Thankfully, some bankers manage to maintain this perspective all year round. If any of you has ever spoken to an ECM banker in Hong Kong, you’ll know something of their daily schedule. Stroll into work, hang around until 4pm when markets close and then call it a day.
There is of course one thing that can scupper this charmed life — getting pulled in to execute some block that goes on until the wee hours of the morning.
One of my senior ECM buddies recently decided that he had had enough of staying in the office until 3am and having to return at 8am. His social life was taking a hammering — with no opportunity to get hammered.
So the next time he found himself running a block, he took matters into his own hands. He launched the deal immediately after markets closed and told investors that a quick turnaround was required. The minute that books were a couple of times covered, he wrapped things up and headed off to dinner, safe in the knowledge that his juniors could handle allocations.
Now that’s what I call getting your priorities straight! The older you get, the more you realise what really matters in life — good food, good scotch and good delegation.