When Philip Augar got his first job in the City of London, it was 1978. He’d just graduated (admittedly from Cambridge) and was wondering about becoming an academic historian – except there were no opportunities; or maybe a teacher – except there were better candidates than he; so he settled on the City. Despite knowing nothing about finance and attending […]

It’s possible that people have got banking careers all wrong. That instead of being about getting trained at a prestigious and highly-remunerative name whilst earning CV points, they’re actually about meeting people. – Meeting people and getting the sort of pedigree that will later allow you to borrow huge sums of money from them and the institution. This has been […]

If you’re a student or junior banker who’s trying to make it on Wall Street, you need a mentor. Believe me: in my 17 years on Wall Street, I’ve come to truly appreciate what a powerful tool a mentor can be. A less experienced banker stands to gain a lot from absorbing the wisdom of a Wall Street veteran. I […]

If you’re inspired by “vest and rest” millionaires – 30-something tech entrepreneurs who have sold their firm to Facebook or Google and are creaming the profits working six-hour days – there is another option for big bucks that allows you to stick closer to banking: bitcoin. The crypto-currency is much-hyped, but take a little inspiration from Jeremy Gardner, a 25-year-old bitcoin millionaire splitting […]

It’s been a while since Jan Sramek worked at Goldman Sachs. Six years ago, the then 24-year-old trading prodigy, exam genius and youngest ever ‘rising star’ left Goldman Sachs, and quit banking altogether to go it alone. More recently, however, Sramek is between projects. After five years as co-founder and CEO of two start-ups in San Francisco, Sramek briefly joined […]

I’ve done my time in banking. I’ve worked in this industry nearly 20 years and I’m ready for a change. I’d say I’m pretty employable: I’ve run whole markets businesses. I know how to extract costs and how to implement a strategy that works. I’m a good catch for a hedge fund or a fund manager looking for someone to […]

When James Trant told friends he was joining at Goldman Sachs, they were apprehensive on his behalf. The expectation was that Goldman would be, “brutal”, said Trant last month. In fact, Trant told us he’s found life at GS to be, “open” and “down to earth,” and not at all like the preconceptions of his peers. Trant’s just one analyst at […]

When you think of PwC, you might have in mind a Big Four accounting firm. Maybe you think of a consulting firm too? This, however, is not how PwC and its employees would have it: they define the firm they work for in terms of its purpose. And PWC’s purpose is not to monitor companies’ balance sheets and tot-up their bottom lines. […]

Private equity firms have their pick of investment banks’ junior staff in the City, and only want the very best. Right now, this means J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs, and in the past few weeks there’s been an exodus to the buy-side. Analysts and associates with J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs’ M&A, leveraged finance and other front office functions have […]

Private equity firms, direct lending and distressed debt funds have been raiding the junior ranks of investment banks, despite banks’ recent efforts to keep hold of analysts and associates. Juniors at most investment banks now get their annual bonus payments along with everyone else in the first quarter – as opposed to being paid in the summer. Despite bonuses for […]