As there is nothing important going in the news concerning financial markets and investment banks right now, I wanted to get people's input on the accepted pronounciation of finance. I have heard both forms of pronounciation used and want to know what is considered the most acceptable for use in IB in NY. What is with the discrepancy?
F-eye-nance or F-en-ance
| +102 | [2026 - October] Unbiased Prestige Rankings | 61 | 17h |
| +94 | Who is the final boss in Houston Energy? (GS, JEFF or EVR) | 36 | 9h |
| +84 | You should probably leave IB | 28 | 16h |
| +46 | Tomorrow Will Be Better | 5 | 5d |
| +46 | Why Do We Turn Comments? | 11 | 1d |
| +41 | Moelis PCA vs Lower tier BB Coverage | 32 | 5h |
| +34 | Banking (Un)fortunately Still Needs You: My Case for Bankers in the AI Era | 9 | 13h |
| +28 | UBS IB #24 in US M&A in 2026 | 10 | 1d |
| +27 | Lateraling as Analyst | 25 | 1d |
| +24 | How much should you ask questions / seek feedback as an intern? | 9 | 1d |
Career Resources
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.
F-eye-nance - personallay can't stand the other pronunciation.
I say it feyenance. However, everyone down here in Texas says fenance and looks at me weird when I use the other version.
Seeing as I can't understand any of my professors, I'm not really sure. My vote is for f-eye-nance. The more important question is how this made the front page...
Professors in Florida tend to pronounce it fenance as well. Maybe it is a southern thing??
F-eye-nance - the other way irritates me as well. Sounds stuffy/snoody
From what I've gathered over the past 5 years, it seems that feyenance seems to be the practitioners' way to say it, while fenance seems to be the academics' preference
fenance if you're a baller. sounds more sophisticated.
I had the misery of having an econ professor that called it f-en-ance and the class (all 300+ of them) would laugh every single time. God the horror!
What about IB in SF? How is it said there?
In SF and Silicon Valley, I've almost exclusively heard Feyenance. Agree w/ Wallstreethokie, that the majority of the academics seem to prefer fenance.
In general older people seem to say f-en-ance - MDs and professors.
The rest say f-eye-nance.
I'm new here, but someone told me that I'm gonna find that all the people who actually do these things call it f-en-ance. Since then, I've heard some professionals call it f-en-ance.
this JPM VP of Lev Fin said Leveraged "F-en-nance"
i always thought it was one of those British things
All British people say f-eye-nane, f-en-nance just isn't a word in British English (aka correct English). However if you were saying financier then you would use F-en-nancier
From my experience:
Interviewers/Professionals: Feynance Professors: Fenance
As the LSO says: This is FI-nance. FI as in “FIx me a drink, Jeeves.” FI as in “FIlling my wallet with Benjamins.” FI as in “FIckle with my private jets.” (http://www.leveragedsellout.com/2006/02/the-shitshow/)
Personally, I bounce back and forth between Finn-ance and Fine-ance depending a bit on the usage. I prefer Finn-ance but in certain phrases/sentences it just sounds wrong to me. I don't think I ever say Fen-ance, not sure what's up with that.
Also, fine-ancing or finn-ancing? I prefer the latter.
Depends on the usage.
"We are fine-ancing the company's revolver." "They are seeking finn-ancing." "I am a fine-ance major." "I work in leveraged finn-ance." (It makes me cringe when people say it the other way)
.
Toe-May-Toe vs. Toe-Mah-Toe or Poe-Tay-Toe vs. Poe-Tah-Toe, it's all the same in the end.
I agree with some of the previous comments
F-en-ance for the academics and F-eye-nance for the people who didn't go to college for 10 years
I say f-eye-nance
I use both depending on my mood and who I am speaking with. The guys on Bloomberg Radio say Finn-ance
Maiores nihil rerum qui aliquid aut id placeat commodi. Minus et facere deserunt non omnis aut modi. Tempora exercitationem dolorum nesciunt consequatur. Laboriosam illo necessitatibus incidunt quia molestiae.
Non et voluptas eligendi saepe. Debitis quia qui rem eveniet. Minus minima aspernatur omnis sit quibusdam. Adipisci veniam enim est temporibus.
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...
Excepturi ipsa dolores dolores. Rerum recusandae corporis voluptas dolor rerum rerum. Doloremque et quo tempora numquam voluptas soluta error. Corrupti ducimus corrupti culpa asperiores ipsum aspernatur id.
Aut consequatur voluptas labore numquam. Dolore in est optio. Explicabo maxime sunt rerum qui libero quia aut est. Ut maxime beatae nulla tempora dolore magnam. Officia sed atque omnis dolores distinctio.