grades are important so getting As can help
I think you’re thinking a bit too much. Focus on acing your exams and getting into a top university first if you’re looking to break into banking.
I guess if more people with consulting backgrounds would join this, things would look a lot more organized. A lot of these long hours seem to be due to the fact that people don’t really know what they are doing and cannot properly define the outcome they want.
True. Face time. politics. Waiting around for all parties to get their work done. Lots of inefficiency in the system, but not just in IB, in corporate world in general. At least you get compensated for your time well in IB
hey nicole i realy love IB but question is ,is it realy in demand and what is the salary range for an IB manager/analyst…another thng is I dont do accounting in high school.Wil it be risky 4me to study IB witowt da basics of acc ?
Thanks=)!
http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-salary/
So I’m in high school right now, going into my junior year and I would really like to go into finance. I don’t know anyone in the “business” so I’m not really clear on the different positions, etc. For example the differences between an IB, someone who works in private equity, and someone who works in hedge funds? I know part of the reason that a lot of people go into finance is because of the money, and to be honest that is paart of the reason why I would like to go into it. But, I don’t really know where to get started. After doing some research online, I’ve gotten really confused. Some people say that an IB (in NYC) makes a starting salary of about 50,000 while others say they make a starting salary of around 120,000. Same thing with PE, and HF. Another thing, I am a female, and I am a minority and a lot of people have told me that I may have trouble breaking into the world of finance or gaining respect, and I know this is true to some extent, but is it as bad as they make it sound?
IB: http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/what-bankers-do/
HF: http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/hedge-fund-recruiting/
PE: http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/private-equity-recruiting/
Re starting salary, it varies depending on your firm, group and industry within finance (is it IB/HF/PE?)
I wouldn’t worry about being a female and gaining respect in finance. Plenty of women work in finance, and I think their career trajectory depends on their performance, “luck” and situation – every individual is unique
If it required such a huge working hours, why don’t they hire more people? I love the financial analysis concept but is there a job with a reasonable working hours?
Thanks for the great website :). I’m looking to persue an MBA and breaking to Financial world. This gave me a second thought….
Because they want the best and brightest to join their team. Headcount is very important to banks because salaries are one of their major expenses
Yes, look at http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/private-banking/
Asset management roles may also be of interest to you
How hard is it to break in investment banking with a philosophy and economics degree, top 10% of your class? Thanks!
Really depends on your work experience, networking, and strength of your school’s name… if all of those are good you can do it.
Hey, I am a senior in high school and thinking of studying business economics in college, but after reading this I am not so sure anymore. Do investment bankers work all year round? Or is this a seasonal job? What majors are required in order to become an investment banker? If one was to say they like examining the stock market and finding patterns and such, what career would you recommend? Sorry if these questions sound a bit naive to you, so answer what you want, thanks!
Yes bankers work all year round full-time, unless you’re an intern
No majors are required but having a knowledge/background in finance and accounting will help
Check out asset management & sales and trading
Hello,
I am a graduate economist from a greek university, living in London and interested in starting a master. At first I was thinking about an MSc in Accounting & Finance because I think is kind of easier that any banking related master. But soon I started thinking about an MSc in Finance cause I have heard that banking jobs pay well but reading posts below about the required working hours I started to doudt that. I don’t want to work so many hours even if the money are extremelly good. I prefer an 8-5 monotone office job than having to meet targets or create presentations etc as someone does in banking. And I should mention that I will do my master in a mediocre university in London according to the rankings, because better universities are much more expensive for me (I do mention that because I read that banks usually prefer graduates from top universities because they tend to believe that they are hard-workers).Firstly, do you think that getting a master in Accounting is better for me? Secondly, do you think that depending on the difficulty to get the master, is an MSc in Accounting “easier” than in Finace or Investment Banking?
And lastly, if so, is it preferable to do an MSc in Accounting & Finace or get qualified through the exams of ACCA to become a Chartered Accountant?
Thank you very much for your time and consideration. I am looking forward to your reply.
Hello,thanks for the article you are very helpful.I am doing MSc investment management and i would like to have a career in private wealth management/private banking. The competition is high at this field of finance? and what is it true that networking is the most important part for this job?
thanks in advanve
It can be. Please refer to http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/private-banking/
there is tonnes of info around on how to get investment banking jobs, and i know that quite a few (goldman sachs, JP morgan, etc.) recruit from colleges, but how would you suggest going about getting into a hedge fund? just apply everywhere once you graduate? or do they recruit too, or is there a particular recruiting season? etc.
thanks
Network a lot through your alums and own network! Hedge funds do recruit at universities, though I think quite a few quant funds are turning to quant related programs. Recruiting season – I’d suggest you to check with the HFs’ HR division. I believe they do recruit when banks recruit though I’m pretty sure they do quite a few off cycle recruiting. You just need to be very good.
I am working for a mid size public accounting firm in NYC. I am interested in the investment banking work but not in the hours. Are there boutique firms where I can do the investment banking work – specifically the valuation work and yet have a life. Like work 50 hrs a week perhaps?
Thanks for your insight.
If you want to work 50 hour weeks, I don’t know if investment banking the right career for you. Even boutique firms require quite long hours. Perhaps you can take a look at TAS divisions with accounting firms? Not sure about the hours.
The city of the firm matters too – if you work in a more laid back/chilled out city like Sydney, your hours may be better! In HK/NYC hours can be pretty bad
Hello I am a Business Administration with executive estudies in capital markets and Business valuati. I also have a Master in financial market.
I want to be Investment Banking Analyst, I could begin as a intern, please help me, where can I send my resume
Thanks
You can send your resume to the banks’ websites
Am I the only person who read this and got excited? I have just received a Summer Internship at JP Morgan and I cant wait to work these long hours and see how much you can pack into a day.
Isn’t pushing yourself to the limit what life is all about? You can keep your 9-5.
No. It means you’re a perfect fit for banking!
I want to break in IB here in Toronto – I am willing to put in the hours if the compensation is worth it.
What am I looking at to start as an IB Analyst? 1st and 2nd year? what are bonuses typically?
See the articles on this page for compensation data: http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/on-the-job
What you start as depends on your previous experience.
Sissy. You should try a software startup. Makes this look like a holiday.
Just had a quick question about what the expectation for an analyst is when it comes to participation in client meetings? If I’m asked by an MD to sit in on a call, meeting, pitch, etc. is it likely best to keep my head down and listen or is a slightly more proactive approach preferred? Thanks in advance.
It is more likely that you’ll be learning on the call, jotting notes, and helping the MD with various errands (including preparing files etc etc). You may be able to speak up though it may not be as likely because the seniors will most likely be doing most of the talking (unless they ask you for your opinion of course)
Thanks for the quick response Nicole – really appreciate it. Just wanted to say that your website is fantastic and was instrumental in helping me land a banking job from a pretty non-traditional background.
Keep up the great work.
Thank you for your kind words. We’re glad you did the work we suggested!
So on average, what would be the components for first year analysts’ work? Is it gotta be 80% pitchbook +10% random stuff +10% modelling?
And how often do the analysts actually get to build full financial models?
It depends on the team and which deals you’re staffed on etc. Hard to say – I’d say this is a decent breakdown, though I’d think its around 70% pitch book and more than 10% on modeling.
So as you progress, analysts will be given more responsibility on the team? Aka. more client expore and model-building?
Yes you will be given more responsibility and will be expected to lead the whole deal process from origination and execution as you progress in your career. You will also be given more opportunity to interact with clients, though this (and how fast this happens) will depend on how your MD values your work, team dynamics, etc.
Damn I really feel sorry for all you guys working @ wall street or in American investment banks.
here in Switzerland we earn roughly the same amount of money but we don’t have such crazy working hours nor do we have night shifts in banking.
Even at UBS investment banking in Zurich you may have bad days where you spend a few hours more but that’s it.
80-100 working hours is just sick and I wonder how many young analysts in their 20′s have a burn-out or even a heart attack because of stress and sleeping shortage. Sorry but this sounds more like slavery than the American dream :))
Good to hear that your hours in Switzerland are better than hours in US/Asia. Perhaps its the European culture? Thanks for sharing.
I wouldn’t say European, since London investment bankers are working around 60-70 hours.
Frankfurt and Paris also seem to have a huge workload but the rest of Europe is staying within the limits of 40-50 hours a week.
60-70 hours sound decent to me! Thanks for your input!
Hi,
I don’t think anyone has asked this question yet.
i) If all analyst are actually doing are correcting comas, converting documents to pdf files and making sure powerpoint slides are correct, why is the interview process so high? And why do (well in Australia anyway) they put so much emphasis on your life outside of uni-volunteer work, sports, music, board group-when most of the time you are stuck in the office? Isn’t it ironic?
ii)As an investment banker throughout from analyst starting, how many years before you hit 1 million dollars? That is to say, how many years would you need to work before you accumulate 1 million? Just curious.
iii)From this site, it shows the progression of analyst to associate to vice president. However, does everyone make it to associte or vice president? If not, what do they do? Stick as an analyst forever? There can’t be 50 vice presidents right?
Thank you!
i) 3 reasons. (1) Interviewers have high standards – Most bankers are typically high achievers with strong qualifications and pedigree. Some, if lucky, are well-rounded and have life outside work; while others may not. (2) Demand for jobs > supply of talents – banking still pays more than most jobs out there so demand is higher than supply for such roles. (3) Interests – to bond with people and show that you are “different” from other “boring” overachieving candidates who have no life other than work
ii) Depends on your performance and spending habits. Some maybe able to do so in 5-6 years. http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/finance-investment-banking-jobs-tradeoffs/
iii) They get fired or they leave voluntarily for other roles because banking takes a toll on your health http://www.newser.com/story/139744/investment-banking-hazardous-to-your-health.html
Thank you for your prompt reply!
In regards to the first question. That was precisely what I meant. Based on a regular day to day regime, an investment banker really has no social life outside of work. So why would they care if you spent 6 months working for UNICEF when they want a person who will just crunch numbers all day?
Also for the 3rd question, how many investment bankers are usually hired per year? Assuming it’s 50. How many usually make it to managing director? Thank you!
Honestly, some don’t, but it differentiates you from other applicants because you stand out (assuming your qualifications are similar to that of other candidates). Some do if they find what you do fascinating. 6 months in UNICEF may not necessarily appear favorable to bankers because you’ll have to address why you want to make this switch.
I don’t have the numbers on hand so its hard for me to say. And it changes according to hiring needs each year. And making it to MD takes a bit of luck & connection (its not just sheer ability). To sum up, I don’t have an answer to this question.
SO.. would you recommend this as a good job career?
Depends on your passion, strengths and skills. For someone who is passionate about finance, doing deals, making money and willing to put in the effort and hours to do so, yes.