by meridith dennes | May 30, 2026 | Lateral Recruiting
Investment banking’s summer lateral slowdown has been as dependable as the bonus cycle itself. In 2026 it isn’t arriving on schedule — and an unbroken summer is already changing what shows up in offers. Every recruiter who has spent enough time in... 
by meridith dennes | May 14, 2026 | Interviewing, Lateral Recruiting, Networking
The following reflects current conditions in the investment banking lateral market as observed through active search mandates, candidate conversations, and offer negotiations across bulge bracket, elite boutique, and middle market platforms. This update covers the AS1... 
by meridith dennes | May 5, 2026 | Interviewing, Lateral Recruiting, Summer Internships
Investment banks are having a good run. Revenues are strong, bonuses are up, and deal flow is recovering. Junior bankers’ benefits have been stripped back anyway — and the conditions that might once have forced their return look structurally weaker than before.... 
by meridith dennes | Apr 28, 2026 | Lateral Recruiting
The headlines this winter looked like good news for anyone waiting on a promotion. Goldman Sachs named 638 new managing directors in November — the biggest class since 2021. JPMorgan promoted 227 in its commercial and investment bank in April 2025, the largest CIB... 
by meridith dennes | Apr 24, 2026 | Interviewing, Lateral Recruiting
A VP2 in FIG at a bulge bracket calls me. Forty billion in deal volume on his sheet. Stacked resume. Top school, top group, top bank. He wants to move to generalist M&A at a peer shop. He can’t get a callback. Not from the banks. Not from the headhunters who... 
by meridith dennes | Apr 21, 2026 | Compensation Trends, Interviewing, Lateral Recruiting
Every year, M&A bankers at every level — analysts, associates, VPs, Directors, MDs — find out their number, see it is smaller than they expected, and spend the next forty-eight hours refreshing the anonymous banking forums, texting a peer at a competitor for...