# Mergers & Inquisitions | Investment Banking Careers Blog

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# Mergers & Inquisitions: Discover How to Get Into Investment Banking

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## Posts
- [Oil & Gas Private Equity: How to Invest in the Least Stable Cash Flows Around](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/oil-gas-private-equity/): Ask most people about oil & gas private equity, and you’ll get a lot of confused responses: “Wait, does it even exist? I thought private equity firms don’t invest in the sector.” “Haven’t ESG and the energy transition killed deal activity?” “How can PE firms invest in oil & gas when commodity prices fluctuate so much?” All these are valid concerns, and it is 100% correct that oil & gas private equity is highly cyclical. However, it’s far from “dead” – quite a few PE firms focus on oil & gas or on the broader power, utilities, infrastructure, and energy space. It’s a much smaller industry than tech, healthcare, industrials, or consumer retail PE, but it can still be very interesting if you have the “energy investor” mindset: What is Oil & Gas Private Equity, and Why Is It So Niche?
- [Is Investment Banking Worth It?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/is-investment-banking-worth-it/): At a family gathering a few months ago, I mentioned that a European city I had lived in was “going downhill.” One of my cousins overheard this comment and immediately asked a pointed question: “OK, but what’s going uphill? Everything is getting worse. Which cities are better to live in now than 5 or 10 years ago?” I didn’t have a good answer because he was right. I’m borrowing this quote here because it also describes my views on investment banking as a career. Yes, it is worse than in 2016 or 2006 in terms of the inflation-adjusted compensation and the recruiting effort required, so the Rewards / Effort Ratio has shifted: But everything else competing with IB jobs – Big Tech, law, consulting, Big 4, corporate finance, etc. – started out worse on the “Rewards” side and is getting even worse. I’ll start with my short version here and then move into the details: The Short Version of “Is Investment Banking Worth It?”
- [Private Capital Advisory: “M&A Lite” or the Highest-Growth Area in Investment Banking?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/private-capital-advisory/): If secondaries firms are shining stars in the bleak private equity landscape, the Private Capital Advisory (PCA) group might be an even brighter light in investment banking. Unfortunately, there is a ton of confusion about what these PCA groups do, how they fit into other teams, and the long-term career prospects they offer. And while these groups are not “new,” they have become a lot more prominent in the post-2020 period. That means many people are asking questions about them but not necessarily finding solid, consistent answers. So, in this feature, I’ll explain the main points, sort out the confusion, and explain whether they’re a good fit for you: What is the Private Capital Advisory (PCA) Group?
- [Industry (HBO): Review of Season 4 and the Entire Series So Far](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/industry-hbo/): Season 4 of Industry on HBO just ended, so it seemed like a great time to revisit the entire show. If you’re not familiar with it, Industry follows several university graduates who start working in sales & trading and investment banking at JP Morgan “Pierpoint & Co.” in London. Over the seasons, they get promoted, switch firms, change careers, and struggle with challenges ranging from office politics to porn and cocaine addictions. I’ve written reviews of the previous seasons, but the show has changed significantly between Season 1 (2020) and Season 4 (2026). On the positive side, it has become a more exciting, dramatic series that’s closer to shows like Succession or Breaking Bad. On the negative side, it’s now quite far removed from reality, so you won’t necessarily learn much about finance careers by watching. This will be a “spoiler light” review in which I’ll describe story elements without attributing them to specific characters or revealing anything major. But if you want to go in completely blind, you should probably not read this: The Short Version: Watch Industry, But Don’t Take It Too Literally
- [Investment Banking Summer Internship Offers: How to Decide](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-summer-internship-offers/): This article is a 2026 update to a much older article about what to do when you get multiple investment banking summer internship offers. Yes, recruiting is competitive and hyper-accelerated, and most students are lucky to get even one offer. But some students do get multiple offers and need a way to decide. Most of the advice in the original article stands, but the desirability of different banks has changed over time. Also, the even earlier recruiting process means you have less time to decide, with a longer time lag between your decision and the start of your internship: The Key Points When Deciding on Investment Banking Summer Internships
- [2026 Investment Banker Salary and Bonus Report: To the Senior Bankers Go the Spoils](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banker-salary/): NOTE: This article is an update to last year’s compensation report because the numbers haven’t changed much. I’m leaving the comments from last year’s article in place for this reason as well. The 2020s have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for investment banker salaries and bonuses. In 2021, booming SPAC activity, 0% interest rates, and COVID-inspired deals boosted fees and hiring to absurd levels… …but then compensation fell back down to earth as interest rates rose and the world normalized in 2022 and 2023. Then, 2024 and 2025 seemed like a return to form, with M&A deal volume up 20%, 30%, or even 50% in some regions; investment banking fees rose 10 – 30% in each year. Unfortunately, that didn’t translate into significantly higher compensation for Analysts and Associates; most of the benefits went to senior bankers. Based on end-of-year 2025 bonuses, total compensation rose ~5% for Analysts and Associates, 10 – 15% for VPs and Directors, and ~25%+ for MDs: NOTE: All numbers are pre-tax for New York-based front-office roles and include base salaries and year-end bonuses but not signing/relocation bonuses, stub bonuses, benefits, etc. These are roughly the 25th to 75th percentile ranges across the “large banks” (i.e., excluding 5-person regional boutiques). And yes, some elite boutiques paid above these ranges (more on that below): What Happened to Deal Activity and Investment Banker Salaries and Bonuses Last Year?
- [Reneging on a Job Offer in Investment Banking: Power Play or Career Suicide?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/reneging-on-a-job-offer/): Over 15 years ago, I wrote an article about reneging on job offers that presented simple advice: “Reneging is generally not a great idea and has the potential to cause serious problems in the future, but it can work in specific cases.” But it’s no longer 2010, the entire recruiting landscape has changed, and so have my views. If you get a substantially better job offer, reneging on an existing/worse offer is probably in your best interest. There are risks, including the possibility of losing both job offers, but most people tend to overstate them by relying on anecdotal horror stories. This article will focus on reneging on a job offer at a bank or financial services firm. I can’t speak to how it differs in tech, healthcare, or other industries. My views have changed over the past ~15 years because: It’s clear that banks and other large employers do not care about you. They never really cared, but they did a better job of maintaining the façade a long time ago. Banks will rescind offers, award exploring offers, ghost you, and lay off entire teams without warning, so why should you be loyal to them? The undergrad recruiting process has accelerated so much that it is very difficult to judge the first offer you get and your chances of receiving a better one. You can blame banks for this comically early process (see above). I have never seen any evidence that a “Blacklist” exists for candidates who renege on job offers. But perhaps it’s out there in a vault somewhere, along with the aliens, UFOs, and 9/11 conspiracy theories. What Does “Reneging on a Job Offer” Mean?
- [Private Equity Secondaries: The Full Guide to Deals, Careers, Salaries, and Exits](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/private-equity-secondaries/): Depending on your source, private equity secondaries are among the most promising growth areas on the buy-side… …or a bubble waiting to burst, like the ones in private credit, AI, and maybe the entire U.S. stock market. But both can be true at the same time. Private equity secondaries have done well partially because other areas, such as traditional/direct private equity, have performed poorly in the 2020s. Secondaries used to be a niche market, but they have exploded in popularity: (Source: Evercore Private Capital Advisory Report) So, this article will explain the entire secondaries industry, from what they do to careers, deal types, salaries, recruiting, exit opportunities, and more: What Are Private Equity Secondaries?
- [The Trump Second Term: A One-Year Review of Deals, Markets, and Jobs](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/trump-second-term/): Normally, I write about U.S. presidential elections every four years and issue periodic updates on big events in between: COVID, Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse in 2023, and the UBS / Credit Suisse deal right after that. But it has been a very “eventful” first year of a new U.S. administration, whether you judge it by laws passed, executive actions, cover-ups, geopolitics, trade, or the kidnapping of foreign leaders. So, I thought it might be useful to do a quick review of the Trump administration so far. As some readers pointed out in the 2024 election article, my track record of predicting specific events and policies has not been great. But that’s an even better reason to write this type of review: What went as expected, what did not, and, based on that, what might happen next? Ground Rules: I will cover only topics related to jobs, financial markets, and deals, so I’m not going to get into Venezuela, Iran, Israel/Palestine, Ukraine, Greenland, the Epstein files, vaccines, abortion, ICE, etc. Yes, I know that you may care deeply about these topics, but I don’t know enough to feel comfortable writing about most of them, and I don’t want to turn this into a novella. My Summary of Year One of the Trump Second Term
- [2026 Market & Investment Updates: How Far Can the AI Bubble Inflate?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-market-updates/): A few weeks before the U.S. election, I was thinking about ways to bet on the outcome. I had a feeling Trump would win and that his odds were higher than the 50/50 that news sites, pollsters, and Nate Silver kept “forecasting.” I thought about buying call options on Tesla, the S&P 500, or even the U.S. Dollar, but I eventually settled on crypto. I moved cash around and prepared to make a large purchase of Bitcoin and Ethereum when BTC was around $65K and ETH was at $2.5K. As I was about to press the “Buy” button, the lights and internet in my apartment cut out due to a power outage on my block. Some might have interpreted this as a sign from God and given up. But I prefer to ignore deities, so I immediately ran across the street to a coffee shop with wi-fi. After all, buying crypto is more important than having electricity in your home. I completed the purchase and am up ~35% over 2.5 months, even with the recent price drops (I also bought more at higher prices after this). Across all my assets, I was up just over 30% for the year vs. a 25% total return for the S&P. My net worth is over 3x its 2019 level vs. a ~2x multiple for the S&P over this period. And yes, I eventually went home and called the utility company to get my power restored – but only after confirming my crypto trades. Market & Investment Updates: My Current Portfolio
- [Buy-Side vs. Sell-Side Equity Research: Battle of the Burned-Out Analysts](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/buy-side-vs-sell-side-equity-research/): When you hear the term “buy-side equity research,” you probably have two immediate questions: How is it different from the sell-side equity research covered in many previous articles on this site? How is it different from what normal “Analysts” or “Research Analysts” at hedge funds, asset management firms, pensions, and sovereign wealth funds do? We’ll answer both questions here, but, as always, I’ll start with the short version in case you have the attention span of a TikTok doom scroller: Buy-Side vs. Sell-Side Equity Research: The Short Version
- [Corporate Finance vs. Investment Banking: Confusion, Crossovers, Compensation, and Careers](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/corporate-finance-vs-investment-banking/): The biggest problem with the corporate finance vs. investment banking comparison is that it’s not a 1v1 match. It’s more of a 3-way comparison between corporate finance jobs, investment banking jobs, and deal-related jobs that often get the “corporate finance” label. For example, some Big 4 firms label their internal M&A teams “corporate finance,” and they may use the term for related groups, such as Transaction Advisory Services (TAS). And then there are plenty of non-Big 4 accounting firms that follow similar practices, along with dedicated business valuation firms. These roles could be described as anything from “investment banking, but with smaller deals” to “a more engaging version of audit with higher pay.” We have previously covered many of these jobs, but since there’s still some confusion about the differences, I decided to write a detailed comparison and make some recommendations: The TL;DR Summary of Corporate Finance vs. Investment Banking
- [Consulting to Private Equity: How to Move from PowerPoint to Poison Pills](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/consulting-to-private-equity/): Along with “influencer” and “digital nomad” coaches, there’s an abundance of trainers eager to teach management consultants the secrets of moving into private equity. It makes sense: Consultants love to complain about their jobs, and they have the money to spend on career training. But you must be careful. While it is possible to move from consulting to private equity, it is not necessarily probable. If you want to do this, your success depends heavily on your current firm and the types of PE roles you target. Before explaining the step-by-step process, I’ll start with a more basic question: Should you even attempt this move? Should You Make the “Consulting to Private Equity” Move?
- [Oil & Gas Modeling 101: The Upstream, Midstream, and Downstream Crash Course](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/oil-gas-modeling-101/): Oil & gas modeling is difficult to summarize because each vertical is quite different. It’s not like FIG, where you can broadly create two groups (banks/insurance vs. everything else), or even like mining, where there are also two broad groups (producers vs. miners) Instead, the three main verticals – Upstream, Midstream, and Downstream – are basically different industries. And to make things even more complicated, there are other verticals outside of those, such as Oilfield Services (drilling and energy equipment/services), Integrated Majors that do everything, and royalty companies that do not produce or drill anything but simply earn land that does and earn royalties based on that. So, there is no simple way to summarize the entire sector. But if you look at the 3 main verticals, my summary would be: Upstream (Exploration & Production or E&P): Very CapEx-intensive companies that are also highly sensitive to commodity prices and which have a ton of specialized lingo, metrics, and valuation methodologies. Midstream (Storage & Transportation or S&T): These are like utilities companies with high margins, predictable revenue and cash flows, and far less sensitivity to commodity prices than Upstream firms. Downstream (Refining & Marketing or R&M): These are low-margin industrials companies with less predictable revenue and cash flows, and moderate sensitivity to commodity prices. Here’s a comparison table with a full breakout: For interview purposes, Upstream is the most important segment because most deal activity occurs there, but you should also know the main points of the others. So you can better understand these concepts, we’re offering several simplified Excel models based on our Oil & Gas Modeling course (focused on Upstream and Midstream). The Full Video Tutorial
- [Canadian Pension Funds: Private Equity Lite or the Top Finance Job in Canada?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/canadian-pension-funds/): Canadian pension funds always seem to generate strong reactions. Depending on the source, they’re either a lower-paying, more “boring” version of standard private equity careers or a top exit opportunity for bankers. The confusion begins with the fact that these pension funds are huge, with many different teams operating in various areas and paying different amounts. The biggest pension funds have expanded into direct private equity deals over time, but they also do credit, real estate, infrastructure, funds of funds, secondaries, and various types of asset management. This article will focus on the “direct investing” side and what to expect in private equity roles since the previous articles on pension fund investment management and sovereign wealth funds have covered some of the others: What Are “Canadian Pension Funds?” What Do They Do?
- [Asset Management Interview Questions: How to Win the Generalist Olympics](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/asset-management-interview-questions/): If you’ve searched online for asset management interview questions, you’ve probably walked away disappointed. Yes, there are bits and pieces of information, but most “lists” are quite generic and gloss over detailed questions. Asset management interviews are like the “Generalist Olympics” because you need to know about a huge range of topics: The standard fit/behavioral questions, the firm’s investment strategies, economics and trade policy, valuation, equities and fixed income, general market knowledge, portfolio management, and more. The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to know a lot about each topic. The bad news is that it’s challenging to prepare because there’s no centralized place to learn about everything, and it’s much harder to “memorize” answers: Asset Management Defined
- [Biotech Venture Capital: An Even Better Escape Plan for Ph.D.’s and M.D.’s?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/biotech-venture-capital/): Talk to any advanced degree holders in biology/medicine, and you’ll hear a few complaints repeatedly: “The pay is terrible! We grind away for peanuts in research.” “It’s boring.” “Why did I bother with this degree?” For many, the solution seems obvious: Break into finance to earn more and do something more interesting. There are plenty of options, such as healthcare investment banking, biotech hedge funds, and biotech equity research, but biotech venture capital seems to rank high on most lists. What could be better than having entrepreneurs pitch you while you sit back and use your scientific knowledge to allocate millions of dollars? It sounds like a dream, but only if your knowledge of “venture capital” stops there: Why Biotech Venture Capital?
- [FIG Private Equity: How to Navigate the Undiscovered Country](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/fig-private-equity/): FIG private equity might sound like a contradiction or an impossibility. After all, “everyone” knows there isn’t much private equity activity in the financial services sector. If a PE firm acquires a certain percentage stake in a commercial bank, it gets classified as a “bank holding company” in most countries… which translates into heaps of new regulations and restrictions on the firm’s activities. Plus, most banks and insurance firms are already highly leveraged, and you can’t use standard metrics such as FCF or EBITDA to price deals involving them. Despite these issues, though, quite a few private equity firms do specialize in financial services deals. They’re not common compared with tech, healthcare, industrials, and consumer retail firms, but if you’re willing to search, you might just find a unicorn at the end of the rainbow: What is FIG Private Equity, and How Does It Work?
- [Investment Banking LinkedIn Profile and Guide: How to Survive the Cesspool of Cringe](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-linkedin-profile/): If historians ever write The Rise and Fall of the Internet, LinkedIn will be Exhibit A. Back in ~2003, it launched as a nice, intentionally limited social network. People logged in to update their profiles when they switched jobs, and they occasionally looked up former co-workers to see who had switched firms or moved to new areas recently. Even people with thousands of connections used the site maybe once per month because there was no “feed,” which made it different from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. But then Microsoft acquired it in 2016, and the full enshittification began. Everyone still uses LinkedIn to update their profile for new jobs, but now there’s an added layer due to the “feed.” It’s an otherworldly mix of cringeworthy posts, humblebrags, AI slop, and influencers peddling courses, consulting, and coaching. Meanwhile, some students mistakenly believe that they need to be active on LinkedIn or that writing a “10 Things Polygamy Taught Me About Recruiting!” post counts as “networking.” Unfortunately, even though LinkedIn is a cringeworthy cesspool, you still need to maintain a simple profile if you want to work in the finance industry. We last covered this topic of LinkedIn profiles a decade ago, so it seemed like a good time for an update: Investment Banking LinkedIn Profile & Usage Guide: The Short Version
- [AI for Financial Modeling: Will It Kill Excel and Entry-Level Investment Banking Jobs?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/ai-for-financial-modeling/): I’ve covered the topic of artificial intelligence several times on this site, including why I stayed away from enterprise AI startups last year and a quick review of ChatGPT for investment banking a month after it launched. But a lot has changed over the past few years. These tools have advanced and become multimodal (i.e., they work with text, images, files, and video), many vertical AI apps have popped up, and now there are tools that can generate both PowerPoint and Excel output from prompts and company filings. I’ve also seen an uptick in panicked messages from students wondering which jobs are “safe from AI,” and whether industries like tech, finance, and law are even worth it anymore. So, it seemed like a good time to revisit this topic. I’ll explain below the immediate catalysts for this article, present both sides of the “AI will kill white-collar jobs” debate, and attempt to reach some conclusions. I won’t provide an upfront summary, but you can skip to my conclusions and predictions if you don’t want to read everything. But I’ll start with a quick “market update”: AI for Financial Modeling: What “Prompted” This Article?
- [Commercial Banking vs. Investment Banking: Careers, Recruiting, Compensation, and Exits](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/commercial-banking-vs-investment-banking/): The “commercial banking vs. investment banking” question is a bit silly because they’re not in the same category. Yes, some students apply to both roles, and some people move from one field to the other, but they serve very different functions and represent different types of careers. If you look at most online content about this topic, it’s a mix of AI slop and “comparison” articles authored by hordes of monkeys at their keyboards. So, I’ll take a different approach here and focus on the differences in careers and recruiting, including interviews, advancement, salaries, and exit opportunities. I do not recommend commercial banking as a “Plan B” for investment banking or an exit opportunity for most candidates, but it may be a good option in some cases: Commercial Banking vs. Investment Banking: The TL;DR Summary
- [Strategic Finance Jobs: An Upgrade Over Corporate Finance, or a Smoke Screen for Standard FP&A Work?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/strategic-finance-jobs/): Whenever I write about Corporate Finance jobs on this site, there’s always a fair amount of criticism in the comments. People seem to think that I’m too harsh in explaining why I “don’t like” these jobs and do not recommend them for most university and MBA students. But many corporations also realized that Corporate Finance has a branding problem, because they created “Strategic Finance” roles. This trend began with Dropbox in 2012, and following some very aggressive marketing, seemingly every other tech company – and many non-tech companies – copied them and created their own Strategic Finance jobs. But does Strategic Finance improve upon the standard roles in FP&A, Controllership, and Treasury? Are there real differences in the work, the compensation, and the exit opportunities? Or is it just a “lipstick on the pig” move to lure bankers over to the corporate side? The Short Version of Strategic Finance Jobs
- [Crypto Hedge Funds: Risk, Returns, and Questionable Celebrity Endorsements](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/crypto-hedge-funds/): Of all the investment types and firms covered on this site, crypto hedge funds might be the most controversial. Sure, some people have problems with the entire private equity industry or with distressed debt funds and activist hedge funds, but you don’t see celebrity-endorsed scams or fully fraudulent firms in those sectors. If you work at one of these firms, you might be labeled a “vulture capitalist” or an “opportunist,” but there’s no equivalent of Hawk Tuah or FTX. Despite these scams, though, cryptocurrencies have been attracting increased institutional interest, and some large, well-known hedge funds and prop trading firms now have “digital assets” teams. And since I have a personal obsession and love/hate relationship with crypto, it seemed like a perfect time to publish a full sector guide: What Are Crypto Hedge Funds?
- [Tell Me About a Recent Deal: Full Guide and Example](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/tell-me-about-a-recent-deal/): The “tell me about a recent deal” question in finance interviews is designed to test your genuine interest in the industry. Anyone can copy/paste a “story” based on one of our templates, and plenty of candidates are good at memorizing the technical questions. But it’s much harder to “fake” your way into a solid deal discussion, especially in an in-person setting. Deal discussions are popular for the same reason that assessment centers are widely used in London: They’re a quick/cheap way to assess candidates and provide more accurate results than generic interview questions. If you are changing careers, you can expect to get this question a lot because it’s a great way to assess your motivations and commitment. Are you recruiting for investment banking roles to double your compensation? Or do you have a genuine interest in working on deals? Note that this guide is for discussing deals in the news, not deals you have worked on personally. Discussing your own deals is different, so please refer to the “deal sheet” article for more on that one. Why and When Does This Question Matter?
- [Private Credit Interview Questions and Answers: How to Merge Corporate Banking, Capital Markets, and LBO Modeling](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/private-credit-interview-questions/): Private credit has become a “hot” area lately, and we’ve received many frantic questions about what to expect in interviews and case studies. Previous articles on direct lending, mezzanine funds, corporate banking, DCM, and LevFin have covered parts of this topic, but I wanted to consolidate everything here and explain some of the nuances. If you already know the industry and what to expect in the recruiting process, feel free to skip to the private credit interview questions and answers. But I’ll start with some background information for everyone else: What is Private Credit? And Why Has It Taken Off?
- [Infrastructure Investment Banking: Definitions, Deals, and a Dizzying Diversity of Verticals](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/infrastructure-investment-banking-group/): The most difficult part of infrastructure investment banking is defining the exact verticals and deal types it covers. Like renewable energy IB, different banks classify their groups differently, so you could find yourself working on everything from a data center REIT M&A deal to an airport financing to an IPO for a solar developer. It even includes elements of healthcare, industrials, and oil & gas investment banking. In fact, a better question might be: “What is NOT within the scope of infrastructure IB?” And the answer is… maybe consumer retail, FIG, and most of tech and TMT? I’ve been staring at different sources for hours, but haven’t come to a firm conclusion about this one. But I’ll attempt to break down the group and its variations here:
What is Infrastructure Investment Banking?
- [Corporate Venture Capital: “Plan B” for Real Venture Capital or Compelling Career Combination?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/corporate-venture-capital/): The venture capital market is highly cyclical, which discourages some bankers from considering it. Join in a bad market, and you might close 0 deals and learn very little – except how to start a podcast or Substack on becoming a VC influencer. But there is one “lower Beta” alternative: Corporate venture capital (CVC). These groups are attached to large companies (often in the tech industry) and invest in startups not solely for financial reasons. Yes, they want to realize solid returns, but they’re also motivated by strategic considerations, such as future acquisitions or entering new markets more easily. Because of corporate venture capital groups’ relationships with their parent companies, they might be active when traditional VCs are not. Many people describe corporate venture capital as a combination of corporate development and traditional venture capital. That’s a nice 1-sentence description, but it’s more accurate to view CVC groups on a spectrum: Types of Corporate Venture Capital Groups: Independent Funds vs. Business Units
- [Tariffs & The Job Market: How the Trade War Will Affect Finance Internships, Jobs, Deals, and Valuations](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/tariffs-job-market/): If you’ve been breathing oxygen over the past few weeks, you’ve now seen approximately 523,861 articles about the trade war, the tariffpocalypse, and how random tweets now move trillions in market value each day. So… I thought I would add one more feature so you can say you’ve read 523,862 articles about the topic. This is a follow-up to my 2024 Election article, where I predicted that the Trump administration would be much less “business friendly” than hyperventilating influencers had forecast. And… U.S. deal volume fell by 13% in Q1, consumer sentiment fell by more than 30% since December, and inflation expectations are now higher. This doesn’t mean we’re in a recession – just that the outlook is worse than it was at the end of last year. And now tariffs are threatening to derail everything. I’ll start with a quick summary and then explain the financial impact of tariffs, how they’ll affect deal activity, and why they are bad news for the finance job market: Tariffs & The Job Market: Summary
- [The 400 Questions Investment Banking Guide: 2025 Edition](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/400-questions-investment-banking/): Yes, you read that headline correctly: We have released a new version of the famous 400 Questions Investment Banking guide. To get it, enter your email address below, confirm your email, and click the link in the first full email you receive: After you sign up, you’ll also receive several additional bonuses via email: An “accounting interview question” model you can use to understand the three statements (simplified vs. the full version, but still useful). A 4-page “technical cheat sheet” you can use to review key concepts and formulas before you step into the interview room. And a short M&A case study, like one you might receive at an assessment center in the U.K. or even in some boutique bank interviews in the U.S. If you already have our financial modeling course or the full IB Interview Guide, navigate to the first module of those courses to get everything. And if you need more of a pitch for this free 207-page guide, here it is: What’s New/Different in This 400 Questions Investment Banking Guide?
- [Consumer Retail Private Equity: Barbarians at the Gate, or Tech Bros on a Shopping Spree?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/consumer-retail-private-equity/): Consumer retail private equity is so diverse that it almost seems like a paradox. Depending on the firm, a “consumer retail private equity deal” might consist of: A leveraged buyout of a struggling offline retailer. A “growth buyout” of a fast-growing restaurant chain. Or a venture capital investment into a direct-to-consumer brand seeking to disrupt the market for eyewear or electric shavers. One of the most famous and infamous leveraged buyouts of all time – KKR’s $25 billion buyout of RJR Nabisco – also happened to be in the consumer retail sector. That deal went very poorly for KKR, but it didn’t stop financiers from staying interested in the sector for the next few decades. The only difference is that they’re now just as likely to be Tech Bros as they are Barbarians at the Gate: Consumer Retail Private Equity Defined
- [Biotech Hedge Funds: A Match Made in Heaven](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/biotech-hedge-funds/): If you had to pick a single industry that could be interesting to every hedge fund investing in individual companies, it might be biotech. Of course, “biotech” is not an official hedge fund strategy. It’s more of an industry focus at the intersection of several other strategies, such as long/short equity, event-driven investing, and even merger arbitrage. While plenty of bankers and equity research professionals from healthcare teams enter biotech hedge funds, people with advanced degrees (M.D., Ph.D., etc.) also find their way into the industry. So, many career changers seeking exits from medicine or academia get interested in the field. It can potentially be a great opportunity, but only if you understand the fundamentals, including the risks and caveats: Why Do Hedge Funds Like Biotech So Much? And What Do They Do?
- [Venture Capital Internships: The Best “Pre-Banking” Role?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/venture-capital-internships/): With investment banking internship recruiting starting earlier and earlier, you also need to win “pre-banking internships” earlier. People debate the best options: Search fund internships, private equity internships, boutique bank internships, real estate internships, and even wealth management internships have their pros and cons. But some argue that venture capital internships beat many of these options or should at least be near the top of the list. In most cases, you won’t gain significant technical skills from VC internships, but they may be easier to win than other options and let you tell a more convincing story in later interviews: What Are Venture Capital Internships, and What Do Interns Do?
- [Equity Research vs. Investment Banking: Careers, Compensation, Exits, and AI/Automation Risk](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/equity-research-vs-investment-banking/): We sometimes get questions about why we don’t offer an “equity research course.” People are convinced that financial modeling in equity research is vastly different from investment banking and that research requires different or more specialized skills. This view is mostly wrong: The Excel-based work has a ton of overlap, with a few differences here and there. The more significant “equity research vs. investment banking” differences relate to recruiting and careers, including points such as the compensation and exit opportunities. Everyone is also concerned about being automated away by the next version of ChatGPT or Claude, so I will also address AI and automation risks in both fields. But, as always, I’ll start with a quick summary: Equity Research vs. Investment Banking at a High Level
- [Investing Principles: Lessons Learned from 20 Years of Wins, Losses, and Strikeouts](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investing-principles/): I’ve said before that nothing on this site is meant to be “investment advice.”
- [Off-Cycle Private Equity Recruiting: How to Prepare for the Slow Grind to the Finish Line](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/off-cycle-private-equity-recruiting/): While on-cycle PE recruiting keeps moving up, to the point where you must attend a “target” elementary school, middle school, and high school to be competitive, off-cycle private equity recruiting remains a viable option for everyone else. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of confusion over what “off-cycle” means due to the changing start dates, the multiple recruiting cycles, and regional variations. I will attempt to sort out the chaos here, but I’ll start with the basic definitions and explain who should care about this process: Off-Cycle Private Equity Recruiting Defined
- [Sports Investment Banking: How to Win the Super Bowl and the World Cup in the Same Year](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/sports-investment-banking/): No matter the economic climate, you can always bet on sports fans to show up for their favorite teams. This partially explains why sports investment banking has become a hot field, with JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs launching their own sports coverage groups. For a long time, sports teams and franchises were not worth that much, so banks rarely put their “A-Teams” on these deals. But this started changing in the 2010s and early 2020s as team values skyrocketed and billionaires, sovereign wealth funds, and sports private equity firms all jumped into the sector. We’ll do a full breakdown of the sector here, but as usual, we need to start with the definitions, trends, and drivers: What is Sports Investment Banking?
- [Growth Equity Interview Questions: Full List, Answers, and Differences vs. Venture Capital and Private Equity](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/growth-equity-interview-questions/): This site has already covered investment banking interview questions, private equity interview questions, and venture capital interview questions, so the next topic on the list seemed to be growth equity interview questions.
- [The 2024 Election: Nothing Stops This Train](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/2024-election/): I was barely paying attention to this year’s election cycle for a long time. But in late June, something interesting finally happened: Biden debated Trump, and his brain exploded and got sucked into a black hole on stage. In the following months, we got multiple assassination attempts, the Kamala swap, controversial VP picks, two more debates, cat lady memes, accusations of Haitians eating cats, and New York State euthanizing a pet squirrel YouTube star. After all the noise, the 2024 election ended with a decisive victory for Donald Trump in both the Electoral College and the popular vote. The Republicans also flipped the Senate (the exact majority is unclear as I write this), and the House of Representatives could also be a narrow win for them (??). Even if you absolutely hate Trump, you must acknowledge that he’s now the most dominant national political figure since Reagan or possibly even FDR. So, what exactly happened? How does it affect careers in the finance industry, compensation, and deal activity? And most importantly, will the cats and squirrels be OK? Ground Rules
- [Corporate Finance Jobs: Cozy Careers, But Bad “Plan B” Options](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/corporate-finance-jobs/): Corporate finance jobs at normal companies are bad… …if you’re using them to break into a deal-based field, such as investment banking, private equity, or venture capital, or as a “Plan B” if you interview around but do not get into one of these. The main problem is that many people enter corporate finance jobs without truly understanding them. Corporate finance is fine if you’re in it to advance up the ladder over many years/decades while having a reasonable work/life balance. If you’re in it because you want to leverage the experience to move into a different field, you should stop and immediately reconsider your plans. In my view, corporate finance jobs are not ideal “stepping stone roles.” But I want to be fair, so I will present their positives and negatives here. I’ll also explain what “corporate finance jobs” are, how to break in, how much you earn as you advance, and what the exit options look like:
Corporate Finance Jobs: The Short Version
- [Why Investment Banking? How to Answer the Most Boring But Persistent Interview Question of All Time](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/why-investment-banking/): “Why investment banking?” is not only one of the most common questions in interviews but also one of the most incorrectly answered ones. An older version of this article from ~15 years ago addressed this question, and you can find dozens of other articles that suggest answers. But most coverage suggests generic answers about wanting to learn a lot, liking financial analysis or valuation, or wanting to “understand different industries.” These answers are bad not just because they’re generic but also because: They don’t reflect the context of the interview. Your answer changes based on your work experience and the type of role you’re targeting (e.g., a summer internship that converts into a full-time offer vs. a boutique internship in your 1st or 2nd year of university). They don’t reflect market changes over time. For example, internship recruiting starts very early for undergrads in the U.S., and there’s now an overwhelming amount of information online about investment banking. I’ll explain these points here and suggest specific answers to “Why investment banking?” but I’ll start with the short version: Why Investment Banking: The Short Version
- [Is an MBA Worth It? The Top 3 Reasons to Do the Degree](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/is-an-mba-worth-it/): If you ever want to trigger an entire community, go to an MBA-related subreddit and ask whether “an MBA is worth it.” You’ll get a wide range of responses, but most will be some variation of: “Yes, of course it’s worth it because I did it / I am doing it currently.” I wrote this article because I’m more of a neutral, 3rd party observer. I never did an MBA, but plenty of friends and acquaintances have, and so have many students and coaching clients. So, I’ve seen when the degree is useful and not so useful over the past 15+ years. As always, I will start with the short version: Is an MBA Worth It? The Short Version
- [Renewable Energy Investment Banking: How to Make Greens by Going Green](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/renewable-energy-investment-banking/): If there is one sector that has attracted even more hype than technology and TMT, it might just be renewable energy investment banking. The good news is that if you can get in, the group has many positives: Diverse deal activity, a generalist technical skill set, and many exit opportunities. The bad news is that despite these positives, it’s still highly dependent on the government and overall macro conditions – despite claims to the contrary. But before jumping into the overall advantages and disadvantages, let’s start with the verticals and how banks are set up: What is Renewable Energy Investment Banking?
- [Should You Delay Your Graduation to Improve Your Chances of Getting into Investment Banking?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/delay-your-graduation/): I’ll skip the clever intros here: Delaying your graduation to improve your chances of winning a certain job after university is usually a bad idea. If you’re doing it specifically to target investment banking roles, it only makes sense in a few scenarios. Delaying your graduation will not help with many common problems, such as a very low GPA, no return offer from an internship, or attendance at a non-target school. If you have one of these problems, you’d be better off with some combination of: Getting a Master’s in Finance degree from a top school. Aiming for finance-related roles after graduation or even off-cycle internships and then using lateral hiring to get in. Considering a top MBA if nothing else works. Also, the accelerated internship recruiting timeline has made it more difficult to get great results from delaying your graduation, at least in the U.S. It’s no longer possible to use it as a “call option” in case you perform poorly in your summer internship, which reduces its expected value. Let’s start with some quick definitions and the short version of why a delayed graduation is rarely a good idea: The TL;DR of Why “Delay Your Graduation” Rarely Works
- [Investing in Enterprise AI Startups: Why I’m Skeptical and Staying Away](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/ai-startups/): Ever since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in November 2022, there has been overwhelming hype about all things artificial intelligence (AI). That hype has led to vast funding for AI startups: Over $35 billion in the first half of 2024 alone, which was around 21% of global VC funding for the period. But doubts have also emerged about the business model, signaled by Sequoia’s release of its “$600 billion question” analysis (i.e., where is the extra revenue from hundreds of billions spent on GPUs and data centers?). Then there was the Goldman Sachs AI report, which took a measured tone and presented both sides of the debate. Meanwhile, the other big questions about whether AI will kill all jobs / remake human civilization persist. These are interesting debates, but I want to examine a much narrower topic here and explain my skepticism of one category: VC-backed startups attempting to sell generative AI products (agents, workflow automation, customized chatbots, etc.) to enterprise customers. I’ll start with the short version and then explain each factor in more detail below: The TL;DR Version of My Skepticism Toward (Enterprise) AI Startups
- [Wall Street Mastermind Review: Should You Hire a Coach to Get Into Investment Banking?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/wall-street-mastermind-review/): If you’ve read this site for a long time, you probably know that we focus on creating financial modeling courses and guides. We still offer coaching for more experienced candidates and students with significant work experience, and I used to personally do a good number of mock interviews and resume edits, but our business model has shifted over time. Despite that, we often get questions from students who want more personalized attention. One name that comes up is Wall Street Mastermind (WSMM), created and led by Sam Shiah. You’ve probably seen it in threads on Reddit, Wall Street Oasis, and other forums, which contain “mixed” information (i.e., it ranges from “somewhat helpful” to “completely wrong”). Since I know Sam and the service, I’ve written this review/comparison article that outlines the program, who benefits from it, and how it differs from our coaching services. The short version is that if you are the right person and can afford it, I recommend the WSMM coaching, which you can apply for here. If you’re not sure it’s right for you or you want more details about the program, I’ll explain everything below. But first, a quick disclaimer: The Disclaimer
- [Industrials Private Equity: The Best Place for Old-School Deals at Reasonable Multiples?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/industrials-private-equity/): If you ever tire of the hype around tech, industrials private equity might be an ideal hiding spot. Industrials PE has been around for a long time and has always been seen as “stable but boring.” Some would even argue that the first “leveraged buyout” of all time – J.P. Morgan’s acquisition of Carnegie Steel in 1901 – was an industrials private equity deal. Andrew Carnegie’s partner, Henry Phipps, used his deal proceeds to launch the Bessemer Trust, one of the first modern family offices and a “proto” private equity fund. But the real question is this: If you accept an industrials private equity job, will you end up more like Andrew Carnegie or Henry Phipps, or will your career trajectory resemble a distressed tire manufacturing company that later declared bankruptcy? Industrials Private Equity Defined
- [Investment Banking in India: Please Avoid It and Try Again in Another Country](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-in-india/): If you have the option to work in finance in different parts of the world, investment banking in India should be at the bottom of your list.
- [On-Cycle Private Equity Recruiting: Will PE Firms Start Recruiting 10-Year-Old Children Soon?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/on-cycle-private-equity-recruiting/): When firms kicked off the on-cycle private equity recruiting process in June this year, before IB Analysts had even started their training, some people were shocked. But those covering the industry for 20+ years were not surprised. It continued the insanity that the “on-cycle process” has become. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, this process used to start ~1 year in advance of PE jobs. That gave IB Analysts about a year to gain deal experience, learn financial modeling, and make sure they wanted to do the job. But that timeline crept up over time, slowing down only in “crisis periods,” such as in 2009 (financial crisis aftermath) and 2020 – 2021 (COVID). With no immediate crisis in sight, PE firms have returned to their old practice of accelerating the kickoff date each year. We’re now at the stage where you interview for your next job before your first job even starts. As usual, I’ll start with the short version before delving into the details: The TL;DR Version of On-Cycle Private Recruiting
- [How to Start a Venture Capital Firm – and Why You Probably Shouldn’t](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/how-to-start-a-venture-capital-firm/): I noticed the other day that we had articles about how to start a private equity firm and how to start a hedge fund but nothing on venture capital. But just like superhero movies, career advice works best when it’s a trilogy – so we’ll complete this trilogy with how to start a venture capital firm. Starting a venture capital firm is less of a bad idea than starting a PE firm or hedge fund, but it’s still not a great idea for most people. The biggest issue is that venture capital is best at the end of your career, not the beginning or middle. The second biggest issue is that there are many ways to invest in startups and growth companies these days, so hardly anyone “needs” to start a VC firm to do it. And if you think starting your own VC firm is “easy money,” please stop reading this article and seek psychiatric help immediately: What is Venture Capital?
- [From Wealth Management to Investment Banking: How to Make the Leap](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/wealth-management-to-investment-banking/): As internships and full-time jobs begin each year, new hires flock online and start asking the same question repeatedly: “Help! I hate this job. How can I move from wealth management to investment banking? I’ll do anything!” The good news is that it is possible to do this. The bad news is that it may be extremely difficult to near impossible unless you get a top MBA. It’s arguably the most difficult “front office to front office” transition within finance, so you should probably start by considering why you want to make this switch: Why Switch from Wealth Management to Investment Banking?
- [Project Finance vs. Corporate Finance: Careers, Recruiting, Financial Modeling, and More](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/project-finance-vs-corporate-finance/): With the craze over renewable energy and infrastructure over the past few years, we’ve received more and more questions about Project Finance vs. Corporate Finance. This article will focus on careers and recruiting, while the accompanying YouTube video will discuss the technical/modeling aspects in more detail. And yes, coincidentally, we have a new Project Finance & Infrastructure Modeling course. This article is a sample/excerpt/preview from the full course: Project Finance vs. Corporate Finance: The Video and Files
- [Private Equity Value Creation: Equally Viable Alternative to PE Deal Teams?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/private-equity-value-creation/): Private equity value creation came on my radar a few years ago when I noticed something: Even though traditional PE deal roles were not doing well, “operational” or “value creation” teams still seemed to be recruiting.
- [The Tragic Investment Banker Death: Should Senior Bankers Go to Jail for Killing Their Junior Staff?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banker-death/): In case you’ve been offline for the past few days, it has happened yet again: An investment banker has died on the job. You can read about it in various threads on Wall Street Oasis, Reddit, eFinancialCareers, LinkedIn, and more, so I won’t repeat the full details here. In short, this banker was an Associate in the FIG team at Bank of America and had a very accomplished track record before joining the firm. “Official” news sources are trying to spin this as a death from natural causes, but it seems clear that over-staffing and consecutive 120-hour workweeks were the immediate cause. Unfortunately, this is far from the first time a tragedy like this has happened. Back in 2013, an IB intern died under similar circumstances, and many other banker/trader deaths have made the headlines over the years. Oh, and then there’s my story – how I crashed my car into a tree after working crazy hours – and eventually quit the industry to start this site. I’ll give my thoughts on this entire incident below, post the donation link for this banker’s family, and explain why the industry needs to change: My Quick Thoughts on the Situation
- [The Full Guide to Pre-MBA Internships: Are They Worth It?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/pre-mba-internship/): A long time ago, the idea of a pre-MBA internship was odd because most people stayed in their full-time jobs until their MBAs began. Also, getting into a top MBA was so much of a hassle that few people wanted to apply for something else before the program began. But then recruiting moved up, the MBA process became more structured, and now we have 4-year-olds aiming for “Target Kindergartens” so they can eventually get into investment banking ~15 years in the future. Due to this “early prep” craze, pre-MBA programs of all types have become more popular. Many incoming MBA students now wonder if they should complete them in addition to their normal internship(s). I’ll answer these questions, but, as usual, we need to start with some descriptions: What is a Pre-MBA Internship?
- [Sports Private Equity: Bright Spot in a Troubled PE Landscape or an Emerging Bubble?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/sports-private-equity/): Amidst the miserable deal environment of the past few years, there has been one bright spot: sports private equity. Even as deal activity, fundraising, and exits have slowed everywhere, billionaires and PE firms backed by billionaires continue to acquire and invest in sports teams. Over two-thirds of NBA teams have a private equity connection or investment, and all major U.S. leagues except the NFL now allow PE firms to own minority stakes in teams. In Europe, 35% of football clubs have been funded via capital from PE/VC firms, sovereign wealth funds, or private consortiums. So, why have PE firms suddenly gotten interested in sports? And if you’re interested in working in the sector, should you enter the draft?
- [Investment Banking Spring Weeks: The Full Guide](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-spring-weeks/): If you go by most online discussions, investment banking spring weeks in the U.K. are as essential as oxygen or high grades if you want to work at a large bank. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of “group think” here, driven by endless forum threads and student groups over-hyping and over-marketing the concept. Banks are also to blame because they now market spring weeks to students as young as 16. If you want to work in investment banking in London, these “spring weeks” (1-2-week mini-internships in your first or second year of university) are helpful but not necessarily required. It is 100% possible to win internship offers without attending spring weeks, and they have some downsides that no one ever discusses. But before exploring “the dark side” here, I’ll start with a quick summary: Table Of Contents: Investment Banking Spring Weeks Defined Summary of Spring Weeks: Advantages and Disadvantages Which Banks Offer Spring Weeks? How to Apply for Investment Banking Spring Weeks Who Wins Spring Week Offers? What Do You Do in a Spring Week? How Do You Convert a Spring Week into a Real Internship? What If You Don’t Win a Summer Internship? Downsides of Investment Banking Spring Weeks Final Thoughts on IB Spring Weeks Investment Banking Spring Weeks Defined
- [Growth Equity: The Child Prodigy of Private Equity and Venture Capital, or an Artifact of Easy Money?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/growth-equity/): Over the past few decades, growth equity (GE) has gone from an afterthought to a major asset class for huge investment firms. Some argue that GE offers the best of both worlds: the opportunity to fund innovation and growth – as in venture capital – plus the ability to limit downside risk and invest in proven companies – as in private equity. Others would counter that growth equity’s rapid ascent was mostly due to the easy money that persisted between 2008 and 2021. With interest rates at ~0%, funds inevitably flowed into anything with “growth” in the name – regardless of its real growth potential: Table Of Contents:
- [Fixed Income Research: The Overlooked Younger Brother of Equity Research?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/fixed-income-research/): While everyone seems to know about equity research and trading stocks, fixed income research gets far less attention. Partially, it’s an issue of accessibility: Everyone understands what happens to the stock price if a company beats earnings… …but few people understand what it means if a company is set to violate a debt covenant on page 214 of its credit agreement. But a few other reasons also explain why fixed income often gets overlooked: the unstructured recruiting process, fewer job openings, and the “cushiness” of senior-level roles. For the right person, though, fixed income research can be even better than equity research, whether you’re at a bank, an asset management firm, a hedge fund, or a credit rating agency: Table of Contents: What is Fixed Income Research? Equity Research vs. Fixed Income Research Common Myths What Do You Do as a Fixed Income Research Analyst or Associate? An Example Fixed Income Research Report Recruiting: Who Gets into Fixed Income Research? Interview Questions and Case Studies Salaries and Bonuses The Hours and Lifestyle Exit Opportunities Final Thoughts and Summary What is Fixed Income Research?
- [Single-Manager Hedge Funds: The Best Way to Get a Recurring Guest Spot on CNBC?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/single-manager-hedge-funds/): If you think about the most “public” investors – the likes of Bill Ackman and David Einhorn – many of them have something in common: they operate single-manager hedge funds. In other words, they’re the public face and brand of their fund, and all investment decisions flow through them. They might have separate teams for specific strategies or markets, but everything is run under a single Profit & Loss statement (P&L). This setup creates many differences with multi-manager (MM) hedge funds, from investment styles to recruiting and careers. Interestingly, some well-known hedge funds are also tricky to classify, as they combine elements of SM and MM funds. Depending on your personality, skill set, and long-term goals, these single-manager funds or “hybrid funds” could be perfect or far from ideal: What Are Single-Manager Hedge Funds?
- [The Growth Equity Case Study: Real-Life Example and Tutorial](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/growth-equity-case-study/): Let’s start with the elephant in the room: yes, we’ve covered the growth equity case study before, but I’m doing it again because I don’t think the previous examples were great. They over-complicated the financial model (e.g., minutiae about issues like OID for debt issuances) and did not accurately represent a 1- or 2-hour case study. So, you can think of this example and tutorial as “Growth Equity Case Study: The Final Form.” It combines the best examples I’ve received from students over the past 15 years and gives you a realistic idea of what to expect. It’s an excerpt from our Venture Capital & Growth Equity Modeling course, so it’s not a step-by-step walkthrough – but it should still be quite helpful: Types of Growth Equity Case Studies
- [Wealth Management vs. Investment Banking: Career Deathmatch](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/wealth-management-vs-investment-banking/): If you want to read angry comments and long threads with plenty of insults, you can’t go wrong with the wealth management vs. investment banking debate. It’s one area where people on both sides tend to talk past each other: Bankers say that wealth management roles pay less, offer less interesting work, and lack good exit opportunities. Wealth managers say that investment banking requires crazy hours, has mostly dull work, and is ridiculously competitive to get into; also, the “compensation ceiling” may be similar in both fields, so why kill yourself in banking? The truth is that both claims are correct but incomplete. To illustrate the problem, I’ve created two “career ladders” for these fields: Now let’s dig in, starting with a Table of Contents if you want to skip around: Table of Contents Job Functions Nature of Work and Skill Set Recruiting and Interviews Careers and Promotions Compensation and Hours The Top Firms Exit Opportunities Summary Wealth Management vs. Investment Banking: Job Functions
- [How to Get an Investment Banking Internship](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/how-to-get-an-investment-banking-internship/): If you want to know how to get an investment banking internship, it’s simple: Start very, very early and have a great “Plan B” if something goes wrong. The IB internship recruiting timeline is now so insane that even mainstream news sources like the Wall Street Journal have written about it (“The Race Is On to Hire Interns for 2025. Really.”). And yes, this coverage is correct: Some banks have started opening their summer internship applications over 1.5 years in advance (though the timing varies from year to year, and some still start in January - March of 20X5 for Summer 20X6 positions). In practice, this means you must be on top of IB internship recruiting from Year 1 of university if you’re in the U.S. Here's our guide for how to do that: Table Of Contents: The “Ideal” IB Internship Recruiting Timeline in the U.S. Your First Year in University The Summer After Your First Year Your Second Year in University The Summer After Your Second Year Your Third Year in University What to Do If You Start Late or Miss Application Deadlines MBA-Level Internships How the Recruiting Timeline Differs in Other Regions What to AVOID When Recruiting for Internships Additional Reading How to Get an Investment Banking Internship: The “Ideal” Timeline in the U.S.
- [Multi-Manager Hedge Funds: A Meritocratic Paradise or a Revolving Door of Burnout?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/multi-manager-hedge-funds/): Almost all conversations about buy-side roles eventually turn to multi-manager hedge funds, also known as “pod shops.” There are only a few dozen large funds in this category worldwide, but they’ve greatly impacted the markets and finance careers. Multi-manager hedge funds promise investors solid risk-adjusted returns with low volatility; no matter what the broader market does, you’ll make money if you invest in them. They do this by setting up entire teams (“pods”) for specific sectors, having each team learn their stocks or other securities in-depth, and then trading frequently based on catalysts and changes in investor sentiment. The multi-manager model is much more like “trading” than long-term investing, and for some people, that’s great: Multi-Manager Hedge Funds Defined
- [Bulge Bracket Banks: Careers, Deals, Exits, and Rankings](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/bulge-bracket-banks/): I never expected to revisit the topic of bulge bracket banks so quickly because the full list changes slowly. But various events, including the UBS acquisition of Credit Suisse and the rise of firms like Wells Fargo, Jefferies, and RBC, have shaken up the traditional list. As of 2026, I consider the following to be the list of bulge bracket banks (note that the "potential" category is speculative and could include other, similar firms beyond the 5 currently listed there): Sources: The list above is based on deal volume and fee data from Dealogic, the Financial Times, and Statista over the past few years. What is a “Bulge Bracket Bank”?
- [The CFA for Investment Banking: Do the New Changes Make It Worthwhile?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/cfa-for-investment-banking/): I’ve now been writing about finance careers for almost 20 years, and the topic of the CFA for investment banking never seems to die. I first criticized the CFA in a 2009 article, which generated a lot of angry comments. Not much has changed since then. People online still argue about the merits of the CFA, whether they “need it” to win various roles, and its usefulness compared with an MBA, high grades, additional internships, or becoming a Twitch gaming superstar. I got so tired of these debates that I never planned to cover this topic again. But earlier in 2023, the CFA Institute announced the biggest changes to the program since it started. The website 300 Hours has a detailed analysis, but here’s my quick summary: Expanded Eligibility: You can now register if you have 2 years remaining in university (rather than 1 year previously). Financial Modeling or Python / Data Science / AI: Starting in 2024, you must complete a “Practical Skill Module” on one of these topics for Levels I and II of the exam. Reduced Study Volume: They’re reducing the amount of material, so you “only” study for 300 hours per level. And they’re moving to shorter online Learning Modules with spreadsheets and videos rather than lengthy readings. Specialized Pathways: For the Level III exam, you can focus on portfolio management, private wealth, or private markets. On the surface, these changes address some big problems with the CFA: The lack of relevance to many finance careers and the limited practical skills tested. The huge time commitment required to pass the exams. The timing – The CFA is not very helpful in your last year of university due to the IB recruiting timeline. So, should you make the CFA part of your recruiting strategy? The TL;DR About the CFA for Investment Banking
- [The Full Guide to Healthcare Private Equity, from Careers to Contradictions](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/healthcare-private-equity/): When you hear the words “healthcare private equity,” two thoughts probably come to mind: Wait a minute, isn’t healthcare a risky/growth-oriented sector? Why do PE firms operate there? Don’t they need companies with stable cash flows? In most of the world, healthcare is either government-run or a mixed public/private sector. Are there many private healthcare companies for PE firms to acquire? The short answer to #1 is that healthcare private equity firms operate in specific verticals with stable-ish cash flows, such as healthcare services, nursing facilities, medical devices, equipment, and healthcare IT. They do not invest in risky biotech startups attempting to cure cancer (at least not within their traditional PE portfolios). On #2, the government controls healthcare in many countries, but not everything in healthcare – there are still private healthcare firms even in Canada and the U.K. For example, Medicare in Canada does not always cover services like prescription drugs, eye care, and dentistry, so there is room for the private sector. That said, there is far more healthcare PE activity in the U.S. since it has some of the biggest healthcare companies and less government control. Before delving into these nuances, we should take a step back and define the sector: Definitions: What is a Healthcare Private Equity Firm?
- [Capital Markets vs. Investment Banking: Deals, Careers, Recruiting, Exits, and Offer Decisions](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/capital-markets-vs-investment-banking/): Even though we’ve covered industry groups vs. product groups and teams such as M&A, ECM, DCM, and Leveraged Finance, we continue to get questions about capital markets vs. investment banking. The questions usually go like this: Are capital markets teams (ECM, DCM, and LevFin) “real” investment banking? Do you work or get paid less in capital markets? Do you learn anything? What about the exit opportunities? Should you accept a capital markets offer at a larger bank over an M&A or industry group offer at a smaller bank? If you’ve won a capital markets offer, should you delay accepting it so you can target "better" groups? I’ll answer all these here, but let’s start with a quick comparison: Capital Markets vs. Investment Banking: Deals
- [How to Get into Commercial Real Estate: Side Doors, Front Doors, Steppingstones, and Career Paths](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/how-to-get-into-commercial-real-estate/): While people obsess over investment banking and private equity, other sectors within finance, such as commercial real estate (CRE), often go ignored. That’s a shame because “how to get into commercial real estate” is a much easier question than “how to get into investment banking” for many people. There are many pathways into the industry, you don’t need an Ivy League degree or high GPA, you can move between different CRE jobs quite easily, and many roles pay quite well. On the other hand, the industry is highly cyclical, and you could get “pigeonholed” if you stay in real estate for years but then want to move elsewhere. But before presenting a full pro/con list, I want to start with a sector overview and the main pathways in: How to Get into Commercial Real Estate: Which Sector Do You Target?
- [“Dumb Money” Review: A Worthy Addition to the Classic Finance Movie Roster?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/dumb-money-review/): And that is exactly what happened when I watched Dumb Money, the movie about the GameStop short squeeze in 2021, the other day.
- [Venture Capital Interview Questions: What to Expect and How to Prepare](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/venture-capital-interview-questions/): Look around online, and you will quickly discover that most coverage of venture capital interview questions is junk. Most articles are copied/pasted/tweaked text, others appear to be written by ChatGPT, and others repeat generic questions you might get in an interview for a janitorial position. But there is a decent reason for all this: It’s much harder to write an article about VC interview questions since they are far less standardized than IB interview questions or PE interviews. That said, it is still possible to explain the most important topics and give a few preparation tips, so let’s get started: The Biggest Differences with Venture Capital Interview Questions
- [Distressed Debt Hedge Funds: How to Become a Vulture Capitalist](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/distressed-debt-hedge-funds/): Ask anyone interested in distressed debt hedge funds for “the pitch,” and they’ll probably mention one of the following: “It’s like long/short equity or credit, but more interesting!” “Distressed investing offers equity-like returns with lower risk.” “Distressed assets offer non-correlated returns, similar to global macro.” These are nice sales pitches, but the reality is quite different. Distressed debt investing offers advantages over other hedge fund strategies, but the marketing often oversells the benefits. Some people can do very well at dedicated distressed funds, but in most cases, you’d be better off pursuing the strategy at a broader credit or event-driven hedge fund: What Are Distressed Debt Hedge Funds?
- [Private Equity Regulation: 2023 Changes and Impact on Finance Careers](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/private-equity-regulation/): Private equity was viewed as a “lightly regulated” industry for a long time. Only wealthy individuals and institutions could invest, so governments cared less about PE firms than commercial banks and brokerages. But that is changing as of 2023, as the U.S. government has become more aggressive about regulating all “private funds” (private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, etc.) and reviewing M&A deals. If you’re not familiar with these recent developments, I’ll summarize them below and explain how they could impact your career. I don’t think anything the government has proposed will “kill” these industries, but the new regulations will make them less appealing: Private Equity Regulation: What’s Changing? And Why?
- [No Return Offer from an Investment Banking Internship: What to Do](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/no-return-offer/): Almost nothing is worse than recruiting for investment banking internships, winning an offer, preparing, completing the internship, and then not getting a return offer. After putting in all that time and effort, you feel like you’re back at square one. Unfortunately, it’s also quite common: in some years, over 50% of interns fail to get a return offer. And in periods where deal activity is terrible (e.g., 2008 – 2009 or 2022 – 2023), the percentage may be even higher. While it may feel like the end of the world, you are not actually back at square one. But if you want a good outcome, you need a solid plan and honesty about why you didn’t get a return offer. I recommend the following steps, detailed below: Step 1: Figure Out Why You Didn’t Get a Return Offer Step 2: Pick Your Best Next Move Step 3: Network and Prepare for Interviews Step 4: Reevaluate Your Options If Nothing Worked What is a “Return Offer”?
- [Private Equity in China: The Worst of Both Worlds?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/private-equity-in-china/): As with investment banking in Hong Kong, I can summarize private equity in China in one sentence: “If you’re not Chinese, don’t even think about it, and even if you are Chinese, it’s best if you have great connections within the CCP and want to stay in China long-term.” I could stop this article here at ~50 words, but sometimes it’s fun to indulge in a fantasy, so I’ll continue with the topic and cover: Deal types, investment strategies, and top firms. Recruiting and whether you can break in without “donating” your kidney to Xi Jinping. Careers, including the lifestyle, salaries/bonuses/carried interest, exit opportunities, and differences at domestic vs. international firms. Private Equity in China: Deals, Strategies, and Top Firms
- [Public Service Announcement: Please Stop Using ChatGPT for Email](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/chatgpt-for-email/): Normally on this site, I write about a mix of careers, sectors within finance, financial modeling topics, and current events. This week, though, I am posting a public service announcement. Please stop using ChatGPT for email – or learn to use it correctly so you don’t write horrible emails that sink your career. Over the past few months, I’ve seen an uptick in AI-generated messages from students, customers, suppliers, and random people asking me for favors on LinkedIn. In ~99% of cases, I can tell within 1 second that these messages are AI-generated because tools like ChatGPT add useless words and awkward phrases that no human would ever use. The tone is also completely inappropriate and sometimes borders on comical. If you send these emails to bankers in your networking/recruiting efforts, they will notice, and your chances of winning interviews and job offers will decrease. Also, if you send short emails – which you should in any networking effort – these AI tools are pointless because they barely save you time. I will make a few recommendations here, but I’ll start with the fun part and show you some examples of clearly AI-generated messages: ChatGPT for Email: Horrible Examples
- [The Search Fund Internship: Perfect Pathway into Investment Banking and Private Equity Roles?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/search-fund-internship/): A long time ago, hardly anyone knew about search funds or search fund internships. But over the years, they morphed into a well-known topic and then a commonly derided topic – as many people argue that search fund experience is worthless, while others claim it’s “just as good” as working in banking or private equity. As usual, the truth is somewhere in between. A search fund internship is not as “good” as a true IB or PE internship but is far more relevant than many other internships. It’s helpful primarily for early university students, while it’s far less useful for career changers or anyone with significant work experience. Search fund internships are often easier and less competitive to win, and even if you have a bad experience, you can still spin it into sounding relevant. But these internships are often unpaid, you might end up doing menial work, and you must do a fair bit of networking to line them up, so they have significant downsides. Before delving into the details, I want to start by explaining the industry: What is a Search Fund?
- [Long-Only Hedge Funds: A Cozy Career, or a Complete Contradiction?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/long-only-hedge-funds/): When you hear the term “long-only hedge funds,” your first thought might be: “How can a hedge fund hold only long positions? Doesn’t that contradict the term ‘hedge fund’? Why would investors pay high fees for what is effectively a mutual fund?” These are all good questions. The short answer is that there is no “formal” requirement for the strategies a hedge fund must use. A hedge fund is defined by its structure: the split between Limited Partners (LPs) and General Partners (GPs) and the fees paid to each group. Most hedge funds use leverage, short-selling, derivatives, and other strategies to manage their risk, but some non-hedge funds also use them. If you’re interested in long-only hedge funds, you should ask a different set of questions: Do these long-only funds offer any advantages over strategies like long/short equity? And if you are interested in this strategy, should you even target hedge funds, or would a long-only asset management firm be better? I’ll answer both questions here, but I want to start with a few definitions: What is a Long-Only Hedge Fund?
- [The Venture Capital Case Study: What to Expect and How to Survive](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/venture-capital-case-study/): There’s plenty of information online about case studies in finance interviews (IB, PE, etc.), but the venture capital case study remains a bit mysterious. Depending on your source, a VC case study might consist of a “cap table” exercise where you calculate the company’s ownership over many investment rounds and the proceeds to each group upon exit… …but it could also be a qualitative discussion of a market, an evaluation of a specific startup, or even a simple 3-statement model. But if you’re interviewing at an early-stage VC fund (i.e., Seed and Series A investments), the most common type is the “Evaluate a startup and recommend investing or not investing” one. The VC firm might give you a short investment memo or slide deck for the company, ask you to read it, and then say “yes” or “no” based on your analysis and interpretation. We’ll go through a short example for a fictional startup called PitchBookGPT, which comes directly from our new Venture Capital & Growth Equity Modeling course. This is a summary version, but it should be enough to give you some practice: The Video Tutorial and the Files
- [Investment Banking League Tables: Neutral Arbiter of Bank Rankings or Marketing Manipulation?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-league-tables/): If you want to find investment banking league tables, it’s easy: Google the term and add a specific region, industry, or year you’re interested in: “Investment banking league tables us healthcare ” For faster results, use Image Search to scan the results and find relevant-looking tables. Plenty of mainstream sites and services like the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Refinitiv, and Merger Market publish these league tables in different formats each year. This article is not about specific league tables but the motivation behind them and when they’re useful and not so useful. These tables come up in online discussions/arguments about ranking the top investment banks, but people often take them too seriously. League tables have their uses, but you should interpret them as marketing – mixed with some real-world data and support: What Are Investment Banking League Tables?
- [Investment Banking in Dubai: The New York of the Middle East?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-in-dubai/): Investment banking in Dubai stands out for attracting remarkable hype on social media. You’ll find influencers on Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and other sites constantly praising Dubai and claiming it’s the best place to work or start a business. It’s almost like the city has its own PR department and never-ending marketing campaign. If you’re interested in the Middle East or have connections to the region, all this hype has probably made you wonder about finance careers there. Specifically, should you aim for entry-level investment banking roles in Dubai rather than London, New York, or other financial centers? Are the tax benefits, safety, and diversification worth the drawbacks of less deal activity, smaller intern classes, and somewhat “random” work? The short answer is that, like other smaller regions, Dubai is best in very specific cases; the average student would still be better off starting in NY or London. And if you want all the details and some sports analogies to sum up everything, read on: Investment Banking in Dubai: Hub of the Middle East
- [Investment Banking PowerPoint Shortcuts: Your 30-Minute Crash Course](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-powerpoint-shortcuts/): Whenever internships begin, we get a lot of questions about how to “prepare quickly.” A long time ago, most questions were about Excel, financial modeling, and how to find data quickly. Today, they’ve shifted to programming languages, automation tools, and AI (e.g., can InternGPT do everything for you?). I get the obsession with The Shiny New Thing, but if you’re a new hire in banking or another corporate finance role, boring old PowerPoint might be your highest-ROI skill. It doesn’t take that much time to reach a decent proficiency level, and in many groups, you’ll spend more time in PowerPoint than Excel. Since PowerPoint is an important-but-often-overlooked skill, this article will give you a 30-minute crash course on the most important parts: Investment Banking PowerPoint Shortcuts: The Tutorial, the PDF Guide, and More
- [Succession Review: The Best Finance TV Show and One of the Best Shows of All Time](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/succession-review/): Succession just ended a few days ago. When a top TV show ends, it is sad. All our favorite shows will end one day. In this case, it is Succession that has done so. Succession ran for 4 excellent seasons, but no more. Now it is over. And now I am sad. But unlike Connor Roy at Lester’s funeral, I can write a real eulogy via my final review of this show. This is the first time I’ve ever reviewed a book, movie, or TV show multiple times. But it is just that good, and if you haven’t seen it yet, you need to watch it ASAP. It is not only the best finance TV show or movie but also one of the all-time great TV series. I’ll explain both these claims, say whether it stuck the landing (yes), and admit a few weaknesses if you watch it for the “educational value.” This review will be spoiler-free beyond the pilot episode because I hate when people ruin shows for me: Succession Review: The Show Explained
- [Event-Driven Hedge Funds: The Best Home for Bankers Turned Investors?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/event-driven-hedge-funds/): “Event-driven hedge funds” is one of the more confusing labels in finance. Part of the issue is that many different strategies fall within the “event-driven” category: merger arbitrage, activist investing, distressed investing, special situations, and more. But the other problem is that all hedge funds are “event-driven” because they invest based on catalysts, or specific events that could change a security’s price. You could even say that a long-only fund that invests in undervalued companies based on their earnings announcements is “event-driven.” They have their investment thesis and valuation, and the earnings announcement is the event that unlocks value… …but this is not what “event-driven” means in most cases. I’ll do a deep dive into the entire space in this article, including the top funds, example trades, recruiting, exit opportunities, and more. But, as usual, I want to start with the definitions and fund types: What is an “Event-Driven Hedge Fund”?
- [The Complete Guide to Technology Private Equity](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/technology-private-equity/): Ever since the 2008 financial crisis, there has been massive hype about both private equity and technology. Seemingly every MBA student wants to get into one of these industries, and when you combine them, the hype tends to multiply. Over the past few decades, technology private equity has gone from “barely existing” to representing the largest single sector in PE by both deal value and deal count. And just as tech and TMT investment banking have become the most desirable groups on the sell-side, tech private equity has reached a similar status on the buy-side. Some tech specialist firms have delivered an incredible performance, often with annualized returns (IRRs) of 30-40%, while others “followed the herd” and didn’t do quite so well. I’ll cover the top firms, deals, recruiting, and career differences here, but as with any superhero saga, I’ll start with the origin story: Definitions: What is a Technology Private Equity Firm?
- [Investment Banking in Singapore: The Best Gateway to Asia for the Non-Chinese?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-in-singapore/): I’ve found that two main groups care about investment banking in Singapore: Students who are from Southeast Asia and are considering whether they want to work in Singapore, NY, London, or other places. People who want to work in Asia but have no chance of winning an offer in Hong Kong and see Singapore as their “Plan B” option. If you’re in the first group, congrats! You’ll learn about the trade-offs of Singapore and other locations in this article. If you’re in the second group, you might want to think again because Singapore may not be quite the “Plan B” option you think it is. But before I crush your hopes and dreams, I’ll start with an overview of the industry and the top banks: What is Investment Banking in Singapore All About?
- [The Dividend Discount Model (DDM): The Black Sheep of Valuation?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/dividend-discount-model/): When I started offering financial modeling training, I never expected to get questions about a methodology like the Dividend Discount Model (DDM). It’s not a likely interview topic, and it goes against my normal advice to focus on the core concepts, learn them very well, and skip the bells and whistles. But people who aim for investment banking roles are very much into those bells and whistles, so questions about the DDM and other “exotic” methodologies began rolling in. To be fair, in some industries – like commercial banks and insurance within FIG – the DDM is a core valuation methodology. But outside of those, its status is murkier. It can be useful for certain companies, such as power and utility firms and midstream (pipeline) operators in oil & gas… …but it’s also much harder to set up and use than a standard DCF. This tutorial will explain the advantages and disadvantages of the DDM, give you a sample Excel file for a midstream company, and walk you through the steps: The Dividend Discount Model Template, Files, and Tutorial
- [Metals & Mining Investment Banking: The Full Guide to Ground Zero for the Energy Transition](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/metals-mining-investment-banking-group/): Metals & mining investment banking used to be a “sleepy” group. Many people viewed the sector as a short, poorly dressed cousin of oil & gas, but concentrated in places like Canada and Australia. The two industries have a lot in common, but in the current cycle, different forces are driving mining – such as the demand created by renewable energy, electric vehicles (EVs), and the promised “energy transition.” The good news is that if you work in mining IB, and your clients produce the cobalt, copper, or lithium that ends up in EV batteries, you can feel good about saving the world. The bad news is that your clients might also be exploiting underpaid workers and child labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which may slightly offset “saving the world.” But let’s forget about the children temporarily and focus on the verticals, the drivers, deal examples, and the exit opportunities if you escape from the underground mines: What Is Metals & Mining Investment Banking?
- [The Full Guide to Investment Banking Assessment Centers](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-assessment-centers/): Over time, investment banking recruiting has become more impersonal with developments like HireVue interviews, online tests, and recruiters conducting the initial screens. People often complain about how it’s impossible to make a “good first impression” in a pre-recorded video or when speaking to a hapless recruiter. Ironically, though, the most personal part of the recruiting process – the assessment center – also generates many complaints. If you’re about to attend an investment banking assessment center, you can look forward to a fun-filled day of activities, case studies, group exercises, and even more interviews and verbal/math/logical tests. When everything moved online for a few years, people predicted the end of assessment centers, but they adapted and survived – and I think they’ll become even more important in the future: What is an Assessment Center, and When Should You Expect One?
- [Sovereign Wealth Funds: The Full Guide to the Industry, Recruiting, Careers, and Exits](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/sovereign-wealth-funds/): When you ask most people about their "career goals," they sound something like this: Make a lot of money or gain power/prestige. Take little-to-no risk. And work normal, stable hours. If you’ve read this site before, you know this set of goals is impossible for most finance careers: you take a lot of risk, work long/stressful hours, or both. But one possible exception lies in sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), which are similar to funds of funds in some ways. The pitch is that you do a mix of high-level “macro” work and occasional “micro” work, such as direct investments, you may get to live in exotic locations and pay less in taxes, and you work much more normal hours than in other finance jobs. And while the pay ceiling is lower, it’s not that big a difference until you reach the top levels – especially after factoring in the lower taxes. I’ll address all these points here and cover the advantages and disadvantages of SWFs, but let’s start with the definitions and overview: What Are Sovereign Wealth Funds?
- [UBS and Credit Suisse: The Next Shoe to Drop in the Financial Crisis of 2023?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/ubs-and-credit-suisse/): With the number of emergency / news-related articles on this site lately – two in a row! – it’s starting to feel a lot like 2008. Before delving in, though, I want to start with the elephant in the room: I was partially wrong ~5 months ago when I wrote about Credit Suisse, UBS, and Deutsche Bank, and whether they would become Lehman Brothers 2.0. Technically, my assessment in that article was correct: “The short answer is that it’s very unlikely that any of these firms will go bankrupt. But a spin-off, divestiture, restructuring, or another major event is likely.” However, the tone of the article was too optimistic, and I should have recommended looking for “Plan B” options more forcefully. I made the same mistake the regulators did: ignoring shifts in the Credit Suisse deposit and cash base because its regulatory capital ratios looked "fine." So, what happened? Why did UBS just acquire CS for less than $1.00 per share when it was trading above $8.00 a year ago? Is the financial system going bust? And what should you do if you have an internship or full-time offer at CS or UBS? UBS and Credit Suisse: What Happened?
- [The Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank: The Start of Great Financial Crisis 2.0?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/silicon-valley-bank/): If you are currently breathing oxygen, you’ve undoubtedly seen the stories about Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse over the past few days. In 24 hours, it went from “We’re fine, but we took some losses and need additional capital” to “The FDIC is taking over, the government has guaranteed uninsured deposits, and there might be additional bank runs and a financial crisis or three.” It’s the second-biggest bank failure in U.S. history and the largest bank to collapse since 2008. In this “emergency article,” I’ll cover: Exactly what happened, including some points I haven’t seen mentioned elsewhere. Why bank regulations, including those passed after the 2008 financial crisis, failed to prevent this. Who deserves the blame. Whether the “bailout” is really a bailout (yes) and whether it’s justified (debatable). And the impact on the banking industry, venture capital, and startups. How Does a $200 Billion Bank “Fail” in 24 Hours?
- [Commodity Hedge Funds: The Most Lucrative “Hidden Gem” in Finance?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/commodity-hedge-funds/): If you want to work in the most cyclical role in the finance industry, it’s hard to beat commodity hedge funds. But a few related areas, such as commodity desks at banks, commodity trading advisors (CTAs), and physical commodity trading shops could put up a good fight for that "most cyclical" title. Many of the largest hedge funds put commodity trading within their global macro strategies, but plenty of smaller funds, banks, and desks make it a separate category or focus on commodities within their macro strategies. And since it’s both specialized and potentially very lucrative, it’s worth discussing separately: What Are Commodity Hedge Funds, and What is “Commodity Trading”?
- [The Buy-Side vs Sell-Side: Useful Categories in the Finance Industry, or Marketing Hype?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/buy-side-vs-sell-side/): The buy-side vs. sell-side distinction/debate is interesting because it happens on the internet and in real life. With other topics – such as “target schools” or “elite boutiques” – few people use the terms in-person. In fact, it would be quite weird if you spoke one of these terms aloud in an interview. But everyone from headhunters to bankers to interviewers uses the terms “buy-side” and “sell-side,” and most people put themselves in one category or the other. Unfortunately, the ubiquity of these terms has also made them more confusing. The definitions are a bit murky, and they get even murkier the more you dig into them. But before explaining the problems, let’s start with the basic definitions: The Buy-Side vs. Sell-Side Definitions
- [Investment Banking in Australia: Impossible Barriers to Entry, or the Best Place for a Long-Term Finance Career?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-in-australia/): When it comes to investment banking in Australia, it’s easy to find complaints online. These complaints center on a few aspects of the banking industry there: Recruiting – People often claim that it’s much more difficult to win interviews and job offers, that nepotism is widespread, and that there aren’t many “side doors” into finance. Compensation – As with most other regions outside the U.S., you will typically earn less than in New York. Exit Opportunities – Finally, there appear to be fewer traditional exit opportunities than in regions such as the U.S., U.K., and Canada. There is some truth to these complaints, but they also miss the country’s positive aspects, which we’ll cover below. Personally, I’ve spent about a year living/nomading in Australia. When people ask me what it’s like, my answer is always the same: “It’s a mix of the U.S. and the U.K., with some added quirks.” And that description also applies to the investment banking industry there:
- [Is Finance a Good Career Path?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/is-finance-a-good-career-path/): If you want to stimulate the urge to poke out your eyes and jump into a pool of lava, try searching for “Is Finance a Good Career Path?” or asking ChatGPT about it. Most articles present generic details everyone already knows, such as “finance jobs pay higher salaries, on average.” The missing point is that a “good career path” implies something about the industry's prospects over the next 10-20 years. If finance jobs pay a 50-100% premium to normal jobs today, but that falls to 20-30% in 10 years – as your career advances – that’s an important little detail. I’m going to take a broader view than in previous versions of this article and focus on one big question: Finance careers became highly desirable from 1980 through 2020. Will they continue to be as desirable over the next 10-20 years (through 2040)? Definitions: What is “Finance,” and What is a “Good Career”?
- [Will ChatGPT and AI Kill the Investment Banking Industry and Other “Knowledge Worker” Jobs?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/chatgpt-investment-banking/): Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you probably noticed the excitement, hype, and borderline panic when ChatGPT from OpenAI was released in November 2022. If you haven’t yet created an account or tried it, you should – because it is quite impressive. You can ask the tool almost any question, and it will generate text or computer code in response (with some restrictions). The technology behind it is too complex to explain fully here, but it uses supervised/reinforcement learning and all the data on the Internet (as of 2021) to generate text based on statistical probabilities (Wikipedia has a good summary). Some people have predicted that ChatGPT and similar artificial intelligence technologies will destroy all white-collar jobs, others have predicted massive changes but no job destruction, and others are still unconvinced by the technology. This leads us to the possible impact on investment banking and other finance-related roles. I’ve used ChatGPT over the past few weeks as I’ve been working on a macro package for a new version of our PowerPoint course (now available!). I’ve also tested it for industry research and financial model outlines. In some ways, it has been very impressive; but it has also wasted time and led me down rabbit holes. So, I’ll take a “centrist” approach here and explain my findings and predict how it might affect recruiting, the job itself, and even education at all levels: My Take on ChatGPT and Other AI Tools: The Short Version
- [2022 End-of-Year Reader Q&A: Bank and School Rankings, the “New Normal” Environment, Twitter and Other Bad Deals, and Plans for Next Year](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/2022-end-of-year-reader-qa/): We’re at the end of another year, and, in many ways, 2022 was quite disastrous. Just look at the financial markets, the crypto meltdown, deal volume at banks, inflation, energy prices, Russia/Ukraine, supply chains, and the hiring environment in tech and finance. All these factors resulted in one of my worst years in terms of both business performance and portfolio performance… …but I found myself not caring that much. Part of it is that I no longer obsess over the numbers like I used to. But the other factor is that everything outside of work improved as countries re-opened and life approached "normal" once again. I traveled more than I had since 2018, which was a welcome break from staring at screens for 14 hours per day. So, although 2022 looked bad on paper, it was better than 2020 or 2021 in real life. But let’s start with my favorite topic: “ranking” banks, schools, and maybe a TV series or three. Bank, School, Dragon, and TV Rankings
- [Investment Banking Target Schools: Lists by Region and What to Do If You’re Not at One](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-target-schools/): One topic that I’ve never fully explained on this site is the investment banking target school. There are countless references to “target schools” in the articles and interviews, and we assume everyone understands the term. But that’s not always the case, and it gets confusing because target schools differ by region (U.S. vs. Europe vs. Asia) and level (undergraduate vs. Master’s vs. MBA). Also, there are “semi-target” schools sitting in between non-target and target schools, and no one ever explains the precise difference. I will provide a few lists and guidelines here, but I want to take a slightly different angle and explain the “why” and the “what next” parts. In other words, what do you do differently in the recruiting process if you’re not at a target school? And why do banks focus so heavily on a few schools? Will they continue doing this, or will recruiting change in the future? Definitions: What are “Investment Banking Target Schools”?
- [Investment Banking in Hong Kong: The Financial Center of the Future World Order?](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-in-hong-kong/): The first thing to understand about investment banking in Hong Kong is that it’s unlikely you’ll ever be able to work in investment banking in Hong Kong. In the 1990s and 2000s, bankers from other regions could transfer to HK or start their first jobs there without a strong connection to the region or Asian language skills. You could find senior finance professionals who had lived in HK for decades and never bothered to learn Mandarin (or Cantonese). But since HK’s handover to China in 1997 and the ascent of Xi Jinping in China in 2012, things have changed dramatically. Hong Kong is still an important financial center, but banks there now focus almost exclusively on mainland China in terms of deals, clients, and new hires. If you are from China and want to earn a lot, HK is the place to be. But if you don’t fit this profile, you probably want to re-think your plans: Investment Banking in Hong Kong: Top Banks, Industries, and Deals
- [Private Equity Exit Opportunities: How to Check Out of Hotel California](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/private-equity-exit-opportunities/): Your first thoughts reading this article might be, “Wait a minute, why are ‘private equity exit opportunities’ a topic? Who would ever leave this industry? And what could be better?” Good questions. But despite the hype, people do leave private equity all the time, whether it’s voluntary or forced. So, as with every other career, it’s important to understand your exit options. Note that this article refers to exits after full-time roles at the Associate level or beyond. If you’re doing a PE internship or a PE Analyst program, you already know the most likely path: work at a bank and then move back into PE. Why Leave Private Equity?

## Pages
- [Mergers & Inquisitions](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/)
- [Investment Banking Training](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-training/): Breaking Into Wall Street (BIWS) delivers the only interactive financial modeling training platform based on real-life M&A and LBO case studies, specifically designed to mirror live transactions. Reduce training costs and accelerate technical mastery with our self-paced learning, 365-day-per-year expert support, and rigorous certification quizzes. Equip new interns, analysts, and associates with the key Excel, PowerPoint, and modeling competencies and upskill experienced professionals without requiring costly time away from work.
- [Breaking Into Wall Street (BIWS): Overview, Advantages, and Disadvantages](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/breaking-into-wall-street-biws/): Breaking Into Wall Street (BIWS) is the only financial modeling training platform that uses real-life modeling tests and interview case studies to give you an unfair advantage in investment banking and private equity interviews – and a leg up once you win your offer and start working.
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- [Investment Banking Product Groups](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking/product-groups/)
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- [Equity Research](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/equity-research/)
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- [Investment Banking Deliverables](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking/deliverables/)
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- [Recruitment](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/private-equity/recruitment/)
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- [Former Associate Editors and Contributors](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/former-associate-editors/): This page lists bios of M&I's former Associate Editors and Contributors.
- [Recruiting in a Down Market](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/recruiting-down-market/): Sometimes, everything goes according to plan and the economy keeps growing, incomes rise, and productivity goes way up.
- [Mergers & Inquisitions](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/mergers-inquisitions/): Yes, it's the very definition of self-indulgence: a section of the site devoted to... the site.
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- [Discover How To Break Into Investment Banking Or Private Equity, The Easy Way](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/banker-blueprint/): The Banker Blueprint is a proven, step-by-step action plan for landing a high-paying job in investment banking, private equity, or hedge funds.
- [Bank and Insurance Modeling 101](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/bank-insurance-modeling-101/): “Ouch.” That was the thought running through my head a week after I first started teaching myself financial modeling for financial institutions.
- [Cost of Capital – The Web Series](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/cost-of-capital/): //
- [CFA vs. MBA](https://mergersandinquisitions.com/cfa-vs-mba/): Despite repeatedly warning against taking the CFA and even admitting the few cases where it's actually helpful, I still get CFA-related questions all the time.
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## llms-full

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