How intellectually demanding are IBanking jobs?

valueinvesting
Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:12:05 +0000

As awped said, IB is demanding in its own way but it is far from an intellectual job. I would argue that, at the junior level, investment banking is about as anti-intellectual as you can get. There is nothing innovative or shatteringly philosophical about spreading comps for a pitch. Bankers are monkeys - nothing more, nothing less.

However, I see trading and investing as a much more cerebral type of work. Trading is all about developing a view on the market and expressing that view to gain alpha. Investing is about having the vision and ingenuity to find and unlock value.