From Boutique to Middle-Market to Bulge Bracket: Got Rankings?

“Can you please rank the banks?!! Please! Just this once, rank the banks!!!”

“If I buy you bottle service, will you rank the banks? It’s on me, really!”

No, no, and no. Ranking anything is my least favorite topic in the world – possibly because I spent the first 20 years of my life attempting to out-rank people to get into more prestigious schools and activities.

But I will acknowledge the differences between different types of banks, and that it’s more complex than the previous discussions of boutiques vs. bulge brackets.

If you’re looking for rankings, you should press Alt + F4 right now and end your suffering.

But otherwise, read on and learn all about different types of banks, from tiny boutique to bulge bracket and everything in between – and where you should work.

Equity Research: A Day in the Life, Pay, and Exit Opportunities – Got Hedge Funds?

You’ve broken into equity research by following the detailed advice from our interviewee, and now you’re about to start working.

If I had a magic 8-ball, I’d guess you might be curious about:

• What an average day in your life will be like.
• How much time you spend on modeling vs. reports vs. research.
• How much money you’ll make – at the entry-level and once you’ve become Chief Monkey.
• What the hours and culture are like.
• Exit opportunities and how you can leverage ER to get into top business schools.

Luckily, you won’t be so curious after reading part 2 of this interview – where we answer all of those and more.

A Day in the Life

2011 Investment Banking Bonus Predictions: Is the World Flat?

The World Is Flat was released in 2005, but the title applies perfectly to this year’s investment banking bonuses: just swap in “bonus” for “world.”

While we saw the apocalypse and bonus meltdowns in 2008 and 2009, 2010 brought us recovery and higher bonuses.

The economy was better, banks were hiring again, and we had crawled our way out of the recession… or had we?

If this year’s investment banking revenue is any indication, that “recovery” was overblown – because this year’s numbers will be flat, flat, and more flat if my magic 8-ball and Excel spreadsheet are even half-correct.