How many hours of 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.
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.
Investment bankers get between 10 to 20 vacation days per year. This is about the same as the national average for all professions in the United States.
Many aspiring investment bankers in that thread said caffeine is the order of the day (or night). Others recommended drinking lots of water, exercising during work hours, listening to hard rock music. Some recommended drugs, like Provigil, Adderall and Dexedrine.
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.
It means you have to respond to an email in 15 minutes or less no matter what.
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.
Of course investment bankers take vacations! They may not take as many as the rest of us, but they do take breaks from their high-pressure jobs. However, their vacations might look a bit different from the average person's.
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.
| Role | Base Salary ($) | Average Year-End Bonus (% of base) |
|---|---|---|
| Associate | $150,000 - $200,000 | 50% - 100% |
| Vice President (VP) | $200,000 - $225,000 | 50% - 150% |
| Senior Vice President (SVP) | $250,000 - $500,000 | > 100% |
| Managing Director (MD) | $400,000 - $600,000 | > 100% |
Do investment bankers have a good life?
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.
Investment bankers make money through the fees charged to their clients. As discussed above, this includes underwriting fees for arranging the sale of securities and advisory fees for providing strategic guidance.
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.
As an associate, compensation rises significantly. The next level up is Vice President, which can make upwards of 500k. Highest on the food chain is the Managing Director, who makes anywhere from 500k to several million dollars. Investment banking associates are typically hired after business school.
The lucrative and fast-paced career of an investment banker is a highly competitive one. For instance, in a recent year, 236,000 applicants competed for roughly 3,500 internships at Goldman Sachs. This is common across the industry where acceptance rates for programs are typically less than 2%.
Under the new policy, more than 1,400 senior bankers will no longer have a cap on their time off, while Junior employees will get two extra days off. However, according to the Bank, all employees will be expected to take a minimum of 15 days a year beginning in 2023.
Alfred Feld, Goldman's Longest-Serving Employee, Dies at 98.
Goldman Sachs is the premier investment bank in the world. With an acceptance rate of roughly 4%, it's harder to get into Goldman than it is to get into Harvard or Yale. Let me share how to get a job at Goldman Sachs from someone who did.
Banks don't break out investment banker headcount specifically, but data released last week by research firm Coalition, suggests investment banker headcount across the industry fell only 4% year-on-year in the first half, which is when many of the cuts at Goldman and Morgan Stanley took place.
| Position Title | Typical Age Range | Base Salary (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Analyst | 22-27 | $100-$125K |
| Associate | 25-35 | $175-$225K |
| Vice President (VP) | 28-40 | $250-$300K |
| Director / Senior Vice President (SVP) | 32-45 | $300-$350K |
Can I get into investment banking at 35?
And if you have your heart set on banking, it may be possible to get in above the age of 35, but usually only in very specialized situations. If your background does not match the specialized circ*mstances described above, you should spend your time on other pursuits: Start a side business.
- University of Pennsylvania.
- New York University.
- University of Michigan.
- The University of Texas at Austin.
Most commonly, investment bankers obtain either a master's of finance or an MBA with a specialization in finance.
The type of person who's suited to investment banking is someone who enjoys writing, routine, financial analysis, and is extroverted.
It is fairly common for front-office investment bankers to be earning over US$1m after 8 years in the industry. But it caps out at around US$20m, which is how much a top-performing investment banking CEO gets.
