Investment Banking: A Day in the Life
What an investment banking analyst actually does from 9am to midnight — and why the hours are what they are.
Reading
0%
Time left
~8 min
Quiz score
0/3
The analyst's day
A first-year investment banking analyst at a bulge-bracket bank (think Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan) typically starts around 9am. But "start" is flexible — the real work schedule is determined by live deals, not a clock.
A realistic weekday:
- 9:00am — Check emails. Respond to associate notes from overnight. Update a merger model with new numbers from the client's CFO.
- 10:30am — Sit in on a client call, taking notes. Don't speak unless asked.
- 12:00pm — Eat at your desk. Finish the slide deck showing the "football field" valuation chart.
- 2:00pm — A new deal gets staffed to you. Now you're running two models at once.
- 6:00pm — The associate sends feedback on the deck — 40 edits. Start over on several slides.
- 9:00pm — Deliver revised slides. Start the comparable company analysis for tomorrow's pitch.
- 1:00am — Leave the office. During "live deal" season this is considered an early night.
Pitch Book
A presentation deck used to pitch a deal idea or the bank's services to a potential client. Analysts spend enormous time making these look perfect. MDs and VPs present them.
The core technical skills
1. Financial modeling in Excel This is the core skill. Investment banking analysts build:
- DCF models (discounted cash flow — estimating what a company is worth today based on future cash flows)
- Comparable company analysis (valuing a company relative to similar public companies)
- Precedent transaction analysis (valuing a company based on what similar companies sold for)
- LBO models (how much a private equity firm could pay for a company and still make a return)
Models have hundreds of interconnected cells. A typo in one formula can break the entire output.
2. Slide-building in PowerPoint Pitch books and client presentations must be visually clean and defensible. Analysts are judged on the formatting of their slides, not just the content.
3. Research and synthesis Reading 10-K filings, earnings transcripts, news, and industry reports — then distilling them into key points for the deal team.
Real-world example
During a $3B acquisition, a Goldman analyst might build 15+ different versions of the same model as the deal terms change — different prices, different financing mixes, different synergy assumptions. Each version needs to tie perfectly and be ready for an 8am partner review.
Fun fact
"Pulling an all-nighter" is so common in banking that junior analysts have a name for leaving before midnight: "getting out early." During earnings season or live deal close, 3am finishes are routine.
The culture and hierarchy
The hierarchy is extremely important. Analysts do not call clients directly unless told to. Associates review all analyst work before it goes up. VPs do not send slides directly to the MD without the chain of review.
This means feedback can be slow. An analyst finishes work at 10pm, sends it to the associate, who sends feedback at midnight, meaning the analyst is up until 2am making changes.
Your associate sends feedback at 11pm
You finished a 40-slide pitch book at 9pm. Your associate has 35 edits. You have to present it at 8am.
What is a 'comparable company analysis' in investment banking?
What analysts actually learn
Despite the hours, the training is exceptional:
- How to value companies across multiple methodologies
- How executives think about capital structure decisions
- How large deals are structured and negotiated
- How to present complex financial data clearly
- How financial markets react to corporate events
After two years, IB analysts have a financial toolkit that most finance professionals never fully develop. This is why PE firms, hedge funds, and top MBA programs actively recruit from IB analyst pools.
Why do investment banking analysts work such long hours?
The exit opportunities
Most analysts leave after two years for:
- Private equity (most prestigious and competitive)
- Hedge funds (especially macro or equity long/short)
- Corporate development at a tech or large company
- MBA at Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, or Columbia
- Venture capital (less common directly from IB)
Investment banking analyst life is demanding, repetitive at times, and genuinely hard — but the financial modeling skills and deal exposure you gain in two years are unmatched in finance.
What do most investment banking analysts do after their 2-year program?