An investment banking analyst is the person who builds the financial models, writes the pitch decks, and runs the numbers that senior bankers use to sell deals to clients.

The role sits at the entry level of an investment bank, usually filled by someone with a bachelor's degree in finance, economics, accounting, or sometimes engineering or math. You are not meeting with clients or closing deals—that is the managing director's job. You are the person who makes those meetings possible by doing the analytical and document work that happens behind the scenes.

The work is technical, repetitive, and important date-driven. You will spend most of your time in Excel building financial models, in PowerPoint creating presentation slides, and in meetings with more senior bankers who ask you to change both. The hours are long, especially when a deal is moving toward closing. The pay is higher than most entry-level jobs, but the trade-off is that your schedule is not your own.

Key Takeaways

  • An investment banking analyst builds financial models in Excel and creates pitch decks in PowerPoint that senior bankers use to pitch deals to clients.
  • The role is entry-level, typically requiring a bachelor's degree, and usually lasts two to three years before analysts move to associate positions or leave banking.
  • Most of your time is spent on technical work—modeling merger scenarios, calculating valuations, and formatting presentations—not on client interaction.
  • The job demands long, unpredictable hours during deal cycles, with compensation that includes a base salary plus a bonus that varies widely depending on deal flow and firm performance.

Building financial models in Excel

A financial model is a spreadsheet that projects what a company's finances will look like under different scenarios. As an analyst, you build these models from scratch or modify existing templates. You pull historical financial data from the company's SEC filings or from a data service like FactSet or Bloomberg. You then project revenue, expenses, and cash flow forward three to five years based on assumptions you make or that a senior banker gives you.

The model calculates what the company might be worth under different conditions—if revenue grows at 5 percent per year versus 10 percent, for example. You also model what happens if the bank's client acquires another company, or if the company is acquired itself. These scenarios show the client what the deal is worth and what the financial impact will be.

This work is precise and repetitive. A single model might have dozens of sheets, hundreds of formulas, and thousands of data points. If a banker asks you to change one assumption—say, pushing the growth rate down from 10 percent to 8 percent—the entire model recalculates. You then check that all the formulas still work and that the output makes sense. A model that takes two days to build might take four hours to modify once it exists.

Creating and revising pitch decks

A pitch deck is a PowerPoint presentation that a banker shows to a client to convince them to hire the bank for a deal. As an analyst, you create these decks slide by slide. You pull data from your financial models, add charts and graphs, write explanatory text, and format everything so it looks professional and consistent.

A typical pitch deck for a merger might have 40 to 80 slides. The first slides introduce the bank and the team. The middle slides lay out the client's situation, the strategic rationale for the deal, and comparable transactions the bank has done before. The final slides show financial projections, valuation, and the bank's fees. Every number, every chart, and every statement has to be accurate and defensible.

Bankers revise pitch decks constantly. A managing director might ask you to change the color scheme, move a chart to a different slide, add a new comparison, or recalculate a valuation based on updated assumptions. You might revise the same deck five or ten times before it goes to the client. The work is not intellectually difficult, but it is detail-oriented and time-consuming.

Running valuation and deal analysis

Valuation is the process of determining what a company is worth. As an analyst, you calculate valuations using several methods: discounted cash flow (DCF), comparable company analysis, and precedent transactions. Each method produces a range of possible values, and together they give the banker a sense of what price to recommend to the client.

In a DCF analysis, you take the cash flows you projected in your financial model and discount them back to today's dollars using a discount rate. The discount rate reflects the risk of the business and the cost of capital. A stable utility company might have a 6 percent discount rate; a startup might have 15 percent. The lower the discount rate, the higher the valuation.

In comparable company analysis, you find publicly traded companies similar to the one being valued, look at what multiple of revenue or earnings the market is paying for them, and explore that multiple to your client's company. If similar companies trade at 12 times earnings and your client earns $10 million, the valuation is $120 million. In precedent transactions, you look at what similar companies sold for in the past and use those prices as a benchmark.

These analyses are not one-time calculations. As deal terms change, as new information comes in, or as market conditions shift, you recalculate. A deal that looked attractive at a 10 times multiple might look risky at 12 times. Your job is to show the banker what the numbers say under each scenario.

Supporting due diligence and deal closing

Due diligence is the process of investigating a company before a deal closes. As an analyst, you help organize and analyze the information that comes in. You might create a data room—a find online folder where the seller uploads financial statements, contracts, customer lists, and other documents. You organize these by category and make sure they are straightforward for the buyer's team to find.

You also prepare summaries and analyses of what the documents show. If the seller provides three years of tax returns, you might create a summary showing revenue, expenses, and profitability trends. If there are customer contracts, you might list the top customers, contract terms, and renewal dates. These summaries help the senior bankers and the client's management team understand the business quickly.

As the deal moves toward closing, you help coordinate between the buyer, the seller, and the lawyers. You track which documents have been signed, which conditions have been met, and what still needs to happen. You are not making decisions, but you are making sure nothing falls through the cracks.

The daily schedule and work environment

An analyst's schedule depends on deal flow. When the bank is busy—when multiple deals are in progress or pitches are going out—you work long hours. A typical busy week might be 70 to 90 hours. You might arrive at 8 a.m., work until 10 p.m., then come back at 7 a.m. the next day. Weekends are not may provide off. When a deal is closing, you might work through the night.

When the bank is slow—when there are few active deals—the hours are more reasonable. You might work 50 to 60 hours a week. You have time to clean up old models, learn new tools, or take on smaller projects. But slow periods are unpredictable. A deal can land on a Friday afternoon and change your schedule for the next month.

Most of your time is spent at your desk in Excel or PowerPoint, or in meetings with senior bankers. You attend deal team meetings where the managing director and vice presidents discuss strategy and next steps. You sit in on client calls, though usually you are listening and taking notes, not speaking. You might travel to meet clients, but this is less common for analysts than for more senior bankers.

Compensation and career progression

An analyst's base salary varies by firm and location. At large investment banks in New York, the base salary for an analyst is typically between $80,000 and $100,000. At smaller regional banks, it might be $50,000 to $70,000. The bonus is where the real money is. In a good year, a bonus might be 50 to 100 percent of base salary. In a bad year, it might be 10 to 20 percent or nothing at all. The bonus depends on the bank's profitability, the deal team's performance, and your individual performance.

Most analysts stay in the role for two to three years. Some move up to associate positions within the same bank, where they take on more responsibility and higher pay. Others leave banking entirely for jobs in private equity, hedge funds, corporate finance, or other industries. The analyst role is often seen as a training ground—a way to learn how deals work and build a network—rather than a permanent career.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do investment banking analysts work with clients directly?

Rarely. You might sit in on client calls or attend a pitch meeting, but you are not the primary contact. Senior bankers—vice presidents and managing directors—own the client relationship. Your job is to support them by providing the analysis and materials they need.

What skills do you need to be good at this job?

Excel proficiency is essential. You need to build models quickly and accurately, and catch errors before they reach a senior banker. PowerPoint skills matter too—you need to communicate complex information clearly in slides. Attention to detail is critical; a single wrong number in a model or a typo in a deck can damage the bank's credibility. Finally, you need to work well under pressure and handle ambiguous instructions from busy senior bankers.

Is this job a good stepping stone to other finance careers?

Yes. The technical skills you learn—financial modeling, valuation, deal mechanics—are valuable in private equity, hedge funds, corporate development, and other finance roles. The network you build and the deals you work on also give you credibility when you move to your next job. Many analysts use the role as a two-year training program before moving on.

What is the difference between an analyst and an associate?

An associate is typically someone with an MBA or two to three years of analyst experience. Associates take on more responsibility—they might lead a deal team, manage junior analysts, and have more client contact. They also earn significantly more. The path from analyst to associate is not automatic; you have to perform well and the bank has to have openings.

Can you have a life outside of work as an investment banking analyst?

During busy deal cycles, no. During slow periods, yes. The job is not compatible with a predictable schedule or a commitment that requires you to be somewhere at a specific time every week. Many analysts accept this as a temporary trade-off for the pay, the experience, and the career options it opens up.