A Day in the Life of an Investment Banker (2024)

Investment banking is one of Wall Street's most coveted roles. It is also one of the hardest. It is no surprise that the average day in an investment banker's life is long and stressful. Those who manage to survive the adjustment period often go on to have long and financially rewarding careers.

Investment banking analysts may work up to 100 hours per week at some firms.

The Role of an Investment Banker

Investment banks help companies and governments raise capital by issuing stock or borrowing money. They also act as advisers and go-betweens on mergers and acquisitions.

The capital markets are a fast-paced, high-stakes, and highly regulated environment. Companies in other industries need investment bankers to handle financial deals while they are otherwise occupied.

Who Needs Them

Investment bankers are hired by young companies planning to go public, big companies planning mergers and acquisitions, and established companies that want to raise money for major expansions. The professional bankers are the link between the company and investors.

For example, in 2019, Goldman Sachs handled the purchase of Tableau Software by Salesforce, the sale of Ultimate Software to a private equity consortium, and the sale of Symantec's enterprise business to Broadcom.

Social Skills Wanted

These firms also have trading and sales divisions, but the traditional role of an investment banker involves meeting with clients, preparing offers, running financial projections, and working on pitchbooks, the sales books created to draw in new clients.

What separates investment bankers from most others in the financial industry is the requirement for excellent social skills. Plenty of business students can perform the technical functions of an investment banking associate, but few have the stamina and the social graces to deal effectively with clients. Having the right personality goes a long way.

Key Takeaways

  • Investment bankers meet with clients, prepare offers, run financial projections, and work on pitchbooks, that help generate new clients.
  • The work is lucrative but the days are long and stressful.
  • Superior social skills are required for success in the field.

Morning Routine

A new associate who gets past the initial chaos and jitters of the job settles into a functional routine. The mornings are usually filled with emails, text messages, and office meetings. Messages may come from clients, co-workers, or senior bankers who want every status report, presentation, and calculation double- and triple-checked.

A Late Start

Fortunately, the workdays start rather late. This is partly because the New York capital markets are not open at 7 a.m., but it is also because most bankers were at the office until midnight the night before.

An associate may have time to shower, eat breakfast, and even work out before heading to the office. Since the vast majority of investment banking jobs are located in cities, many face a long commute.

Morning work is often slower and more methodical than evening work. From about 9:30 a.m. until lunch, associates and analysts work on company analyses and make adjustments requested by senior staff, who have spent the previous evening reviewing the day's work. On slow days, a junior banker may have time to catch up on the news and sports, but there is not much opportunity for social media since most investment banks put up firewalls to block distracting websites.

Afternoons

Unless the day is very busy, lunch is a leisurely 45-minute or hour-long stretch at a local deli or the company cafeteria. These are usually spent with co-workers on the same level. The hierarchy tends to be rigid.

The associates usually return to their desks to find updated models and presentations from their team's analysts. The associates review these documents and make corrections or recommendations before sending them back to the analysts.

This is a stressful process for associates, who desperately want to prove they can contribute to the deal, and analysts, who know what the managing directors or directors need and don't have a ton of time for revisions.

The Live Deal

Afternoon work is focused intently on the active deal. Many investment banking teams are assigned one deal at a time, or the "live deal," and senior bankers are meticulous about details. Initial public offerings (IPOs) and merger and acquisition (M&A) deals involve millions or even billions of dollars, and the firm cannot afford to make mistakes.

Evening

The second half of the workday is divided into two segments: before and after dinner. Dinner is almost always eaten at the office.

The work before dinner is more scheduled and predictable, and analysts demand that the work of associates be completed by early evening so it can be reviewed again.

On a normal day, the first post-dinner task is reviewing the morning's work. Analysts and senior bankers spent the past several hours going over material and creating "comments," which sometimes require massive revisions to the pitchbook.

Investment banking associates and analysts work with many other professionals such as equity research and sales staff.

The Software Crew

The evenings, however, are closely spent with the desktop publishing crews. Desktop publishing (DTP) in investment banking is a division filled with professionals who know how to use PowerPoint, Photoshop, and other software to communicate dense financial information effectively. Analysts rely heavily on this team to make revisions to pitchbooks and other marketing materials.

The revision-comment-correction cycle might repeat two or three more times before the night ends. Associates and analysts have to think and work quickly to ensure edits are done correctly and on time.

Many banks have company car services set up to take associates and analysts home in the early hours of the morning. Senior bankers may get away by 10 p.m., but junior bankers normally slump home in the early hours of the morning to get a few hours of sleep before doing it all again the next day.

A Day in the Life of an Investment Banker (2024)

FAQs

A Day in the Life of an Investment Banker? ›

A typical day for an investment banker can involve long hours, with early mornings and late nights being the norm. The work can be fast-paced and intense, involving tasks such as financial modeling, analysis, research, client meetings, and presentations.

What is a day in the life of an investment banker like? ›

The position requires bankers to be competent communicators with the ability to manage their schedules effectively. In a typical workday, an investment banker may dedicate the morning to financial research, the afternoon to meetings with clients and colleagues and the evening to the creation of pitch books.

What is the average work day for an investment banker? ›

Investment Bankers who average 80-hour work days will likely get around 7 hours of sleep per night assuming that they go to bed at around 2 AM and wake up around 9 AM.

Do investment bankers really work 100 hours? ›

In summary, I think you can generally expect most of your weeks in investment banking to be between 60 and 80 hours. I'd say 60 hours is doable, while 80 hours will really start to push you. I think anyone who says that they work 100 hours on average is probably lying.

How good at math do you have to be to be an investment banker? ›

If you're considering a career in investment banking, it's important to have a deep understanding of mathematical concepts such as calculus, probability, and statistics. Take advanced math courses and work on developing your analytical and critical thinking skills to prepare yourself for a career in investment banking.

Can you be happy as an investment banker? ›

I was recently asked if most investment bankers are actually happy. A pretty good question because for many it's a dream job. From my experience - and I spent 8 years in the industry, many of my friends are investment bankers - most are indeed deeply unhappy. Saying that, many will be happy once they're out.

Do investment bankers love their jobs? ›

Do investment bankers find their jobs meaningful? On average, investment bankers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.4/5. The majority of investment bankers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

Do investment bankers work 7 days a week? ›

Many Analysts might be working more like 80-90 hours per week rather than 70-80. That may not sound significant, but it's the difference between 12.5 hours per day for 6 days with one day off and 12.1 hours per day with no days off.

How much sleep do investment bankers get? ›

While working in Investment Banking, the average bedtime on weekdays for me was 1:29 AM, with an average sleep duration of 5 hours and 56 minutes. On weekends, the average bedtime was 12:02 AM, with an average sleep duration of 8 hours and 29 minutes. However, behind these figures are large fluctuations day by day.

Do investment bankers make 500K a year? ›

Ways to make a lot of money in this world

Sure, anybody can make a good living being a doctor or a lawyer or an investment banker where you can make ~$200-500K per year a few years after you finish with your studies, but you hit a ceiling very quickly unless you start your own practice (aka start your own business).

What is the Goldman Sachs 15 minute rule? ›

Have you ever heard of Goldman Sachs' 15-minute rule at Goldman Sachs? It means you have to respond to an email in 15 minutes or less no matter what. It doesn't matter if you: - showering - hiking in the mountains - attending your son's wedding - saving someone from a drowning vehicle Unreasonable?

Do investment bankers have free time? ›

In an average week, you will not have much free time on weekdays. Many Analysts are in the office from 9 AM to 1 AM each day, and sometimes a bit less than that on Friday or other “slow days.”

How much vacation do investment bankers get? ›

Typically, entry-level investment bankers, for instance, can expect to receive around 10-15 days of vacation per year. This can increase to 20 or more days as they gain seniority and move up the ranks.

Can I be an investment banker if I'm bad at math? ›

Investment bankers should have a good grasp of basic math skills and be able to do quick calculations when necessary.

Can you make 7 figures as an investment banker? ›

Investment Banking Managing Director Salary + Bonus: Base salaries are in the mid-six-figure range, with total compensation in the high six figures to low seven figures. An MD doing decently should earn between $1 and $3 million per year, and sometimes a low multiple of that (as of 2022).

Is finance hard if you're bad at math? ›

It's normal to have these thoughts and it's good to ask these kind of questions before you get into it. Believe it or not, mastery of advanced math skills is not necessary to have a career in finance. With today's technology, all math-related tasks can be done by computers and calculators.

Do investment bankers have good work life balance? ›

In the high-stakes and fast-paced world of finance, the work-life balance of Investment Bankers often teeters on a fine line. Known for their grueling hours and the high-pressure environment of financial markets, Investment Bankers are frequently at the mercy of market fluctuations and client demands.

What does a typical investment banker do? ›

Investment bankers help their corporate clients secure funds in the capital markets, act as financial advisors, and occasionally help companies navigate mergers and acquisitions. Investment banker positions vary from entry-level to high-level executive. Investment bankers are highly valued in the corporate world.

Do investment bankers really make a lot of money? ›

Can you become a millionaire as an investment banker? It is possible to become a millionaire as an investment banker, but it is not easy. Investment bankers typically earn salaries in the $200,000 to $700,000 range, with bonuses that can bring their total income up to several million dollars per year.

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