Investment banking is one of the most coveted jobs in the financial industry. It is no surprise that an average day in an investment banker's life can be long and bustling. The ones who are persistent and continue to stay in the industry often go on to have long-lasting and financially rewarding careers. An entry-level Investment banking analyst may work up to 80-100 hours per week. Lets unwrap a typical day in the life of an investment banker for an entry level analyst position:
Morning
A work day usually starts around 9:30am. The mornings are usually occupied with checking text messages, emails, presentations from clients, colleagues and mostly senior bankers who are looking for updates, status reports, final presentations, or asking you to review calculations.
From 9:30 am until lunch, associates and analysts work on company analyses and financial projections. This often includes factoring in adjustments requested by senior colleagues, who have spent the previous evening reviewing the day's work. This becomes a more comprehensive task if a company has declared quarterly or annual results.
If you are lucky, on a slow moving day, you may get an opportunity to chat with one of the senior bankers on their recent projects. Around the same time, you may have to attend a once-a-fortnight meeting hosted by your group, which includes all your colleagues, and immediate supervisor. During these meetings, the group discusses ongoing and future projects as well as deals that are about to come through, market trends, and client engagements that are planned for the week ahead. This gives you an opportunity to share and absorb knowledge about the current market trends, state of the economy and companies, in general.
Afternoon
On a regular day, lunch is a comfortable 45-minute or an hour-long stretch, generally spent with co-workers at a nearby restaurant or the company cafeteria.Post lunch, analysts return to their desks to send updated financial models and presentations to the team's associates. The associates evaluate these models, suggest corrections or alterations before sending them back to the analysts.
This is a demanding part of the day for an analyst as they need to make multiple revisions and get back to the associates. They also want to prove that they can handle responsibility and contribute towards the deal.
Afternoons are reserved and keenly focused on active deals. Investment banking teams are assigned different deals - one deal at a time along with a senior banker who is diligent about details. These usually include corporate transactions such as initial public offerings (IPOs) and mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Short coffee breaks are common and spread out in between.
The Second Half
The second half of the day is divided into two segments: before and after dinner. More often than not, on most days you will have dinner at the office. Before dinner, the work is more structured and predictable. Associates finish their work by early evening and pass it on to the analysts to go through the presentations, financial models, projections, and reports again for a final review.
Post-dinner work starts with reviewing the morning's work. Major revisions are required to be made to the pitchbook in which senior bankers and associates have offered their comments. This may include minor changes in cost structures or the time period of cash flows, among others. During this period, associates and analysts also work with many other departments such as equity research analysts and sales professionals.
Wrap up
Depending on the frequency of comments, revisions and the correction cycle, which might repeat anywhere from one to four more times, the night ends. Although many might consider this a very hectic work schedule, for those who are passionate about finance and corporate deals, a morning is incomplete without financial presentations, or with the news of a new deal. An analyst's afternoons get even more exciting when he or she works on live deals and interacts with experienced bankers. Evenings are intensely focused on hardcore finance and team work.
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FAQs
Doing company valuations, performing financial modeling, and calculating financial metrics requires people who are good with numbers, and this is one of the responsibilities that investment bankers should expect to fulfill on a daily basis.
What do investment bankers do on a day-to-day basis? ›
Investment bankers meet with clients, send emails, prepare offers, conduct financial projections, work on signing new clients to the company, providing initial public offerings (IPOs), and mergers and acquisitions. These are some of the tasks an investment banker must do on a daily or weekly basis.
How do you answer what do investment bankers do? ›
The Bottom Line. Investment bankers play a role in helping their clients raise capital to finance various activities and expand their businesses. They are financial advisory intermediaries who help companies and governments raise money for various uses.
What does a banker do on a daily basis? ›
Bankers Overview & Description
Bankers buy and sell securities or commodities in investment and trading firms, or provide financial services to businesses and individuals. May advise customers about stocks, bonds, mutual funds, commodities, and market conditions.
What are the day to day tasks of a banker? ›
Typical duties include:
- discussing clients' financial situations and offering them guidance on bank products and services that meet their needs.
- processing payments and withdrawals.
- authorising and evaluating overdrafts and loans.
- recruiting, training, supervising and appraising banking staff.
How Many Hours do Investment Bankers Work? Investment bankers work notoriously long hours, with the typical work week filling in 60-80 hours per week, and the occasional high-intensity work week that can push a banker to 100+ hours.
What do investment analysts do on a daily basis? ›
While younger analysts tend to do a lot of data gathering, financial modeling, and spreadsheet maintenance, more senior analysts tend to spend time on developing investment theses, speaking with company management teams and other investors, and marketing ideas (if they are on the sell-side).
How stressful is investment banking? ›
The Intense Culture. The investment banking industry has long been criticized for its grueling work culture, with junior bankers often feeling pressured to work over 100 hours per week to impress managers and advance their careers.
At what age do Investment Bankers retire? ›
Age plays a huge factor in the decision-making process. Wall Street is an up-and-out industry. Unless the goal is senior management, most people in finance are out of there by age 50. That's not at just the biggest investment banks, either.
How do Investment Bankers stay awake? ›
Strategies Investment Bankers use to stay awake with such little sleep include strategic coffee breaks, taking a walk outside, washing eyes out with cold water and taking a quick power nap.
In investment banking, it's true: long hours are the norm. As an investment banking analyst or associate, you should expect to work ~60-80 hours per week. However, some weeks can be far in excess of this, especially if there's a “live deal” in the works. Many bankers brag about working 100-120 hours per week.
Do investment bankers travel a lot? ›
In short, the more senior you get, the more you need to travel. Juniors don't get to travel that often. Here is how it plays out in real life: Managing Directors, Directors and Vice Presidents – As a Senior Banker, you would be traveling anywhere from once per week to 2-3 days a week.
Do investment bankers date? ›
Is It Even Possible to Date an Investment Banker? The good news is that, while most definitely more difficult, it's still quite possible to both date a banker and date as a banker. Plenty of people do it and plenty of people have found their lifelong partners while working as bankers.
What does an investment banker actually 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.
What are the duties of an investment banker? ›
What Does an Investment Banker Do?
- Capital Raising. Book Building. Prospectus Drafting. ...
- Private Placement of Capital.
- Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures.
- Corporate Restructuring.
- Debt & Equity Advisory Services.
- Bond Issuance & Pricing on Bond Markets.
- Hedge Fund, Mutual Fund, & Pension Fund Advisory Services.
Typical Investment Banking Hours
As an investment banking analyst or associate, you should expect to work ~60-80 hours per week. However, some weeks can be far in excess of this, especially if there's a “live deal” in the works. Many bankers brag about working 100-120 hours per week.
Do investment bankers have free time? ›
A Week in the Life of an Investment Banker
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.”
