How Does An I-Banking Analyst Spend His Week in the Office

A week in the life of an I-banking professional takes about 90-100 work hours. A typical week of an investment banking analyst is explained here.

In one of our previous posts, we have discussed a lot about a typical day in the life of I-banking analysts. As a post-response, we thought of collating an entire week’s work with the goal that it would be straightforward to understand the job profile in-depth. All days probably won’t end up with a deal closure. A deal closure is the result of hard work that may have stretched out for seven days to a month.

This is how we began with this post. Let’s see how a week would be for an investment banking professional. A typical I-banking analyst spends countless hours in front of their computers building models, comparing financial metrics and other factors to determine valuation, quantifying performance, and editing pitchbooks. Some may get out of the office and attend meetings regarding live transactions.

A typical investment banking analyst or associate works for a minimum of 90-100 hours a week. Generally, a day starts from 10 AM and ends at 2 AM. A week as an analyst in an investment banking industry involves the following.

Day 1 Monday:

The analyst reaches the office somewhere between 9 AM-10 AM. The analyst builds comps and updates the latest data to keep track of the deal closures. In the afternoon, he might attend a conference call with a company that is considering an IPO. Later in the evening, the main job is to build a financial model that might take late-night hours.

Day 2 Tuesday:

The next day may be a similar day as that of Monday. The analyst keenly works on the pitchbook and gets prepared for a meeting scheduled for Wednesday. The pitchbook work takes the whole day as there would be numerous changes that need submission, editing, and resubmission.

Day 3 Wednesday:

As scheduled, the analyst attends the meeting along with his Vice President. Many times, the meetings get scheduled out of the town where the analyst needs to travel. He discusses the draft with the VP, makes necessary editing (if any), and attends the meeting. After the meeting, he returns to town, goes back to the office, scribbles on modeling, and gets back home late at night.

Day 4 Thursday:

The analyst gets active with another pitchbook. It may be another IPO, a merger deal, an acquisition, or any other interesting deal. He starts collecting data and work with his senior.

Day 5 Friday:

Friday may become a little hectic as the analyst gets revision for the new comps from the senior officials. He involves in more research work and editing. In addition, more companies might get added to the comps list. It is a day of planning, reworking, researching. It is indeed tiresome.

Day 6 Saturday:

Saturday is not off. It is another day to get ready for the office. However, the tasks may be less because it is dependent on the VP’s approval of the latest version of the models. It may come for revision or get approved with less editing work.

Day 7 Sunday:

Sunday is not a holiday. It involves recapitulation of the whole week and might involve little changes here and there. Many of them will get free by afternoon from office work.

A week in the life of an investment banker is tough and challenging. But it is a lucrative career as the rewards are worth the work.