For investment banking professionals exploring a lateral move, one of the biggest mistakes we see in the market is applying directly to every interesting opening that appears online. It may seem like the obvious approach: it’s 3 a.m., you’re miserable, and you’re...
2026’s record M&A totals are coming from a few dozen giant deals. The middle market runs on a different engine: sponsor-backed processes with repeat professional buyers, lenders and add-ons. Deal counts there are down, deal sizes are shrinking and fees per...
For most of the past decade, leaving banking was treated less as a decision than as a milestone. Most bankers exited after two years for private equity, growth equity, private credit, hedge funds, corporate development or other roles on the buy side. The appeal was...
The short answer Banks are still shrinking headcount, but mostly through performance-based cuts and other quiet tools, not classic reductions in force (RIFs). The two are different decisions. A RIF eliminates positions. A performance-based cut removes a person, and...
As predicted: this cycle’s summer analyst return-offer conversion is looking uneven. Wall Street Oasis threads describe some banks reportedly landing well below 70% — down from what’s typically a 70-90% range — and the explanation candidates say...
Rogo raised its latest round at a valuation that pushed the company past $2 billion. The pitch, repeated across every piece of coverage, was simple: banks run leaner. Fewer juniors needed. The model-building, comp-pulling, deck-formatting grunt work that used to...
