Day in the Life of an Investment Banking Analyst
A realistic day in the life of an investment banking analyst: the hours, the actual tasks (models, decks, admin), and how busy and slow weeks differ.
Apr 30, 2026 · 6 min read
A typical day in the life of an investment banking analyst runs from a mid-morning start to a 1am or 2am finish, built around three things: financial models, pitch decks, and admin. Most analysts work 60 to 80 hours a week, with occasional spikes toward 100 when several live deals overlap. A real first-year schedule documented by Wall Street Prep had the analyst in at 9:30am and leaving at 2am, a 16.5-hour day spent on a pitch book, a merger model, a VP and MD call, and a late round of comments. The hours aren't constant. They swing hard with deal activity, and the late nights are usually about turning comments before a client deadline, not steady output.
TL;DR
- Analysts work 60 to 80 hours a week, spiking toward 100 only when live deals overlap (Career Principles).
- A documented Wall Street Prep day ran 9:30am to 2am, about 16.5 hours.
- Three core tasks: financial models, pitch decks, and admin (data room, buyer tracking).
- Goldman's leaked 2021 survey showed first-years averaging 98 hours and 5 hours of sleep.
- Hours fall with seniority: associates 55 to 80, VPs 55 to 70, MDs 50 to 60.
What does an investment banking analyst actually do all day?
An investment banking analyst is the production engine of a deal team, doing most of the hands-on Excel and PowerPoint work. The job splits into three buckets: building and updating financial models, assembling pitch books and client presentations, and administrative tasks like managing the data room, tracking buyers and sellers, and organizing deal documents. Wall Street Prep frames the analyst role around exactly these tasks.
The work is reactive. An analyst rarely controls the day's shape because it's driven by what the deal needs and what the client asks for. A quiet morning can turn into a 2am night the moment a round of comments lands. That unpredictability is the defining feature of the role, more than any single task. The table below shows where a real documented day went.
| Time | Task |
|---|---|
| 9:30am | Arrive, check email and voicemail |
| 10:00 to 11:25am | Build client pitch book |
| 12:00 to 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 1:45 to 3:45pm | Financial modeling and analysis |
| 4:00 to 5:00pm | Call with VP and MD |
| 7:00pm | Team dinner ordered in |
| 8:00pm to 2:00am | Merger model, comments, gym break |
What are the real hours like?
The honest baseline is 60 to 80 hours a week, with the 100-hour week more myth than norm. Career Principles notes that hitting 100 hours is "quite uncommon" and tends to happen only once a month or so, when an analyst is on multiple live deals at once or a poorly coordinated international process. For an 80-hour week, that roughly means going to bed around 2am and waking around 9am, about 7 hours of sleep.
The extreme end is real but exceptional. Goldman Sachs' leaked 2021 first-year analyst survey reported an average of 98 hours a week, a 3am average bedtime, and 5 hours of sleep a night, which is why it made headlines. Treat that as the bad-stretch ceiling, not the everyday. Bulge brackets like Goldman, JPMorgan, and Bank of America cluster around the 60-to-80 standard, while a few shops run harder. If the hours are the part you're weighing, our investment banking career path guide shows how they ease as you climb.
How do busy weeks differ from slow weeks?
The single biggest driver of an analyst's hours is whether a deal is live and how many comment rounds are in flight. On a slow week with no active deal, an analyst might leave at a reasonable hour and even get a weekend day back. On a busy week, comment rounds arrive late in the day, and each one means revising pages, re-running numbers, and sending a fresh draft before the next deadline.
Live deals create the last-minute, unpredictable adjustments that push nights long, because clients want service when they want it. The work itself doesn't change much (it's still models, decks, and checking) but the volume and the deadline pressure compress. This is why two analysts at the same bank can have wildly different weeks: staffing on a hot deal is the variable. The grind is also the price of the optionality the role buys, which is part of why investment banking attracts so many candidates despite the hours.
How does the analyst day change over the two-year program?
The schedule gets more manageable with reps, even though the headline hours don't drop much. A first-year spends more time fighting the tools, debugging model errors, fixing formatting, and re-learning the deck templates. By the second year, the same tasks take less time, so the same workload feels lighter and the erratic schedule becomes easier to navigate.
The real relief comes with the next title, not the next year. Wall Street Prep's hours fall from 65 to 80 for associates, to 55 to 70 for VPs, to 50 to 60 for managing directors. The analyst stays at the production end the entire two years. Most analysts don't wait for the hours to improve, they recruit for private equity or other exits during the program, which is why the buy-side recruiting timeline starts so early.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours does an investment banking analyst work?
Typically 60 to 80 hours a week, per Career Principles, with occasional spikes toward 100 when multiple live deals overlap (roughly once a month). Goldman's leaked 2021 survey put first-years at an average of 98 hours during an especially intense stretch, but that's the exception, not the routine.
What time do investment banking analysts go home?
It depends entirely on deal flow. A documented Wall Street Prep day had the analyst leaving at 2am after a 9:30am start. On a slow week with no live deal, an analyst might leave by early evening. Late nights are usually driven by comment rounds landing before a client deadline.
What tasks do investment banking analysts do?
Three main things: building and updating financial models (including merger models and sensitivity analysis), assembling pitch books and client presentations, and administrative work like managing the data room and tracking buyers and sellers. Analysts also check models for bugs, mistakes, and formatting before anything goes out.
Do investment banking analysts work weekends?
Often, yes, especially on live deals. Weekend work is common when a process is active and comments need turning before a Monday deadline. Some banks have introduced protected Saturday hours to give analysts part of the weekend back, but coverage still depends on whether a deal is hot.
Is being an investment banking analyst worth it?
For most people who do it, the value is the exit optionality, not the lifestyle. The hours are demanding and the work is reactive, but the two-year program opens doors to private equity, hedge funds, and corporate development. Whether it's worth it depends on whether you want those exits enough to trade two years of long nights.
What is the hardest part of the analyst job?
The unpredictability more than the raw hours. Analysts rarely control their own schedule because last-minute client requests and comment rounds can blow up an evening with no warning. Plans get cancelled, and a quiet day can flip to a 2am night instantly. Learning to live with that lack of control is the real adjustment.
Sources
- Wall Street Prep: Day in the Life of an Investment Banking Analyst (checked June 2026)
- Career Principles: Investment Banking Hours (checked June 2026)
- Wall Street Oasis: Investment Banking Hours (checked June 2026)