Fun moments in IB

I've read tons of articles about the average day/week/month in investment banking.
And I get it, life as an ib analyst sucks. I've read a cacophony of some terrible stories and had some people tell me themselves how bad the hours are.

However, I am finding it extremely difficult to find any talk of good times. There must be some.
When are the good moments in investment banking? Talk in detail please? thanks.

 

Life in IB sucks often if you're one of the many who enters it purely for exit ops or money - life is IB rarely sucks (does sometimes) but is usually pretty good if you're in IB because you like IB.

One thing people usually love is the camaraderie you build when you're "in the trenches" with your fellow analysts. One story that sticks out (since you want details) is having nerf gun fights in the office with fellow analysts late at night while waiting for work to be reviewed.

 
notthehospitalER:

Life in IB sucks often if you're one of the many who enters it purely for exit ops or money - life is IB rarely sucks (does sometimes) but is usually pretty good if you're in IB because you like IB.

One thing people usually love is the camaraderie you build when you're "in the trenches" with your fellow analysts. One story that sticks out (since you want details) is having nerf gun fights in the office with fellow analysts late at night while waiting for work to be reviewed.

Omg that sounds amazing.

Robert Clayton Dean: What is happening? Brill: I blew up the building. Robert Clayton Dean: Why? Brill: Because you made a phone call.
 
goodL1fe:
notthehospitalER:

Life in IB sucks often if you're one of the many who enters it purely for exit ops or money - life is IB rarely sucks (does sometimes) but is usually pretty good if you're in IB because you like IB.

One thing people usually love is the camaraderie you build when you're "in the trenches" with your fellow analysts. One story that sticks out (since you want details) is having nerf gun fights in the office with fellow analysts late at night while waiting for work to be reviewed.

Omg that sounds amazing.

HAHAH
 

Went through some shenanigans this summer as a summer analyst. One night the full-times invited the summers to come out for drinks. Several shots in, the full-times tell us to head back to the office and finish a mock deck to be presented later that night. How many drunk, sleep-deprived summer analysts does it take to finish a mock deck? More than you think. Haha

 

After spending a SUN night in the office putting together a client presentation, we decided that we really needed to get shitfaced after this horrible weekend in the office. Hence, two analysts and me went out to a few bars right after the office and kept our promise. Everyone was super drunk and went on to some other bars drinking expensive drinks that I couldn't afford. We ended up in a strip club where the analysts put everything on their bill, meaning that I had 3 private dances and a bottle of gin for free. Next morning I woke up in the same clothes with casino chips on my desk and some chinese food on the floor. I neither remember a casino nor having chinese food. I was in the office on time at 9.15 and brought them two coffees. Unfortunately the two analysts rolled in at 10.30 and 11.30 in the morning and one had to take like 4 "bathroom breaks" during the day until his stomach was completely empty. Was one of the most fun nights I ever had, although I only remember approx. 50% of it. Same for the analysts.

Needless to say, I received the FT offer.

 

During my internship, FactSet gave us so much sports swag / toys that we could play with at our desks. We had one of those mini basketball hoops with a plastic basketball. At around 9pm mostly evernight when all of the seniors had left we would have free throw competitions. We had a nerf football we would throw around the office and played a few soccer matches as well.

Good times.

 
CorpFinanceGuy:

So far the best part of IB consists of playing nerf ball w/ Factset swag, creating a mock deck after having 2 drinks and building camaraderie. You guys are selling the shit out of me.

This sounds like the gayest shit on Earth.

Some good memories I have are playing in softball games vs the law firms (we had a chinese intern, big fat Buddha looking kid, never had played or seen softball and didn't know any rules. It was pretty rich when he'd hold the bat hands upside down, swing it like a sword, hit a dribbler and run to first taking the bat with him to the base. After that we had him wikipedia the rules).

Xmas parties are very fun as well. MD's will get hammered and tell you stuff that prob shouldn't have been repeated. Guys will take runs at the chicks in the firm (not only the younger guys). Usually there is at least one good scene that people are talking about the next day.

Day to day, I always used to enjoy the venonous hating on MDs. Joking about how they're wives are cheating on them right now, how fucking annoying they are, do impersonations of them. Anything for a joke.

 

Second the Xmas party bit - had an Xmas party during my SA (southern hemisphere) and after the official party an MD took all the junior bankers out to a popular club and set up what seemed like a limitless bar tab on his AMEX. Basically pushed drinks on anyone who had finished theirs, must have spent like $5000 on drinks that night. Definitely a fond IB memory.

Also had a Factset basketball hoop which was a good way to pass time as well.

 

This is a touch sad. I'll focus on fun times I've had directly related to work (and not indirectly. I am older so the experience accumulates.

  • Great parties and nights out in: Chicago, San Francisco, LA, Houston, St. Louis, New Orleans, Miami, London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Madrid, Barcelona, Budapest, Prague, Rejkjavik, Beirut, Moscow, Leningrad, Dubai, Almaty, Jakarta, KL, Hong Kong. Beijing, Singapore, Mumbai, Sydney, etc. (and of course New York)

  • Golf games on the old course in St. Andrews, the Connemara in Ireland, in Hong Kong and many other championship courses

  • Vodka shots with Medvedev (you think this would be rare, but it was not uncommon at the time)

  • Friendships with many of the finest people I know

 

One of my favorite memories was grabbing some ice cream with some of the older guys in the group; afterwards I headed to their place and we'd talk about cats (I have a 3 week old, myself). We shared laughs about our cats and their silly behavior :) Anyways, I digress; please feel free to PM for any additional stories/photos (they're great fun and will certainly bring a smile to your face ;)).

-Cash Flow King

 
CashFlowKing69:

One of my favorite memories was grabbing some ice cream with some of the older guys in the group; afterwards I headed to their place and we'd talk about cats (I have a 3 week old, myself). We shared laughs about our cats and their silly behavior :) Anyways, I digress; please feel free to PM for any additional stories/photos (they're great fun and will certainly bring a smile to your face ;)).

-Cash Flow King

This...haha.

GTAA Mistmaker
 
CashFlowKing69:

One of my favorite memories was grabbing some ice cream with some of the older guys in the group; afterwards I headed to their place and we'd talk about cats (I have a 3 week old, myself). We shared laughs about our cats and their silly behavior :) Anyways, I digress; please feel free to PM for any additional stories/photos (they're great fun and will certainly bring a smile to your face ;)).

-Cash Flow King

Sounds like something @"Lucky Charms" would say.

Edit - Over / under on 4 pm's?

 
CashFlowKing69:

One of my favorite memories was grabbing some ice cream with some of the older guys in the group; afterwards I headed to their place and we'd talk about cats (I have a 3 week old, myself). We shared laughs about our cats and their silly behavior :) Anyways, I digress; please feel free to PM for any additional stories/photos (they're great fun and will certainly bring a smile to your face ;)).

-Cash Flow King

What color is your cat??

"For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
 

But seriously guys, pay your dues, put in your time, establish the right business connections and friends, and you will have great story to tell, as well as even better ones that you can't.

I'll offer up one story quickly here:

(while at a Philadelphia Suburb based company)

Top performer's, about 6 of us, were taken out one Thursday evening by the 3 upper managers. Limo, drinks on the way to Philadelphia, drinks on the roof of the Continental, dinner at the Capitol Grill (anything and everything you wanted), then over to Crazy Horse Two (Vegas style strip club, now closed). All dances, private dances, drinks and tips were on the company.

We left there around 3am, managers met some clients there and left with them so just the 6 of us were left in the limo back to work. Pulled into the work parking lot around 3:30-4am and I got a call from the one manager saying that he left his keys in the limo and wanted me to just drop them at his desk. Well, we were completely tanked, the limo left, and in the parking lot was only our 9 cars.... one being the managers Maserati Quattroporte... which I had the keys to in my hand.... it was a great joyride until one of the guys puked in the backseat and we needed to fess up to our little activity.

Only punishment was the puker had to clean and detail it during his lunch later that day.

GTAA Mistmaker
 
CZtrader:

But seriously guys, pay your dues, put in your time, establish the right business connections and friends, and you will have great story to tell, as well as even better ones that you can't.

I'll offer up one story quickly here:

(while at a Philadelphia Suburb based company)

Top performer's, about 6 of us, were taken out one Thursday evening by the 3 upper managers. Limo, drinks on the way to Philadelphia, drinks on the roof of the Continental, dinner at the Capitol Grill (anything and everything you wanted), then over to Crazy Horse Two (Vegas style strip club, now closed). All dances, private dances, drinks and tips were on the company.

We left there around 3am, managers met some clients there and left with them so just the 6 of us were left in the limo back to work. Pulled into the work parking lot around 3:30-4am and I got a call from the one manager saying that he left his keys in the limo and wanted me to just drop them at his desk. Well, we were completely tanked, the limo left, and in the parking lot was only our 9 cars.... one being the managers Maserati Quattroporte... which I had the keys to in my hand.... it was a great joyride until one of the guys puked in the backseat and we needed to fess up to our little activity.

Only punishment was the puker had to clean and detail it during his lunch later that day.

Lol. good story.

km190:

Went through some shenanigans this summer as a summer analyst. One night the full-times invited the summers to come out for drinks. Several shots in, the full-times tell us to head back to the office and finish a mock deck to be presented later that night. How many drunk, sleep-deprived summer analysts does it take to finish a mock deck? More than you think. Haha

i thought its thread was about the good times.

That's a terrible night, bruh.

 

That sounds like hazing more than anything. Which to most Frat Bros on the street, they would think it's an amazing night because it will take them back to the time they were in a frat.

I'm not against hazing. I've gone through it, I've put others through it. I've never pushed it to an illegal standpoint though that you hear about on the news.

make it hard to spot the general by working like a soldier
 
karypto:

I once boned a girl on my MDs desk [late at night, was real close with security] because he fucked me on my bonus.

this story might be hard to believe and it took some convincing and some fact checking on my own but one of the associates at my friends gig at a MM boned his MD in the office and ended up with the highest bonus in his class a few weeks later

 
karypto:

I once boned a girl on my MDs desk [late at night, was real close with security] because he fucked me on my bonus.

this story might be hard to believe and it took some convincing and some fact checking on my own but one of the associates at my friends gig at a MM boned his MD in the office and ended up with the highest bonus in his class a few weeks later

 
karypto:

I once boned a girl on my MDs desk [late at night, was real close with security] because he fucked me on my bonus.

I used to do it on the table in the main boardroom. I almost got caught a few times, but it put a smile on my face to go to meetings.
Don't fall for bullshit, especially your own.
 

Just finished up my internship with a mid market bank. The pay was garbage, but the experience was great. They kept all interns around 1 table ( did i mention we were small.) Needless to say, we got to know each other a ton. Heard a bunch of cool stories from the Partners about their experiences. They took us out to lunch every single day. Every friday we drew straws on who had to go fetch the beer. Took us out to a ton of Happy Hours. There definitely was some disconnect with the group at times.... most people didn't vibe well enough to hang out a bunch. (Then again we had a ton of work going on) One of the partners rented a helicopter to fly to napa valley during a conference....coming from a poor background, I could only stare in amazement.

 

Spent a heavy-ish week in the office Mon-Thu pulling ~18 hour days, but on Friday ~8 of us from the Analyst/Associate pool were wheels up at like 8:30PM on our way to a weekend spent in a drunken haze. When the next Monday rolled around I think half of us were still shitfaced. That was a good week.

Oh, and there was the time an Analyst and I freaked the shit out of an MD we didn't know was still in the office when we started going full-on karaoke mode at 2AM. Fun times.

 

A libero fugiat magni. Eveniet neque quasi doloribus perferendis. Eaque atque quis incidunt voluptas.

Eius voluptatem eligendi molestiae rem. Fugiat sed quo blanditiis ea omnis et nihil incidunt.

Beatae consequatur quod ipsum voluptas consequatur ea nihil. Illum amet in reiciendis fuga sunt. Explicabo est ut est qui dignissimos.

Nesciunt quos minus nesciunt tenetur quibusdam et. Temporibus atque hic omnis amet. Atque ducimus quis qui debitis. Explicabo ipsam necessitatibus dignissimos magni quasi tempora. Iste ducimus ut ipsum eius.

 

Unde sed voluptatibus voluptatem dicta quae. Maiores sed molestiae est cum. Accusamus mollitia architecto neque in ad rem consequatur.

Eveniet aut occaecati quidem impedit reiciendis maxime. Ea a quasi ducimus consequatur molestiae odio. Autem ut consequuntur mollitia voluptatem.

Amet reprehenderit laborum eveniet magni. Temporibus qui adipisci saepe totam magnam. Voluptatibus rerum sapiente enim magni voluptatibus consectetur. Nostrum suscipit cupiditate odio nulla. Et deserunt dignissimos dignissimos est. Deserunt ut commodi laborum suscipit magni laudantium.

 

Ut quia sed ut ipsa dolores autem cum. Animi eum minima ut explicabo sequi autem facilis.

Quos inventore optio voluptatem maiores earum dicta. Non veritatis perspiciatis vitae autem velit molestiae eaque quae.

Molestiae nobis fugit omnis. Possimus quo deleniti perspiciatis quae voluptatibus accusamus consectetur. Blanditiis ut veritatis ratione in eum nihil. Ut ipsam et ipsum accusantium et rem quas.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”