Let’s talk about investment banking first. It depends on which department. From an IQ perspective, they are undoubtedly traders and quants. Both positions require strong mathematical abilities, and quantitative analysts are often talented people with doctorates in natural sciences or engineering, and there is no doubt that they have high IQs. If ranked by IQ, it should be the turn of the technical department. This group of people usually graduated from prestigious universities and have computer or related degrees. Of course, the people in the remaining departments are also very smart and excellent, and they will be a step above the above two or three types of employees in terms of soft skills (such as communication skills).

There is an old saying in the financial industry: people who join the Big Four always want to work in investment banks one day, and people who work in investment banks always want to work in hedge funds. Getting into a (decent) hedge fund is much harder than getting into an investment bank. Many people in hedge funds have doctorates in science and engineering, and many come from famous IT companies, such as Google. The chance of meeting smart people there is several times higher than in an investment bank.

Speaking of excellence, I don’t think people who can work in investment banks or hedge funds are that outstanding. Excellence is multifaceted. When God opens a window for you, he will surely close another for you. I have met many quants. Although no one can match them in terms of IQ, they are out of touch with society and lack common sense in their speech. To put it bluntly, they have low emotional intelligence.

Again, these are just some of my personal opinions.

@Leon

Investment banks and hedge funds are different, each has many departments. Even excluding auxiliary departments, there are still several categories of core business departments, and their personnel composition characteristics are quite different and should be discussed separately. What the public knows most from the media, apart from the secondary market trading department, is probably the investment banking department. It is also commonly referred to as investment banking, which mainly deals with corporate financing, mergers and acquisitions, listings and other businesses. Let’s talk about the investment banking department first, then the trading department, and finally the hedge fund.

First of all, limit the scope of investment banks, mainly talking about those large investment banks (Goldman Sachs, Morgan, UBS, etc.), and also mention specialty investment banks (such as family investment banks like Rothschild).

To put it simply, it is indeed difficult to enter an investment bank, but it is relatively easy to join an investment bank.

This statement is basically true that only smart people can enter investment banking. Most graduates have gone through a rigorous selection process and been selected to join investment banks. These people are generally smarter. The situation is different every year. When the market is bad, fewer people will be recruited and the standards will be higher. When the market is good, the quality of recruitment will be lower. There are also a small number of people from other industries who entered investment banking based on their experience or connections. These people have different backgrounds and will not be listed here for now.

First of all, you don’t need to be very smart to work in investment banking, but investment banking is one of the places with the highest density of smart people in the world. To put it bluntly, investment banking is an industry that squanders talents and resources. This is one of the reasons why investment banks are enviable and often despised in terms of values.

Investment banking has set a very high threshold, and most people who can enter investment banking are very smart. The level of intelligence is reflected in the selection criteria.

The first level is CV screening. Prestigious schools (most top investment banks only recruit from a few fixed schools), relevant internship experience (you must first get an investment banking internship that is not easy to get), and other achievements that reflect ability (Olympic Games or other academic awards, outstanding social activities, athletes wait).

The second level is the written test. Three parts: mathematics, logic, and reading.

The third level is several rounds of interviews. Test professional knowledge, IQ, EQ, personality, appearance, and temperament.

The fourth level is a test of luck. Luck depends on the interviewer's personal likes and dislikes, financial market conditions, company business performance, personnel politics, and a host of conventional and non-conventional factors that companies won't tell you.

Once you pass it all, you can enter investment banking. You probably need to be that smart. People in investment banks are probably that smart.

You don’t need to be very smart to work in investment banking. People who are particularly smart and love investment banking work will be promoted faster. Generally smart people will be promoted if they are more diligent and stay up late and work overtime for several years without any suspense. This is an industry where hard work can make up for weakness.

What’s interesting is that the work of investment banking itself makes investment bankers smarter. First of all, investment banking professional standards are relatively high and require comprehensive skills and comprehensive quality. If you can survive by working within a high-standard framework, your abilities will naturally gradually improve. In addition, my colleagues are smart and ambitious people selected from prestigious schools, and my clients are all successful entrepreneurs and important figures in their respective fields, which creates a rare learning and competitive environment. Excellence is a habit, an environment, and an atmosphere.