Video summary

FP&A vs Investment Banking Explained | Salary | Work Life | Skills & Career Path Comparison

Main summary

Key takeaways

Finance

Summary (Finance-career focus: FP&A vs Investment Banking)

The video compares Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) and Investment Banking (IB) across day-to-day work, required skills, compensation structure, work-life balance, career progression, stress/job security, and exit opportunities.

Core roles & responsibilities

FP&A (internal finance function; internal company-facing)

  • Supports a company’s budgeting and forecasting
  • Performs variance analysis
  • Builds MIS, dashboards, and management reporting
  • Partners with business divisions (e.g., meetings with HR/marketing/business unit heads)
  • Conducts financial modeling and updates financial insights for management decision-making
  • Work is tied to company-specific business model understanding and execution of internal plans

Investment Banking (client-facing advisory; deal-driven)

  • Works in client advisory roles and deal pitching
  • Handles M&A, IPO, and debt fund raising
  • Uses financial modeling techniques including DCF and LBO
  • Creates pitch books and supports deal execution
  • Work spans multiple clients/companies; continuously reads/understands client targets and sectors
  • Characterized by high-pressure timelines and fast-changing tasks
  • Constant client communication; “live on phone/laptop” availability is implied

Compensation: structure, levels, and key numbers (India + US mention)

Indicative pay (India, as stated)

  • Freshers (FP&A): 5–8 LPA
  • Freshers (Investment Banking): ₹10–20 lakh, potentially up to ₹25–30 lakh
  • As careers progress, the gap reduces (IB remains higher but differential narrows)

Bonus / variable pay (explicit emphasis)

  • IB: variable pay/bonus is described as a major component; total compensation can become “insane” and substantially higher than other finance roles.
  • FP&A: includes some variable pay/bonus, plus potential ESOPs/RSUs, increments, and benefits (PF, gratuity).

US note

  • For those working in the US, salaries are mentioned as dollar-denominated, with the video suggesting compensation can go above “100” (exact unit not clarified).

Career-stage timeline for reaching high packages

  • The video claims it takes about 5–7 years for IB to reach an “equivalent” strong package level (CFO/IB grades context mentioned).
  • It also says achieving comparable income via FP&A typically takes “many times longer” (no precise time given beyond that framing).

Work-life balance & lifestyle expectations

FP&A

  • Slightly less working hours; more standardized schedule
  • Pressure peaks around:
    • month-end
    • quarter-end
    • budget season
  • Weekends mostly protected (as described)
  • Mentions work-from-home flexibility
  • Predictable calendar cycle: tasks are known in advance

Investment Banking

  • Deal-driven workload; pressure rises when deal flow is high
  • All-nighters described as routine; weekend work can occur
  • Availability expectations: constant email/phone/laptop presence
  • Remote work described as not possible in typical IB (because in-person client meetings/pitches are required)
  • Frequent travel due to client/location changes

Skills & tools mentioned

Shared foundation

  • Excel and financial modeling (said to be required for finance broadly)
  • Core finance understanding before choosing a path

FP&A-specific skills

  • ERP tools understanding
  • Power BI for dashboards (“Power BI table” mentioned)
  • Variance and trend analysis
  • Stakeholder communication
  • Business acumen and strategic insight/partnering

Investment Banking skills

  • Strong grip on modeling: DCF, LBO
  • References to:
    • COMPS (implied by “COMMS”)
    • M&A (explicit)
  • Pitch books
  • Accounting and valuation
  • Client relationship management
  • Tools mentioned: Bloomberg and FactSet
  • Extreme attention to detail (no room for error emphasized)

Career ladder & progression

FP&A ladder (as stated)

  • Analyst → Senior Analyst → Manager → Director / VP → potentially CFO

Investment Banking ladder (as stated)

  • Analyst → Associate → VP → Director → MD (as listed)

The video also claims:

  • In FP&A, you build long-term strategic contribution within one company
  • In IB, you build deal/network credibility that accelerates later moves

Job security, stress, and macro sensitivity (explicit caution)

  • FP&A: described as more stable and job security is high; stress is “moderate”
  • IB: described as more stressful and market dependent
    • Example caution: during a recession with “no deals,” layoffs can be seen in IB

Methodology / frameworks explicitly referenced

The video does not present a step-by-step investment methodology or asset allocation framework. However, it explicitly references valuation/modeling frameworks used in IB:

  • DCF (Discounted Cash Flow)
  • LBO (Leveraged Buyout)
  • COMPS (referenced as “COMMS”)
  • Pitch book / deal execution workflow (described at a high level, not as a numbered process)

Explicit recommendations / cautions (career decision guidance)

  • Do not decide based only on salary.
  • Choose based on:
    • whether you want work-life balance
    • job stability
    • interest in internal strategic work (FP&A) vs client/deal work (IB)
    • ability to handle extreme pressure and constant availability (IB)
  • Video positions IB as a “sprint, not a marathon”:
    • enter, build credibility/network, then potentially switch after a few years (mentions 3–4 years and “2–3 years” as typical switching time ranges)

Exit opportunities / “myths” addressed

Myths

  1. “IB is the only real finance career” → FP&A is presented as strategic, not just back-office.
  2. “FP&A is boring (Excel all day)” → FP&A is said to involve business partnering, forecasting, presentations, and even AI integration.
  3. “IB pay per hour is always higher” → video claims that when normalized for hours, IB per-hour may be lower than FP&A at analyst level.
  4. “FP&A has no exit opportunities” → FP&A is said to lead to corporate development, expansion/M&A roles, startup CFO roles, and VC/ops pathways.
  5. “IB is the only way to PE/VC” → VC/growth equity firms are said to recruit from FP&A and startup finance talent too.

Disclaimers / disclosures

  • No explicit “not financial advice” or investing disclosure is included; content is career guidance rather than financial product advice.

Tick ers / assets / instruments mentioned

  • No specific public tickers (e.g., stocks/ETFs) or macro market instruments (bonds/commodities) are named.

Presenters / sources

  • Kuldip Sharma (host/presenter)
  • Channel/brand referenced: PW Skki Finance (credited as the welcome context)

Original video