Which banks have the best WLB?
Out of curiosity, which banks have the best WLBs?
Curious as to which MMs, EBs, & BBs have the best work life balance
Nov 01, 2022Nov 01, 2022
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Comments (64)
Are you trying to ask something like who is the tallest dwarf?
I heard Goldman stopped timing juniors' bathroom breaks. Seems like they're on the cutting edge of protecting talent
.
Can confirm
This is always a bad question: it's group dependent, deal flow dependent, and team sizing dependent.
For example, a few months ago a previously chill group at a more relaxed bank was mentioned on here in the sweaty groups thread. Their deal flow was quoted at being up 700% YoY.
Deal flow can vary year by year. Sweaty groups can become more relaxed for months on end due to market dynamics or several MDs leaving.
Finally, it's team sizing dependent. If a team underhires on A1s, those A1s can get smoked (even in chiller groups). On the contrary, if a sweaty group overhires A1s and forecasted retention issues do not pan out, those A1s might have it way easier than the class before them.
Second this. When I joined my group it had great culture and WLB; after a few senior switch ups the culture is shit and WLB is way worse.
Many people don't wanna admit it, but current WLB is really good in most BB coverage groups such as BofA CS Barclays given deal flow is down 50% with a dead leverage finance market. Been in my group for 3 years and it has never been this quiet.. particular this month till thanksgiving. We know most coverage groups over hired with tons of asso/analysts not doing much. Lay off has to happen mid next year.
This is the answer I was expecting
100%, my team has 25 first year analysts and 30 first year associates. It is absurd given where deal volumes are - M&A down and virtually no ECM activity and no lev fin market.
You're insanely lucky, I feel like half my group is getting crushed rn
How many years have u been working? Everything is relative - this is without doubt the quietest ever. If ur team is crushed right now, they prob never slept during covid times as it was easily 2x as many deal.
Even at junior level?
Any product group at a BB. Barclays and BoFA are pretty good in general too. All EBs have terrible hours
Based on this forum I've p much come to the conclusion that wlb is inversely correlated with prestige
True, BNP paribas and Mizuho WLB are smacking
HSBC
Its kinda scary just how good it is compared with pay being at street, I know it can't last forever
Is HSBCs pay at street level?
I think alot of people misunderstand work life balance does not equal good culture. A bank can have a good culture (respectful seniors, good analyst class, caring associates) but bad WLB because the deal flow is high.
So in conclusion, if you want good WLB, you go to a shop that does not have great deal flow. Top groups in BB and EB will all have bad WLB because of the sheer amount of deals they get.
So what are low deal flow banks 🤣
Ubs
I agree, but no one ever talks about that some groups constantly have high deal flow but never enough people. Their culture might be good, but it shows that they still don't care about analysts, else they would hire more bodies for the high deal flow
.
I am in cap markets at a BB and have great WLB.
2nd year associate and most weeks are 50 - 60 hours. Virtually no weekend work.
We are consistently 1 or 2 in league tables, so not like I'm just in a group with no deal flow either.
Would envision other cap markets groups at BBs are similar. Great option for career bankers.
How does comp in a capital markets associate role differ from that of a coverage associate?
At the junior levels think it's the same.
Know at the senior levels that coverage has more upside on their bonus.
But in my opinion the trade off for better WLB is worth it.
How much do you work in normal markets?
That's great lol
That's great lol
That's great lol
What capital markets for WLB?
What capital markets for WLB?
What product do you cover?
With current deal flows, most banks wlb is great right now. As above poster mentioned, WLB really ebs and flows with broader markets
EVR is getting fucking recked. No deals and insecure MDs chasing everything under the sun
Yup. Fuck EVR and especially fuck my group. Miserable group of lifeless dorks
UBS TMT. No MDs. One Associate I know (who recently left) did 0 work and traveled around the world for a full year. He/she still got paid.
Lol I feel like I know who this is
From my understanding, Truist has historically been relatively chill (well as chill as you can be in IB) especially since it's HQ'd in the South
Historically? Truist has existed for like 2 years lol
Ok well then STRH historically which is still basically the IB arm of Truist
Idk if its changed but every thread I read on Truist was them not actually having much deal flow but having to do a lot of these like internal meeting things that I'm 100% blanking on the name of that would eat up crazy amounts of time.
Joined only a couple of months ago so will update haha. But no useless internal work yet (knock on wood knock on wood)
Been on a couple of deals so far but yea life has been real easy given current market conditions ngl
Former employee and this is accurate. You'll spend a ton of time on "client planning" which is basically just b.s. internal work and on leverage reads which are sometimes sponsor agnostic. Your mileage may vary, but it's surprisingly sweaty in many groups.
I've been "working" 40-50 hrs a week at Jefferies for the past few months. Some days really having nothing significant on my plate. Fridays, during WFH, I usually go to the gym, go out to lunch, join a call or two, and call it a day.
Really curious what 2023 is going to look like.
Damn that's fucking crazy. So Jefferies is the complete move huh.
on the contrary, my friend is at jefferies and works over 100 hours a week consistently and works 7 days a week so its very team dependant
What group are you in?
What group are you in?
What group are you in?
What group are you in?
Sounds like LevFin to me.
At a 30-40 person boutique. Over street pay, low volume/high quality deals, culture is great, protected Saturdays, etc. Think this is an underrated path. Planning to exit to VC with even better hours. Still not easy of course, but I cope by thinking of this as basically 2 more years of school that are going to set me up for the long term.
Think I know what firm this is lol
Think I know what firm this is lol
Think I know what firm this is lol
And your guess is?
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