Is there advancement opportunities in the investment banking field?

The often-cited statistic is that 10% of investment banking analysts move on to become associates.

But that’s misleading because it doesn’t indicate a 10% “admission rate” – the majority of analysts don’t want to be promoted.

The top analysts usually leave for the top PE firms and hedge funds, and everyone else is too burned out after 2 years of 100-hour weeks to want to stay in banking.

But banks that desperately need to hire would much prefer a seasoned analyst to a freshly minted MBA – knowing how everything works saves months of time and piles of money.

So the option is there if you want it – but most analysts don’t, which is why you hear that it’s very difficult to advance.