The IB List
Live indexThe best investment banking analyst programs, ranked.
Analyst recruiting runs up to a year ahead of the start date, and the windows close in weeks. This is the living index of the banks worth your application — posted first-year pay, real superday loops, and when each summer analyst and full-time window opens, re-verified as the cycle moves. Every number traces to a posted range, a campus page, or a dated compensation report.
Sources: posted New York salary ranges, bank campus pages, levels.fyi, and dated compensation reports. Last verified October 10, 2026. How we rank →
Analysts work in small teams alongside partners on M&A, shareholder advisory, restructuring, capital markets and private capital mandates, doing financial modeling, industry analysis, diligence and client-meeting prep. Evercore pitches faster advancement and more responsibility than a bulge bracket and describes an apprenticeship model. Hiring is group by group, so you choose your coverage group and office at application.
Salary band, hiring status & score breakdown — see the full Evercore IB page →Evercore interview guide →
Centerview recruits summer interns from college juniors and full-time analysts after graduation, formally on some campuses and informally from a broad range of schools, with no finance background required. New analysts get initial training in practical finance, then join deal teams on the firm’s mega-cap M&A mandates. The firm says it invests extra resources to keep analysts longer than a typical two-year stint.
Salary band, hiring status & score breakdown — see the full Centerview Partners IB page →Centerview Partners interview guide →
Goldman’s Investment Banking Division is organized by industry coverage group, with M&A and the Capital Solutions Group handling capital markets and risk management. Analysts support advisory and financing mandates, starting with Goldman Sachs University orientation and an apprenticeship-style team model. The 9–10 week summer analyst program is the main route into full-time analyst offers.
Salary band, hiring status & score breakdown — see the full Goldman Sachs IB page →Goldman Sachs interview guide →
PJT hires summer and full-time analysts into Strategic Advisory, Restructuring & Special Situations (RSSG), Park Hill (private fund advisory) and PJT Camberview (shareholder advisory). Summer programs are generalist, with early responsibility on live pitches and transactions and several assignments at once. The firm requires the Suited assessment and says it is not weighted above other factors.
Salary band, hiring status & score breakdown — see the full PJT Partners IB page →PJT Partners interview guide →
Morgan Stanley summer analysts take on full-time analyst responsibilities: building models, analyzing comparative financial performance, drafting marketing memoranda and supporting M&A and financing execution. Training is division-specific, covering financial analysis, accounting and valuation. Candidates either interview directly with a group or join the New York Generalist pool, where group placement is handled in a structured process at onboarding.
Salary band, hiring status & score breakdown — see the full Morgan Stanley IB page →Morgan Stanley interview guide →
Moelis summer analysts join as generalists, working on financial analysis and modeling, company and industry research, and client presentations alongside senior bankers. A one-week training program on modeling and valuation opens the 10-week internship, and the full-time class is drawn largely from it. Moelis also posts specialist analyst seats and requires the Suited assessment from every applicant.
Salary band, hiring status & score breakdown — see the full Moelis & Company IB page →Moelis & Company interview guide →
Lazard analysts build financial models, research companies and industries, and prepare client presentations on M&A, restructuring, capital markets and private capital advisory mandates, working on small deal teams with senior bankers. The NY summer program is generalist and rotational, with formal training, mentorship and exposure to the leadership team, while Restructuring and other specialized groups can be applied to directly. Summer analysts are the main feeder into the full-time class.
Salary band, hiring status & score breakdown — see the full Lazard IB page →Lazard interview guide →
Houlihan Lokey financial analysts prepare and analyze financial information, run valuations, and build marketing materials for M&A, capital raising and restructuring engagements. Hiring is by segment and office, so applicants choose Corporate Finance, Financial Restructuring or valuation advisory up front. The restructuring franchise and high deal count give analysts early live-deal exposure, though the analyst class is smaller than at the bulge brackets.
Salary band, hiring status & score breakdown — see the full Houlihan Lokey IB page →
Jefferies analysts build financial models and valuations, prepare pitchbooks and offering materials, and support M&A and financings alongside senior bankers. Unlike generalist programs, applicants apply to a specific group and city, so your group is fixed at application. The summer program starts with orientation and training and feeds the full-time analyst class.
Salary band, hiring status & score breakdown — see the full Jefferies IB page →
Citi’s IB analysts support M&A, capital raising and strategic financings for corporate, financial-sponsor and public-sector clients, collecting company and industry research, building valuation and financial models (DCF and comps), and preparing pitch materials. Summer analysts start with a short training block and are then matched to a team, and top performers are steered toward full-time offers.
Salary band, hiring status & score breakdown — see the full Citi IB page →Citi interview guide →
Analysts build models and valuations, run company and industry research, and prepare client materials and diligence for M&A, capital raising and advisory work inside Global Corporate & Investment Banking. Summer analysts are placed in an industry, country or product coverage team, and the full-time program offers broad exposure across IB, Corporate Banking and Capital Markets. Training is front-loaded, followed by on-the-job support and mentorship.
Salary band, hiring status & score breakdown — see the full Bank of America IB page →Bank of America interview guide →
The comp landscape
Posted first-year analyst base salaries, US market — the stub and year-end bonus come on top and can approach the base in a strong year. Elite boutiques post the highest figures; bulge brackets cluster together. Full breakdown in the IB salary guide.
don’t post salary ranges and are omitted here.
What is an investment banking analyst?
An investment banking analyst is the entry-level banker: two to three years of building financial models, pitch books and deal materials for mergers, IPOs and debt raises, usually straight out of undergrad. Nearly every full-time seat is filled from the prior summer’s analyst class, so the summer analyst application — submitted as early as sophomore spring — is the real front door.
Banks fall into three groups: bulge brackets (the global universal banks), elite boutiques (advisory-only firms that pay the most and run the leanest teams), and middle-market banks with strong niches such as restructuring. All of them recruit through the same funnel — online application, a recorded video interview, a first round with bankers, then a superday of back-to-back interviews — and all of them expect you to know valuation cold.
Preparing for the loop? Start with our guides: answering “Why investment banking?”, answering “Why J.P. Morgan?”, and answering “Why Morgan Stanley?”.
How we rank
Every program gets an Index score out of 100, built from four weighted dimensions. Scores are editorial judgments grounded in the data below — not paid placements.
Posted first-year analyst base, plus dated bonus and all-in reports — elite boutiques lead, bulge brackets cluster, and the spread shows up in the bonus.
How the analyst program is run: class size, generalist versus group placement, training length, and how transparent the bank is about timing and pay.
What two years here does for the rest of your career — deal flow and league-table standing, exit opportunities into private equity and beyond, and brand.
Whether the 2027 and 2028 windows are open, how early the bank recruits, and whether the franchise is growing or cutting.
We also track Barclays, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Rothschild & Co, Guggenheim, Perella Weinberg, Qatalyst, RBC and Wells Fargo, currently outside the ranking and queued for the next data pass. Every bank ranked here has a US analyst program with a posted or filed first-year base; Centerview and PJT stay ranked without an all-in figure because neither publishes bonus data and no dated, non-aggregator report exists.
Compensation data comes from posted salary ranges (required in several US states), levels.fyi, and public offer reports; figures are US-market and vary by level and location. Hiring status reflects each company’s careers page as of October 10, 2026. Spotted something outdated? Email [email protected].
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