Investment Banking Analyst jobs: skills, pay and how to get hired
Contents
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What an investment banking analyst does
An investment banking analyst is the first step in a deal team that advises companies, owners and investors on selling, buying or merging businesses and on raising money through shares or bonds. The analyst builds the financial models and valuations, researches the company and its market, prepares the pitch books and the documents for buyers, runs the data room and checks every number before it leaves the team.
The role differs from its neighbours. A financial analyst analyses one company's own figures from the inside; the FP&A manager plans them ahead; the investor relations manager explains a listed company to the market, often in the same deals from the other side. M&A stands for mergers and acquisitions. The steps from analyst through associate, vice president and director to managing director are in the career paths of this role.
The licences and supervisors differ by country, and each country's section names its own: FINRA registration with the SIE and Series 79 exams in the US, firms authorised by the FCA in the UK, BaFin in Germany, FINMA in Switzerland, SEBI and NISM in India. This page describes the work; it is not legal advice and promises no pay.
The hours are long. Deals run to deadlines set by clients and buyers, and analysts often work late evenings and some weekends while a deal is live, with quieter weeks between. Some banks have rules on protected time off; ask the team how it works in practice before you accept.
The skills the ads ask for
We read a sample of the ads every day and count the skills they name. On a computer, hover a skill in the text to see its share; on a phone, the table has the same figures.
| Skill | What is expected |
|---|---|
| Valuation | Value a company with cash flows, trading peers and past deals, and explain why the methods differ. |
| Financial Modelling | Build and check three-statement, merger and buyout models quickly, with clear inputs and no hard-coded numbers. |
| Mergers and Acquisitions | Know how a sale, a purchase or a merger runs, from the first pitch to signing and closing. |
| Excel | Fast, checked spreadsheets: models, tables and charts that a senior banker can follow at a glance. |
| Presentation skills | Turn a model into a few pages a client's board can read, with the key figure on each. |
| Capital Markets | Know how companies raise equity and debt, and what investors look for in each. |
| Financial Reporting | Read annual reports and accounts closely, and adjust figures for one-off items. |
| Market Data Platforms | Pull prices, peers, deals and estimates from a market data platform and check them. |
| Data Analysis | Sort large sets of company, market and deal data into the few facts that matter. |
| Communication skills | Write short, exact emails and notes, and say clearly when a number is still open. |
The core leads: valuationValue a company with cash flows, trading peers and past deals, and explain why the methods differ. with discounted cash flows, trading peers and past deals, financial modellingBuild and check three-statement, merger and buyout models quickly, with clear inputs and no hard-coded numbers. from three-statement to merger and buyout models, and M&AKnow how a sale, a purchase or a merger runs, from the first pitch to signing and closing. process knowledge. Reading accountsRead annual reports and accounts closely, and adjust figures for one-off items. closely and capital marketsKnow how companies raise equity and debt, and what investors look for in each. knowledge for share and bond issues come next.
The tools are named side by side and none is a must everywhere: ExcelFast, checked spreadsheets: models, tables and charts that a senior banker can follow at a glance. and PowerPointBuild pitch books and presentations to the bank's standard, page after page, without errors. fill most days, and market data platformsPull prices, peers, deals and estimates from a market data platform and check them. such as FactSet, S&P Capital IQ, Bloomberg or Dealogic supply prices, peers and past deals. PresentationTurn a model into a few pages a client's board can read, with the key figure on each. to the bank's standard, data analysisSort large sets of company, market and deal data into the few facts that matter. and short, exact writingWrite short, exact emails and notes, and say clearly when a number is still open. are in most ads, with EnglishThe working language of most deals, documents and banks. nearly everywhere and GermanAsked for in most German ads, for clients, documents and teams in German-speaking countries. in German-speaking countries.
Where the jobs are, country by country
Each country below has its own figures: which cities have the most jobs in our list, whether the number is going up or down, how often ads offer remote or hybrid work, the titles used in the country, and pay ranges from published research, in the local currency.
Germany
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: €64,000 to €75,398 a year
- Mid-level: €75,398 to €84,668 a year
- Senior: €89,946 to €109,357 a year
Total pay: Payscale gives investment banking analysts in Germany bonuses of up to about €25,000 a year; a bonus is never certain.
Entry level runs from Payscale's lower quarter for analysts to its average; mid-level from there to Gehalt.de's figure for investment bankers with under three years of experience. The senior range is an estimate for associates, from Gehalt.de's figure for three to six years to its middle figure for all investment bankers. Payscale's German page rests on few salaries, and Gehalt.de gives estimates.
Sources: Payscale: investment banking analyst (Sep 2026), Gehalt.de: Investmentbanker/-in (2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Titles and rules: German ads say Investment Banking Analyst, M&A Analyst or Analyst Corporate Finance, and many come from the M&A teams of advisory firms and banks in Frankfurt and other financial centres. Banks are supervised by BaFin, the German financial supervisor, together with the European Central Bank for the largest; an analyst needs no personal licence.
Language: German ads mostly ask for GermanAsked for in most German ads, for clients, documents and teams in German-speaking countries., and nearly all for EnglishThe working language of most deals, documents and banks., the language of most deal documents.
United States
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: $61,000 to $82,412 a year
- Mid-level: $82,412 to $135,589 a year
- Senior: $102,188 to $177,000 a year
Total pay: Payscale gives investment banking analysts bonuses of about $5,000 to $29,000 a year and associates about $2,000 to $44,000; a bonus depends on the bank's year, the team and the person's review, and none is certain.
Entry level runs from the lower tenth of Payscale's analyst range to its average; mid-level from that average to Indeed's average for analyst ads, which sits well above Payscale's; senior, for associates, from Payscale's associate average to the upper tenth of that range.
Sources: Payscale: investment banking analyst (Sep 2026), Payscale: investment banking associate (May 2026), Indeed (Oct 2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
How the work is offered: US ads mostly offer full-time employment, often as a two-year analyst programme for graduates. Analysts at broker-dealers usually register with FINRA, the US industry regulator: the SIE exam covers the basics, and the Series 79 exam is the licence for investment banking work, taken with the firm's sponsorship, often with the Series 63 for state law.
United Kingdom
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: £34,126 to £39,037 a year
- Mid-level: £39,037 to £61,479 a year
- Senior: £61,479 to £82,000 a year
Total pay: Payscale gives UK investment banking associates bonuses of about £1,000 to £15,000 a year; a bonus is never certain.
Entry level runs from the low end of Indeed's range for analyst ads to Payscale's analyst average; mid-level from there to Indeed's average; senior from Indeed's average to the upper tenth of Payscale's associate range. Payscale's UK pages rest on few salaries from 2025, and its associate average sits below Indeed's analyst average, so the UK figures are a rough guide.
Sources: Indeed (Oct 2026), Payscale: investment banking analyst (Mar 2025), Payscale: investment banking associate (Mar 2025).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Rules: UK banks and advisory firms are authorised by the FCA, the UK financial regulator. Under its Senior Managers and Certification Regime, firms certify staff in some roles each year and senior managers need the FCA's approval; most UK analysts need no approval of their own.
Switzerland
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: CHF 79,000 to CHF 100,000 a year
- Mid-level: CHF 91,171 to CHF 130,000 a year
- Senior: CHF 100,000 to CHF 146,572 a year
Total pay: Payscale gives Swiss investment banking analysts a total of about CHF 79,000 to 135,000 a year with any bonus; Lohncheck gives no bonus figure.
Entry level runs from Payscale's lower quarter for analysts to its middle figure; mid-level from the lower end of the middle half Lohncheck gives for investment bankers to Payscale's upper quarter; senior from Payscale's middle figure to the upper end of Lohncheck's middle half. Payscale's Swiss page is thin: it dates from 2024 and gives no count of salaries; and Lohncheck covers investment bankers of every level, so there is no Swiss source for associates alone.
Sources: Payscale: investment banking analyst (Mar 2024), Lohncheck: Investment Banker (Q1 2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Rules: Swiss banks and securities firms are supervised by FINMA, the Swiss financial market supervisor; an analyst needs no personal licence. Many Swiss roles ask for German or French next to EnglishThe working language of most deals, documents and banks..
India
Pay (Base salary)
- Entry level: ₹4.05 lakh to ₹8.5 lakh a year
- Mid-level: ₹8.5 lakh to ₹14.35 lakh a year
- Senior: ₹14.35 lakh to ₹21.63 lakh a year
Total pay: Payscale gives investment banking analysts in India bonuses of about ₹30,000 to ₹5 lakh a year; a bonus is never certain.
Entry level runs from the lower tenth of Payscale's analyst range to its average; mid-level from there to Indeed's average for analyst ads; senior from that average to the top of Indeed's range, because Payscale's Indian figure for associates sits below its analyst figure. Both pages rest on few salaries.
Sources: Payscale (Jul 2026), Indeed (Aug 2026).
Pay researched on 29 Oct 2026.
Rules: in India, firms that manage share issues must be registered with SEBI as merchant bankers, and NISM, the National Institute of Securities Markets, offers a merchant banking certificate that some Indian employers ask for. Many analyst roles in India also support teams abroad.
A sale process, step by step
- Pitch: the team pitches to a company or its owners, with a first valuation and a list of possible buyers; the analyst builds both.
- Preparation: once hired, the team writes the information memorandum about the business and builds the model buyers will test.
- Marketing: buyers get a short teaser, sign a confidentiality agreement and receive the memorandum; the analyst tracks every contact.
- Due diligence: the shortlisted buyers study the data room, ask questions and meet management; the analyst runs the data room and the question lists.
- Signing: offers are compared, the price and terms agreed, and the deal signed and later closed.
Around the sales come buy-side mandates, mergers, share issues and debt raises, each with its own steps. A good analyst is trusted for numbers that tie out, pages without errors and deadlines met without being chased.
Your CV for an investment banking analyst job
An investment banking analyst's CV is read by hiring software that matches the ad's words, and then by bankers who read many CVs quickly and look for deals, models, internships and exactness. Give both: the keywords and the evidence, on one page if you can.
Use the keywords the ads use
- Name the work as the ad does: "valuation", "DCF", "financial modelling", "M&A", "pitch books", "due diligence", and the platforms you used. The skills table above shows which keywords the ads use most.
- Say which deals you worked on in words that keep them confidential, such as "the sale of a mid-sized industrial company", and your part in each.
- Show results the way banks judge them: deals closed, models built, pitches won, internships converted into offers.
- Name a licence or exam in progress, such as the Series 79 in the US or a CFA level, as in progress with the month you expect it.
Prove each skill
A deal line proves itself with the deal type, your part and the outcome, never the client's name.
| Skill | Weak line | Strong line, with proof |
|---|---|---|
| ValuationValue a company with cash flows, trading peers and past deals, and explain why the methods differ. | Did valuations. | Built the cash flow, trading peers and past deals valuation for the sale of a software company; the agreed price sat inside the range. |
| ModelBuild and check three-statement, merger and buyout models quickly, with clear inputs and no hard-coded numbers. | Built financial models. | Built the buyout model a private equity buyer tested in due diligence; it needed no change to its structure. |
| Sale processKnow how a sale, a purchase or a merger runs, from the first pitch to signing and closing. | Worked on M&A deals. | Ran the buyer tracking and question lists for a sale with twelve bidders through to signing. |
| Pitch bookBuild pitch books and presentations to the bank's standard, page after page, without errors. | Made presentations. | Prepared pitch books for three mandates in the industrial sector; two of them were won. |
| ResearchPull prices, peers, deals and estimates from a market data platform and check them. | Did market research. | Built the peer and past-deal databases the team reused across a year of pitches. |
Never name a client or a deal that is not public, and give no figures the client has not published.
How we read our data
- The jobs: the investment banking analyst jobs in our job search (investment banking analysts and associates, M&A analysts, corporate finance analysts, and the German titles Investment Banking Analyst, M&A Analyst and Analyst Corporate Finance), matched by their titles the way the search matches them; financial analyst jobs are counted on their own page. Our list is not the whole market, so we give shares and rankings, never counts.
- The skills: every day we read a sample of these ads and count the skills in them with a fixed word list. Only the counts are kept, never the text of an ad.
- Pay: from published salary research, each source named with its date, as a range from entry level to senior. Our ads are not used for it.
- Dates: every figure is worked out again each day and shows the day it was worked out.
Frequently asked questions
- What does an investment banking analyst do?
- Builds the models, valuations and documents behind mergers, acquisitions and capital raises, researches companies and markets, and checks every number before it goes out.
- How long are the hours?
- Long, especially on live deals, with late evenings and some weekends; they vary by bank, team and deal. Ask the team in the interview.
- Do I need a licence?
- It depends on the country. In the US analysts usually take FINRA's SIE and Series 79 after joining; in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and India most analysts need no personal licence.
- Is the bonus part of the pay?
- Often there is one, but it is never certain; it depends on the bank's year, the team and the person.
- What should an investment banking analyst's CV show first?
- Deals, models and internships, with your part in each, on a clean, exact page.
More on the investment banking analyst role
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