8 Comments
 

From my limited experience in an F500 M&A role...

Hours around 50, more before board meetings and during a deal, but nothing insane really, 70 hours tops, and maybe once or twice a year depending on how many acquisitions they do.

Pay - Analyst - probably 70k, senior analyst 75-85k, manager 100k+, also depends on region/industry/etc...

Hope thats helpful.

 

Yes. Hours will be much less than PE generally, but you won't make as much. I've heard around 50 hours a week as well, but all in pay is usually higher than the above post. From the headhunters I've spoken with, comp for someone in a senior analyst type role (which you'd be look at coming out of IB) would be 80k base + 10% bonus on the lower end to a little over $100k + bonus on the higher end. All in, you'd probably be a bit below or flat compared to an IB analyst, but you'd be working ~50 hours a week instead of 80+.

 

My experience is that the pay is a decent amount lower than IB. The salaries I've seen are similar to what Khalid stated.

I also agree that hours are 45-50 hours most weeks and more if you're getting more serious on a deal.

twitter: @CorpFin_Guy
 
"accountingbyday"

My experience is that the pay is a decent amount lower than IB. The salaries I've seen are similar to what Khalid stated.

I also agree that hours are 45-50 hours most weeks and more if you're getting more serious on a deal.

Could be the case. Most that I've been contacted about have been all in 90-100k, with the occasional one paying a bit closer to IB. Not sure how many IB analysts would take a corp dev for 70k all-in, but maybe it happens.
 

Yeah, I think the pay is highly regionally dependent as well, and in NYC, SF, LA a sr. analyst could probably pull down close to 100k all in, but honestly thats probably the exception rather than the norm.

I interviewed with a large financial institution/MF for a corp dev/corp strategy role and they told me they wanted to pay 55k, for someone with at least 2-3 years IB or MBB experience... I literally laughed at the HR rep.

One other bad think about corp dev, depending on the company, is that if their business is highly cyclical you may never even do a deal in 2 years working there and spend all your time monkeying with strategy presentations and other stupid sh*t.

There are some positives though (like fewer hours).

 
Best Response

Libero hic unde porro dolor deleniti. Reprehenderit facere autem temporibus consectetur dolores. Rem sunt culpa ut eos. Eligendi nesciunt ipsum sunt qui. Vel neque nihil ex quis quo quaerat. Distinctio dicta non aliquam deleniti in nobis placeat.

Ipsum aperiam voluptatum quae alias suscipit consequatur. Asperiores esse non ducimus optio porro. Quo quos earum sit praesentium labore. Distinctio inventore iste enim doloremque occaecati minus.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (23) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (81) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
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...”