Interned at a top BB and really enjoyed the work. The hours, however, crushed me. Wondering if there are any banks with better hours (i.e. 60 a week) that aren’t shit - willing to sacrifice comp/prestige, as long as the work quality is still strong / there is a good learning experience.
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If you're looking for investment banking roles with better hours while still maintaining decent work quality and learning opportunities, here are some options based on the most helpful WSO content:
Banks with Better Work-Life Balance:
Middle-Market Banks:
Boutique Banks:
Equity Research as an Alternative:
While no IB role will truly be "easy hours," these options can provide a more sustainable balance without completely sacrificing the quality of work or learning experience.
Sources: Work/Life Balance: Equity Research vs. Investment Banking - (A Definitive Guide, Part 1), Work/Life Balance: Equity Research vs. Investment Banking - (A Definitive Guide, Part 1), WSO 2022 Investment Banking Work-Conditions Survey (Part 1/3), what the f*** is up with these shite investment banking analyst wages?, Work/Life Balance - Hours
Almost all the MM banks are decent enough. I've heard good things about HSBC. Oppenheimer also apparently isn't too bad. Look at specific groups at banks, as that is a bit more telling. A group in one bank is different from another group in the same bank. It all depends on deal flow.
HSBC no longer has a US IBD franchise.
Not entirely true - I still see their LevFin and DCM groups on a bunch of deals. Not sure about their sector bankers though
MM BS Banks and the Japanese banks tend to be better, just also depends on specific groups
yeah cuz they got 0 dealflow
That's the tradeoff. Less flow, less hours. There's unlikely to be a bank where you have high deal flow and okay hours.
Banking in general will always be demanding.
Doesn’t matter about deal flow some of the MM shops run u to the bone in pitches. Lifestyle doesn’t improve and arguable is better with more deals than pitches because everyone from the top becomes way more neurotic with the latter
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