Do you have to be smart to do investment banking?
Essential Qualities for an Investment Banker
The field of investment banking has many people who want to be highly successful, and your peers are likely to work just as hard as you. The job requires intelligence and analytical capabilities, and colleagues and clients may need to perform at a high level to maintain their competitiveness.
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.
Becoming an investment banker requires several years of higher education in addition to licensure. It also requires strong mathematical and analytical capabilities, which may be challenging for some people. In addition to a bachelor's degree, investment bankers may need a master's in finance or an M.B.A.
It's easy to be attracted to a career like banking because of how lucrative it is (even at the junior level), but sooner or later you'll have to confront the grim reality: investment banking requires a lot of work. There's no way around it – getting any deal done takes a crazy amount of firepower and energy.
Even when you are working with financial models, none of the math is complex. There's addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division… and occasionally built-in Excel functions like IRR, Mean, and Median. You never use calculus or differential equations or even geometry / trigonometry.
While investment banks look for a diverse skill set in their workforce, there's a particular focus on mathematical reasoning and ability. This means that school-level Maths (if not Further Maths) is almost always necessary. Other mathematical subjects such as Physics and Computer Science can also be helpful.
Yes, GPA matters! Bulge bracket banks and almost all other investment banks will look at your GPA when applying for a job and you should include it in your resume. Typically banks screen resumes based on GPA and will often remove anyone below 3.5.
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.
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%.
Do investment bankers make 500K a year?
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. To amass a million-dollar fortune, an investment banker would need to save and invest a large portion of their income over a period of many years.
On average, a first-year investment banker makes a 5-digit salary, in the range of $70,000 – $90,000, while a 7-digit salary is considered above average and is difficult to achieve for most people in their careers.
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).
The hours tend to be longest for more hires (e.g. analysts and associates), but even at senior levels, one must be ready to log long hours if the situation calls for it. As a former investment banker, I've often said the hardest part of the hours was the unpredictability.
Investment banking is very well paid, but sign-on bonuses and a healthy pay packet come at a price. To survive as an investment banker, you need to have a high stress threshold. You also need to be willing to say goodbye to your social life for a few years.
Does this mean that you can't pursue a career in finance? 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.
Yes, many people have become rich by working in investment banking, particularly in the area of mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Of the two careers, investment banking requires greater quantitative acumen and skills in math. The educational requirements for becoming a lawyer are much more rigid than those for becoming an investment banker.
Most investment banks prefer degrees in finance, accounting, business administration, and other business disciplines. Undergraduate degree subjects are less influential in the hiring process if a candidate has a master's degree in business administration, finance, or another highly relevant subject.
The path to starting a career in investment banking can be as short as just 4 years — the typical length of a bachelor's degree program. Depending on the specific job you want, more time may be needed to complete a master's degree program or professional registration exams.
Does JP Morgan look at GPA?
Q: What are your GPA requirements? A: We value diverse degree backgrounds and experiences and while a GPA 3.2 (or equivalent) in your undergraduate degree is preferred it is not required. Our training programs are designed to allow everyone, regardless of major studied to succeed.
Goldman Sachs does not give a specific minimum GPA requirement, though some sources suggest a GPA of at least 3.6 is preferred. Additionally, you may need to show relevant coursework and hard skills for certain programs.
Most people would say that anything below a 3.5 / 4.0 in the U.S. and anything below a 2:1 in the U.K. counts as “low” (for other countries, you can make the conversion).
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?
But people in IB (at least people I kind of know) work until about 2am every day and come into office between 9/9:30. So realistically they get about 5-6 hours of sleep (or even less in busier periods) and are expected to be functioning 100% every day.
