Support Group for ER Associates Working IB Hours
I left IB 3 months ago for a #1 ranked team in industrials/energy/FIG. Took a pay cut for the promise of a better work life balance. However, my lead analyst publishes 4-6 notes a day which is beginning to frustrate me as there’s not enough news/fully emerged themes to justify a 5 page report on certain days. I’m in the office Sunday to Friday from 7am-11pm/midnight with no full wfh days are allowed by my MD. So the team is in at 7am and we leave the office after dinner to log back on. I regret not asking WSO on my team’s culture, but I’d like to use the thread as a support group for those unlucky associates forced to grind. And this would be a space to share datapoints on the sweatiest teams so prospective applicants can be informed.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, your experience as an ER associate working IB-level hours is unfortunately not unheard of. While equity research is often perceived as offering better work-life balance compared to investment banking, the reality can vary significantly depending on the team and lead analyst's expectations. Here are some key takeaways and advice from WSO threads that might resonate with your situation:
Team Culture Matters:
Hours in ER vs. IB:
Frustration with Over-Publishing:
Advice for Coping:
Support Group Idea:
If you're looking for specific examples of teams or firms with better work-life balance, WSO threads on Private Equity or Equity Research often discuss this topic. Remember, you're not alone in this struggle, and there are always options to pivot if needed. Keep grinding, but also prioritize your well-being!
Sources: Work/Life Balance: Equity Research vs. Investment Banking - (A Definitive Guide, Part 1), WSO 2022 Investment Banking Work-Conditions Survey (Part 1/3), WSO 2023 Investment Banking Work-Conditions Survey RESULTS (3rd Annual), What is corporate banking?, The Truth about "Hours" at the Analyst Level
No one is publishing that many notes per day lmao...
Absolutely not true. I have seen a few teams over the years publish at this pace. Not every note is a multi page deep research piece. Usually you see this with teams that have 4 or more associates.
Former ER, now in IB. Was in the situation you described; worked for an analyst who had zero regard for his juniors’ time, and we’d pull 70-80 hour weeks outside of earnings, and 80+ hour weeks on occasion during earnings. It wasn’t your issue (constant need to publish), but there was always something … be it an initiation, an IPO, an earnings preview, a conference, etc … there was never “peace time,” even when other teams would have it. That, and everything we did was massive overkill. We wrote the longest earnings notes and had the longest initiations. “More pages = more value” mindset.
While my hours haven’t gotten better since leaving ER for IB, they haven’t gotten much worse either. I find that, while IB has a higher quantity of work that “needs” to be done by juniors (I put “needs” in quotes because there’s some degree of superfluous analysis as well), you’ve got a little more freedom and breathing room as for when and how you do it as long as it gets done well.
The problem is this: in ER, your covering analyst is a dictator. He or she has absolute control over hours, conditions, responsibilities, and your training. The only things stopping him from working you extreme hours for low pay under brutal conditions not conducive to your growth are 1) retention, and 2) his good will.
I find that most, but by no means all, covering analysts are decent people who don’t strive to squeeze every last drop from the team. Those who do have low retention unless they’re top-ranked, they’re fine with “low quality” associates who cannot get a job elsewhere, or the job market is extremely poor.
My advice for you, and this is going to be blunt, is to try to go buyside ASAP. You’ve got IB and top-tier ER experience; you’re probably a solid candidate.
I’m grateful for my time in ER because they took a chance on me as a late bloomer who didn’t have a good “why finance” and didn’t know Wall Street was for me until my junior year of college. I learned a massive amount, met amazing people, and wouldn’t have had a shot at IB without ER first.
That being said, ER was for me, like, perhaps, it should be for you, a means to an end, not an end goal.
The value of being a junior in ER lies primarily in being able to exit, either to the buy-side or IB, without needing an MBA and without having had to know you wanted to do finance from freshman year or college/go through the IB recruitment grind.
If you’re passionate about investing, work at a pod. If you’re trying to maximise risk-adjusted earnings, IB-PE is the path. If you’re trying to maximize hours-adjusted earnings within the sell-side , I’d recommend ECM or DCM. Treat ER as a means to an end, to one of these ends.
Always happy to talk if you want to PM.
These are some super interesting insights, do you mind if I PM you some questions?
Go for it
Interested to hear what you mean about the move to ECM or DCM? Are those higher growth paths with more pay, better WLB, etc?
Junior pay is higher, hours are generally better, you have more upside in your seat (promotions are in lockstep, learning is more structured, if you do well, your bonus will reflect that as you’re on the IB bucketed pay scale), and culture is usually less toxic.
The downside is the exits. ER generally exits better to IB coverage, pod shops, or the corporate world. It’s a thankless seat while you’re there,but if you break out, you’re in good shape.
Im not going to lie, I only hear of these horror stories on WSO and have yet to see a team in the wild that experiences this. In my experience most teams are 50-60 pretty consistently (baseline 7:30-5/6 + random things that come up). If you like research, jump to somewhere else.
4-6 notes per day is crazy btw
Akash Tewari Jefferies
Lead analyst and is my age...damn I feel behind.
Bet $5 its evercore or jefferies
"industrials/energy/FIG" lmao why even give a sample sector group at that point
I'm sorry but 4-6 notes a day is beyond excessive. That's insane. I'm pretty sure the buyside does not find it helpful either.
You can DM me if it’s energy. There’s only a few teams that fit the description
there's a lady that's #1 in aerospace avoid her!! Do not accept an offer as you will regret it
Say some more?
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