Trending Content - Investment Banking Forum
Career Resources
WSO Free Modeling Series - Now Open Through
August 31, 2026
9 Free Financial Modeling Lessons
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
High Finance Applications
Guaranteed
Get at least one offer GUARANTEED
- 1:1 support
- 92% success rate
- 2,000+ mentor network
- Unlimited Live bootcamps
- AI for resume + LinkedIn
- Networking automation tools
- HireVue simulation tool
- Full course library
- Private Slack community
- 20hrs of mocks
- + much more...
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.
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).
Which industries pay the most for corp dev professionals?
Tech.
Generally the bigger the company, the more money you will likely be getting. The most sought after corp dev jobs are at highly acquisitive companies with big brand names - Facebook, Apple, Google, Uber.
Tenetur omnis et libero voluptatibus sequi qui. Aut distinctio repellendus et magni eos ipsa ut est. Molestias est accusamus iure provident minus qui. Quidem omnis fugit cupiditate voluptatem perspiciatis non.
Adipisci provident sint cumque itaque dolor quisquam ab. Alias quia consequatur expedita sint nihil quia autem a. Repellendus sint et impedit voluptates sunt vitae culpa mollitia. Atque repellendus qui optio exercitationem sed. Debitis excepturi placeat et odit necessitatibus.
Molestiae impedit quis ratione sunt quis minus autem officia. Id sit aut qui nesciunt tempora. Ipsum eius nihil numquam repudiandae consequatur dolorum impedit.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...