Most toxic banks and groups (2023 update)?

Not a new topic but would be good to see where things are now.

I was at sweet green the other day and overheard a couple Moelis analysts say "Moelis?…More like MoleASS!" Tells you a little something about the culture I think

240 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Moelis is the obvious answer. Have heard rough things about evercore across m&a in general from SAs I knew.

idk if it's that obvious.  again, need to draw a line between sweaty and toxic.  Sweaty = long hours, toxic = MD calling you an asshole in front of whole floor, VP publicly blaming you for mistakes etc.  There's obviously some overlap, ie 'D made me work until 4am this entire week for a pitch that isn't until next month' kind of thing but not always 1:1 overlap. 

 

I don't get where the whole "Moelis culture is miles better these days" schtick came from. Yeah culture has definitely softened compared to 3-4 years ago, but Moelis NY is still one of the rougher places. Culture varies by group, but toxic mid-level people and seniors yelling at analysts is definitely still more prevalent at Moelis NY than it is street-wide.

 

Friend of a friend told me some horror stories about that group. They had an associate literally pass out in the office and it’s being swept under the rug. She passed out in December, was taken to the hospital and now nobody knows where she is and leadership said “out of respect for her family” they don’t want to say anything about her condition. I’m sure there was some underlying issue but stress and lack of sleep make any health condition worse and this happened to a senior associate who was being promoted to VP a month later. Tone did not change after this nobody even said hey guys take care of yourselves and push back on unecesary work. Just acted like it never happened. This is the worst example but many other examples of how shitty the culture is.

 

Chicago MM perspective here:

  • Baird Industrials is #1 by far. Crazy hours, no respect from seniors, and VPs turn constantly and blame associates for mistakes. 
  • Baird HC is a close #2. Lots of pitching, little winning.
  • Lincoln HC
  • Blair - All groups except Consumer and ECM
  • BGL - All groups except Consumer
  • Piper HC
  • Raymond James IND - I've heard there's a weird culture of "bullying" - like fratty but dickish

On the other hand, these are groups/banks that I hear aren't terrible:

 

Moelis is a sweatshop and filled with assholes. 

EVR is a sweatshop and filled with valedictorians.

Don't know much about PWP

 

Controversial opinion but William Blair. Love to talk about how good their “culture” is but it’s putting a bow on a turd.

It’s a complete sweat shop, they just laid off a ton of analysts and has gone from sweaty to unbearable. Everyone working until 3am or later, protected Saturdays basically gone (but still touted as a policy). Bonuses also sucked so not worth it at all. They might be the first back in history to exclusively lay off juniors… deal flow / pitching stays the same without the same juniors to support it.

People are somewhat nice still in terms of “you won’t get screamed at in the bullpen”, but the WLB is terrible and people are so angry about how management keeps flexing “culture” as a selling point without doing anything to actually maintain it.

 

You work 100+ hours a week and you ask if that is sweaty. You are a slave bro.

 

heard jefferies houston is an absolute 1st class trip to nonconsensual gorilla poundtown like real real non consensual

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan No 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
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...”