The mythology around investment banking hours is both accurate and incomplete. Yes, first-year analysts routinely work 90 hours a week. Yes, there are nights when you get three hours of sleep and come back for more. But there is also meaningful variation — between deal-active and quiet periods, between banks, between groups, and between levels of seniority. Understanding what investment banking actually looks like day-to-day, beyond the extreme anecdotes in both directions, is essential for anyone considering the career seriously.
Investment banking at the analyst level is fundamentally a service job executed under time pressure with extremely high financial stakes. The client needs a model updated, a board presentation revised, or a due diligence response packaged by 7 AM. There is no option to reschedule or deprioritize. The combination of client demand, deal deadlines, and a flat staffing structure at the bottom of the hierarchy is what produces the hours.
This article walks through realistic day schedules for analysts during both live deal and non-deal periods, compares how days differ by seniority and by banking group, draws on burnout research, and explains the seasonal rhythms that govern a year in investment banking. Data and accounts draw on Wall Street Oasis forums (2024), Mergers and Inquisitions coverage (2024), the 2021 Goldman Sachs analyst survey, and academic research on sleep deprivation in high-intensity professions.
'There is no such thing as a normal day. There are days where I am at my desk from 9 AM to 3 AM and then back by 8 AM, and there are days where I leave at 8 PM thinking something went wrong. Both kinds of days are rare. Most days end somewhere between midnight and 2 AM.' — First-year investment banking analyst, quoted on Wall Street Oasis, 2023
Key Definitions
Pitch book: A presentation deck used to pitch advisory services to a client or to present a deal opportunity. A coverage pitch book may be 60-150 slides; an M&A sell-side process pitch book might be 100-200 slides.
Financial model: An Excel-based quantitative tool used to value companies, assess deal structures, and run scenario analyses. Common model types include DCF (discounted cash flow), LBO (leveraged buyout), and merger accretion-dilution models.
Live deal: A transaction that is actively in process — an M&A deal in exclusivity, an IPO in registration, a debt offering in syndication. Live deals require constant attention and typically dictate an analyst's schedule entirely.
Bake-off: A competitive pitch process in which multiple investment banks present to a potential client simultaneously. Winning bake-offs leads to deal mandates; losing them consumes enormous analyst time for no revenue.
Due diligence: The investigative process in which buyers or investors examine a target company's financials, legal status, operations, and liabilities before committing to a transaction.
Hour-by-Hour: A Non-Deal Day
Non-deal periods are times when a banker's group is between live transactions. These periods are busier than they sound — there is always pitch preparation, industry monitoring, internal training, and preliminary work on deals that have not yet been formally mandated. A typical non-deal day for a first-year analyst at a bulge-bracket bank runs something like this.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8:30 AM | Arrive. Email triage: associates have often sent comments on overnight deliverables; client emails may have arrived from different time zones. Create priority list. |
| 9:00-11:00 AM | Comparable company analysis for pitch book: pull financial data from Bloomberg/FactSet, calculate revenue and EBITDA multiples, format output to house style. |
| 11:00 AM-12:30 PM | LBO model update. Associate returned the preliminary model with comments — update debt schedule, run three new EBITDA sensitivity scenarios, clean formatting. |
| 12:30-1:15 PM | Lunch at desk while reading deal wire and sector news. |
| 1:15-4:30 PM | Pitch book revision cycle. MD returned 40 comments on the draft: some are formatting tweaks, others require building new slides from scratch. |
| 4:30-6:00 PM | Team pipeline call — analysts listen and take notes, not speaking. Flag any workload implications. |
| 6:00-9:00 PM | Additional pitch book revisions from associate comments. Second model requested yesterday is still pending — work on both in parallel. |
| 9:00-11:30 PM | Second MD comment round on pitch book. Print copies prepared for 9 AM client meeting tomorrow. |
| 11:30 PM | Out of the office. Approximately 15 hours worked. |
This is a 'light' day by investment banking standards. Most bankers describe 13-16 hours on non-deal days as the typical range, not the extreme.
Hour-by-Hour: A Live Deal Day
When a deal is live — say, an M&A sell-side process running a competitive auction — the pace and hours change significantly. Sleep becomes the first casualty.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 7:00 AM | Arrive. Overnight: potential buyer submitted questions on working capital calculations. Associate needs response model before 10 AM call. |
| 7:00-9:45 AM | Build working capital bridge model. High-stakes precision work — errors in M&A financial analysis can cause deals to collapse or generate legal liability. |
| 10:00-11:30 AM | Buyer diligence call with target CFO. Analyst takes detailed notes, due for distribution within two hours. |
| 11:30 AM-1:30 PM | Notes drafted and distributed. Second buyer has requested plant tour logistics — analyst coordinates with target company and arranges access. |
| 1:30-5:30 PM | Draft final-round process letter and bid instructions. Coordinate with legal on representations and warranties language. Update deal timeline in virtual data room. |
| 5:30-7:00 PM | MD requests updated football field valuation incorporating current trading multiples vs bids received. Analyst builds chart. |
| 7:00-11:30 PM | Second buyer requests 30-page supplemental diligence response by tomorrow morning. Analyst drafts with associate and client CFO team input. |
| 11:30 PM-2:30 AM | Final editing of diligence response. Associate approves. Analyst sends to client and uploads to data room. |
| 2:30 AM | Out of the office. |
| 7:00 AM next day | Back for working capital call follow-up. Approximately 4.5 hours of sleep. |
How Days Differ by Seniority
One of the most important but underappreciated dimensions of investment banking is how radically the day-to-day experience changes at each level. The work is superficially similar — financial analysis, client interaction, deal execution — but the nature of the activity, the control over time, and the kinds of pressure involved are genuinely different.
| Dimension | Analyst (1-3 yrs) | Associate (1-3 yrs) | VP (1-3 yrs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary activity | Building models and slides | Reviewing and directing analyst work; light client contact | Managing junior staff; leading client calls; deal management |
| Control over schedule | Low | Moderate | Moderate-High |
| Typical hours (non-deal) | 70-80/week | 65-75/week | 60-70/week |
| Typical hours (live deal) | 90-110/week | 80-95/week | 75-85/week |
| Weekend work frequency | High | Moderate | Occasional |
| Sleep (live deal period) | 3-5 hrs/night | 4-6 hrs/night | 5-7 hrs/night |
| Unpredictability | Very high | High | Moderate |
| Client-facing time | Rare (notes/logistics) | Limited but growing | Regular |
The associate role is frequently described as the most difficult transition point. Analysts know their job is execution; associates must simultaneously supervise analysts and satisfy VPs and MDs while also beginning to develop client relationships — a skill that does not emerge automatically from technical excellence.
'Being an associate is strange because you are responsible for the analyst's output, but you are still at the bottom of the food chain from the MD's perspective. You have all the responsibility and almost none of the authority.' — Second-year associate at a top-five US bank, Wall Street Oasis, 2024
How Days Differ by Banking Group
Not all investment banking groups are created equal in terms of hours, deal flow, and the rhythm of the work. The differences are significant enough to meaningfully affect quality of life, skill development, and exit opportunities.
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) The most demanding group at most banks. M&A advisory involves the most complex, highest-stakes transactions, with the most intensive modeling and diligence requirements. Hours at the analyst level routinely reach 100+ during live deal periods. The compensation and exit optionality are typically the best at the bank. Analysts who survive two years in a top M&A group are considered exceptionally well-prepared for private equity.
Leveraged Finance (LevFin) LevFin structures and underwrites debt for leveraged buyouts and high-yield issuances. The work is more quantitative and model-intensive than coverage banking, with deal cycles driven by market windows. Hours are comparable to M&A. Strong pipeline to credit-focused PE firms and distressed debt hedge funds.
Equity Capital Markets (ECM) ECM manages IPOs, follow-on offerings, and equity-linked products. The work is more markets-oriented than pure advisory banking, with cycles driven by market conditions. Hours are generally lower than M&A or LevFin, and the work requires strong investor relations and communication skills alongside modeling ability. Exit opportunities lean more toward equity research, long/short equity hedge funds, and public company finance roles.
Debt Capital Markets (DCM) DCM manages investment-grade and high-yield bond issuances. Often the most structured work environment in banking, with more predictable hours than deal-intensive groups. Exits are more limited — primarily to fixed income roles at asset managers or credit hedge funds. A common pathway for analysts who value somewhat more defined hours.
Sector Coverage (TMT, Healthcare, Energy, Consumer) Coverage bankers develop deep expertise in a specific industry and serve as the relationship managers for companies in that sector. Hours vary substantially based on sector activity. Healthcare coverage during a biotech boom is punishing; energy coverage in a slow commodity cycle is manageable. The sector knowledge transfers directly to equity research and sector-focused investing exits.
What Actually Consumes Analyst Time
Analysts are often surprised by how much of their time goes to activities that feel peripheral to financial analysis. Based on informal surveys and forum accounts compiled by Wall Street Oasis (2024), here is a realistic breakdown of where analyst time goes in a given week:
| Activity | Share of Time (Non-Deal) | Share of Time (Live Deal) |
|---|---|---|
| Financial modeling | 25% | 30% |
| Pitch book preparation and formatting | 35% | 15% |
| Revision cycles (incorporating comments) | 20% | 20% |
| Coordination and logistics | 10% | 15% |
| Diligence management and documentation | 5% | 15% |
| Waiting for instructions/comments | 5% | 5% |
The revision cycle figure is frequently the most surprising to those entering banking. A single pitch book or model will typically be reviewed by the analyst, then the associate, then the VP, then the MD — each adding comments that cascade back down. A pitch book delivered to a client on Monday may have gone through seven or eight complete revision cycles since Monday of the prior week.
Burnout, Sleep Deprivation, and Health
The health consequences of sustained investment banking hours are well-documented and sobering. The 2021 Goldman Sachs first-year analyst survey — leaked and widely circulated — showed analysts averaging 95 hours per week, with 77% describing negative impacts on their personal relationships and 75% reporting deteriorating physical health. Goldman subsequently raised pay and implemented protected weekend policies; the hours did not fundamentally change.
Academic research on sleep deprivation provides context. A 2022 study in the journal Nature and Science of Sleep found that sustained sleep restriction to under five hours per night for two weeks produced cognitive impairments equivalent to 24 hours of complete sleep deprivation — including slower reaction times, reduced decision-making accuracy, and impaired memory consolidation. Research by Czeisler and colleagues at Harvard Medical School has documented that medical interns restricted to 24-hour shifts made 36% more serious errors than those on 16-hour limits. Investment banking analysts during live deal periods regularly operate on comparable or worse sleep schedules.
The structural response from banks has been incremental rather than transformative. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley have all introduced some version of 'protected weekends' at various points since 2021. In practice, these policies provide some relief during slow periods but are routinely suspended during live deal execution — which is precisely when relief would matter most.
Seasonal Patterns: Busy Season vs Slow Season
Investment banking has pronounced seasonal rhythms that map to deal market activity, earnings blackout windows, and the business calendar.
January-February: Deal market reopens after year-end. M&A announcements and bond issuances accelerate. Bonus season for the prior year — focus and morale improve. Generally moderate hours as new deals ramp up.
March-May: Spring deal rush. M&A and IPO activity typically peaks before summer. ECM is particularly active. Hours ramp up across groups.
June: Late-spring deal push and then a brief decompression as summer begins. Some banks have historically sent analysts on brief rotations or provided first vacation since starting.
July-August: Notoriously slow in a normal year. C-suite executives are on vacation; deal activity typically falls sharply. Analyst hours drop to 50-65 per week. This is the window when bankers with live deals feel the contrast most acutely — a live deal in August is genuinely unpleasant because the broader market is quiet and help is unavailable.
September-October: Busy season resumes. September is often the highest-activity month of the year for M&A advisory. Leveraged finance activity surges as year-end approaches and issuers want to complete deals before December.
November-December: Sprint to close year-end deals before holiday shutdown. December 15-January 1 is effectively closed for new deal initiations; the push to close anything in-process creates extreme hours for analysts on live transactions. Pitch activity accelerates as banks prepare for January client calls.
'September is when you realize summer was real and now it is gone. The pace in October is almost shocking after August. You go from leaving at 9 PM to not leaving until 2 AM within about two weeks.' — Third-year analyst at an elite boutique, Mergers and Inquisitions forums, 2023
Why the Hours Are What They Are
Investment banking hours are not primarily a hazing ritual, though cultural reinforcement elements exist. The fundamental structural causes are:
Client demand is 24/7. Companies considering multibillion-dollar transactions do not pause for banker schedules. If a CEO wants updated analysis for a board meeting at 8 AM, the analysis will exist by 8 AM.
Thin analyst staffing. Major banks staff deals with one or two analysts. There is no redundancy. When a large diligence request arrives, the analyst executes it regardless of the hour.
Deal timelines are legally and commercially constrained. M&A transactions have regulatory deadlines, board approval schedules, and contractual milestones. Missing them is not an option.
Revision culture. The hierarchical review structure — analyst, associate, VP, MD, client — creates a cascade of sequential approval steps that is inherently inefficient. Each review layer adds time that compounds to produce overnight and weekend work.
Status signalling. There is genuine cultural pressure — particularly at bulge-bracket firms — to signal commitment through availability. This inflates hours beyond the structural minimum. The 2021 Goldman survey showed that 27% of analysts felt they could not advocate for themselves because of fear of appearing uncommitted.
Live Deal vs Non-Deal Period Comparison
| Dimension | Non-Deal Period | Live Deal Period |
|---|---|---|
| Typical hours | 60-75/week | 80-110+/week |
| Work predictability | Moderate | Low |
| Weekend work | Occasional | Nearly certain |
| Primary activities | Pitching, monitoring, modeling | Execution, diligence, client management |
| Intellectual interest | Moderate | High |
| Sleep | 5-7 hours/night | 3-5 hours/night |
| Health impact | Moderate | Significant |
| Ability to make plans | Possible with caveats | Very limited |
Practical Takeaways
The day-to-day reality of investment banking at the analyst level is demanding by any professional standard, with genuine periods of sleep deprivation and lost personal time. The work itself — financial modeling, deal analysis, client interaction — is intellectually rigorous and builds a foundation in corporate finance that is hard to replicate elsewhere. The variation between live and non-deal periods is real and meaningful: some weeks are survivable; some weeks are genuinely extreme. Understanding this before entering the career, with specific attention to group choice and bank culture, is essential for making an honest decision about whether the compensation and exit opportunities justify the sacrifice.
References
- Wall Street Oasis, 'Day in the Life: Investment Banking Analyst.' 2024. wallstreetoasis.com
- Mergers and Inquisitions, 'Investment Banking Analyst Day in the Life.' 2024. mergersandinquisitions.com
- Business Insider, 'Goldman Sachs first-year analyst survey: 95-hour weeks, declining health.' March 2021.
- Financial Times, 'Goldman Sachs pledges protected weekends for junior bankers.' 2021.
- Wall Street Oasis, 'Investment Banking Hours: What to Expect by Group and Bank.' 2024.
- Mergers and Inquisitions, 'Investment Banking Pitch Books: The Complete Guide.' 2024.
- Mergers and Inquisitions, 'Financial Modeling in Investment Banking.' 2024.
- New York Times, 'Wall Street Is Asking Young Workers to Sacrifice. Some Are Saying No.' 2021.
- Bloomberg, 'Junior Bankers Are Speaking Out About Working Conditions.' 2021.
- Wall Street Oasis, 'Live Deal vs. Non-Deal Periods: What Changes?' 2023.
- Dealbook/New York Times, 'The Hidden Cost of Finance Careers.' 2022.
- Mergers and Inquisitions, 'The Investment Banking Due Diligence Process.' 2024.
- Czeisler, C.A. et al., 'Sleep Deficiency and Motor Vehicle Crash Risk in the General Population.' BMJ, 2016.
- Nature and Science of Sleep, 'Chronic Sleep Restriction and Cognitive Performance.' 2022.
- Mergers and Inquisitions, 'Investment Banking Group Rankings by Hours and Exit Opportunities.' 2024.
- Wall Street Oasis, 'IB Group Comparison: M&A vs ECM vs DCM vs LevFin.' 2024.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours a week do investment banking analysts actually work?
First-year analysts at bulge-bracket banks average 80-100 hours per week during live deal periods. The Goldman Sachs 2021 analyst survey found a 95-hour average. Non-deal periods average 65-75 hours. The median across a full year, mixing busy and quiet weeks, is closer to 75-85 hours at a bulge bracket.
How does a live deal day differ from a non-deal day?
On a live deal day, an analyst can arrive at 7 AM and leave at 2-3 AM, driven entirely by deal deadlines — diligence responses, model updates, and client call preparation on demand. A non-deal day typically runs 8:30 AM to midnight and focuses on pitch book preparation and modeling for potential future deals.
Do investment banking hours improve at senior levels?
Yes, meaningfully. Associates have somewhat more control than analysts and fewer unpredictable midnight fire drills. VPs can often protect personal time when not on active deals. MDs set their own calendars largely around client meetings. The hours are still long by most professional standards, but the unpredictability that characterises analyst life is largely absent.
Which investment banking groups have the worst hours?
M&A and leveraged finance consistently have the longest hours — routinely 90-110 hours per week during live deals. ECM and DCM are generally more structured, with hours averaging 65-80 per week. Sector coverage groups vary widely by how active the sector is in a given period.
Is there any downtime in investment banking?
July and August are the slowest months, with many analysts working 50-65 hours per week as deal activity slows and senior bankers take holidays. The September to December sprint is typically the most demanding stretch of the year, with M&A closing pushes and heavy pitch activity for the following year.