Investment banking remains one of the most lucrative career paths in finance, with compensation heavily weighted toward performance-based bonuses that can double or triple base salaries in strong years. In 2025, total compensation has risen modestly (10-15% year-over-year at most levels) due to recovering deal volumes in M&A and ECM, though it lags behind U.S. levels by 20-30% after currency adjustments. London dominates as Europe's financial hub, offering the highest pay—typically 15-25%...

Determining a fair equity agreement for a new startup depends on several factors, including the startup’s stage, valuation, funding amount, market norms, and the roles or contributions of the parties involved (e.g., founders, employees, investors, or advisors). Below, I’ll outline general principles and benchmarks for equity agreements in early-stage startups, focusing on common scenarios (founders, early employees, advisors, and investors). Since startups vary widely, these are guidelines...

Venture Capital Industry and Career Overview The venture capital (VC) industry involves firms or individuals investing money in early-stage, high-potential startups or small businesses in exchange for equity (ownership stakes). The goal is to fund innovative companies with high growth potential, typically in tech, biotech, or other disruptive sectors, and earn significant returns when these companies succeed—through acquisitions, IPOs, or other exits. It’s a high-risk, high-reward game, as...

OpenAI has signed about $1tn in deals this year for computing power to run its artificial intelligence models https://www.ft.com/content/5f6f78af-aed9-43a5-8e31-2df7851ceb67

Global dealmaking is up by a third this year, setting 2025 up to be the best 12-month stretch since 2021 https://www.ft.com/content/9455b064-7727-4756-8a3d-8dd1cce7f008

Price has rocketed 50% this year, its best performance since 1979, as institutional investors pile in https://www.ft.com/content/54dc2b76-8c24-4dd7-a01a-7d1f38b5ea6d

Investment Professionals Analysts / Associates What they do: Conduct financial modeling (LBOs, DCF, merger models). Perform due diligence on target companies: analyze financial statements, market positioning, competitive landscape. Assist in deal execution: prepare investment memos, valuation analyses, and presentations for the investment committee. Quant side: Build leveraged buyout (LBO) models: project cash flows, debt paydown schedules, IRR calculations. Sensitivity analysis: "What...

Breaking into Global Markets as a graduate can feel overwhelming because the term covers many very different jobs—each with its own mix of skills, hours, and career paths. Here’s a overview of main departments and roles within GM, their day-to-day, and how to choose a role that fits you. Traders What they do: Execute buy/sell orders in different markets (equities = stocks, fixed income = bonds, FX = currencies, commodities = oil, metals, etc., derivatives = futures, options, swaps)...

Financial modeling in investment banking is a sophisticated analytical discipline that forms the backbone of virtually every major corporate transaction and strategic decision in the capital markets. These models are far more than simple spreadsheets—they are complex, interconnected financial frameworks that synthesize historical performance data, market conditions, industry dynamics, and forward-looking assumptions to create comprehensive representations of corporate value and financial...

Excel serves as the primary platform for virtually all investment banking financial modeling, functioning as both the technical foundation and the analytical workspace where billion-dollar decisions are built, tested, and refined. Despite the availability of more sophisticated software platforms, Excel's combination of flexibility, transparency, and universal accessibility has made it the undisputed standard in the investment banking industry. Why Excel Dominates Investment Banking The...

The financial services industry is split into two types of companies: the sell-side and the buy-side. While both are essential to capital markets and deal-making, they operate very differently. Let’s break it down from the perspective of both trading/markets and investment banking/deal-making. The Sell-Side The sell-side comprises investment banks, brokerages, and market makers. These institutions create, promote, and sell financial products and services to investors (the buy-side). In...

Within finance, there are many different industries you can go into and it's important that you choose one that suits your unique background. For example, if you are a textbook example of prospective quantitative trader, there is not much point to consider investment banking, and vice versa. Every one of these roles require different skills and suit different personalities. They also offer different lifestyles, career paths and so-called "exit opportunities". It's important that you...

Attending a target versus a non-target university makes a huge difference when it comes to landing your first role. These categories are based on the relative attractiveness of universities reputation and more concretely, recruitment activity and networking opportunities available on campus. Targets universities are competitive to get into, but are a really safe bet when it comes to breaking into the industry. If you achieve the minimum 2:1 degree classification required for graduate or...

A commonly asked question by students is: would [insert degree] be "good enough" to break into [insert industry]? While a valid question to ask, the answer is complex and is not always a simple "Yes" or "No". Degree/Subject Choice First of all, you should study a subject that you think you will like studying; not because of whatever prospects it may offer to becoming an investment banker or a super-star trader. If you do this one thing, you will have already done yourself a favor and saved...

Industry Coverage Groups are specialized teams within investment banks that focus and have expertise in specific sectors/industries exclusively. Within a deal team, analysts to MD gain deep industry knowledge (as well as build valuable relationships in parallel) mostly through helping these enterprises raise capital or merge with another enterprise. Choosing the right industry group to join as a graduate is an important choice to make, as it will have a long-term impact on your career. It...

Big US banks have relied on traders for at least 75% of their Wall Street revenues for more than three years https://www.ft.com/content/dd9a7e83-5a3e-45b3-b2af-8b2a124474c6

Decision comes as Big Four group grapples with ‘uncertain’ market conditions https://www.ft.com/content/815e65e8-b65d-431d-812d-85788ec6fdf6

Breaking into top finance roles means embarking on one of the most intense and potentially rewarding career paths. Long hours, steep learning curves, and high-stakes deliverables will test even the most driven junior analyst or associate. But with the right playbook, you can not only survive but also build lasting momentum. This article aims to show you how to evaluate potential employers, navigate day-to-day pressures without burning out, and thrive both technically and culturally in a...

A crucial tool of the trade, PowerPoint is the powerhouse for your slide decks for every dealmaker in finance. It's used to create expensive, high-stakes, storytelling, marketing materials to sell a business or raise capital. However, PowerPoint can quickly become a huge time-drain, especially for juniors, with seemingly minor issues such as alignment, colour compatibility or endless iterations to improve slides to ‘make it look better’ or ‘make it more visual and less text heavy’. Learning...

HSBC fired investment bankers on the day they were due to learn their bonus figures and gave no bonuses to many it let go, in a sign of how the bank is taking a more ruthless approach to costs under new chief executive Georges Elhedery. https://www.ft.com/content/ebf1bd58-0a9f-4c10-b0f0-709e97661680