What is Analyst Investment Banking Training Like?

Who is there?
Many banks have stretched the net of who's included to global or nearly global. Having the Americas and APAC train in NYC and EMEA train in London is common but some bring everyone to the NYC headquarters. Analysts coming from APAC may have already worked several months because the school cycle is so different.

After spending some time with the analyst class there are some definite trends that become obvious. It is very rare to have analysts going to NYC who have not summered with the bank before, or at least with an IB of similar caliber. Most of the Ivy League school students end up going to NYC, which although geographically makes sense, is still interesting because many of these students exit with liberal art degrees. Many of the regional analysts would have summered before with the firm but that is not as strong a rule, most of these analysts come out of the less recruited schools, and many of them have econ or business backgrounds.

What is it like?
Training is generally a rehash of your average 4 year commerce program with a focus on applied skills (very little theory is taught), and familiarization of the tools needed to do the job. The NYC analysts may not be placed in their coverage groups yet, and so they are still networking for the job. Most of the regional analysts will have group placement and so training for them is less focused on performance, and more focused on getting the needed skills and having a good time in NYC and London.  Most firms in NYC will use one of two providers, wall street prep or AMT. The classes are very involved, you are constantly doing excel questions and creating output, which makes what is for many review a much less painful than it could be. The hours per day average between 8 and 12, with one or two all nighter's through the month.

Bottom Line
Analysts should take two things out of training: a network, and tool skills, in that order. Coverage groups will all treat projects fairly uniquely, so the modeling, valuation, and accounting fundamentals you have out of any business program are more than enough. You will however never have the chance to see the whole analyst class at the same time again, and you may need them in the future. Calling for information between groups happens and a friend is much more likely to carve out 15 minutes for your needs. Also when the analyst class looks to move on from the firm, the IB analyst pool can have great benefits when looking for exit ops.

After 4-6 weeks school is out, and the work begins. Enjoy your evenings while you have them!