How is investment banking such a stressful job?

I am one and it would take me hours to go into detail but the job is consistent competition. You are competing with other bankers from other firms every day. You are pitching your idea to a company or other types of institutions. They only pick one banker/firm to go with.

Because you are dealing with huge amounts of money and high risks if you want to make money. So one wrong move could result in a lot of angry people blaming you.

any time you manage large quanities of money for others, there will be stress. Because if you screw up, someone is going to lose money, and it'll be your ***.

There are a couple different ways to answer this. The main reason people find it stressful is that when you are dealing with large sums of company's money they expect the best - and rightly so. This can involve working extremely long hours (especially during certain phases such as an IPO) and always being on call.

Some people find it stressful because they find that they really just don't like what they are doing.

Others still find it stressful because it is an extremely competitive environment, both with your co-workers and with other firms.

Some environments are inherently stressful, such as investment banking & advertising. Several reasons. The stakes are really high in these businesses. A single transaction (or goof) can be worth literally millions of dollars of revenue to the company. The clients in these environments always are working under a deadline, therefore putting pressure on the service companies supporting them. The high stakes tend to attract individuals at the top levels of the company who live on high risk transactions, creating an environment of constant urgency. Then you add to these, the fact that the only people who can survive these conditions are all type A personalities all working together to raise the stakes and urgency. (I'm exaggerating on the "only," but you get my drift on the required, self-perpetuating frenzy.) Result - early burnout, early wealth, early ulcers. But a lot of fun when you are young and driven, and you are not a parent with a spouse who expects you to be around every once in a while.

it is not easy to hide billions of dollars.

when work environment is friendly, affordable, and are with understandable problems, and if you love the job with full involvement nothing is stressful.

amount of money involved, in reality has no value than the risk involvement. understand the risk - evolve the strategy - love the job - then there will be no stress.

I have been investing with my own money since 40 years - my failure rate is disproportionately higher than the success. I have no stress at all since I have not lost money in investing. Ask me how? Number of failure is more - there I quickly change my strategy and minimize the loss then 1 success out of 4 failures paid me more.
In the present market strategies are fast changing and we should cope up with it.
Love the job that is the beginning for reducing the stress
best of luck.

Long hours, volotile pay scheme and the fear that you will be fired if you screw up.

It was stressful for me when I was focusing on how much money I wanted from the stock. Now it's not stressful because I'm focusing on how much money the stock can actually give me.

Possibly because there is always pressure to do better than your last deal. As they say you are only as good as your last deal.

I don't think is to do with large sums of money-you quickly adapt to this and a few noughts on the end don't do much to stress levels. Nor to the fact that you might screw up- not all deals can go right.
No I think it is the treadmill effect: no sooner have you completed one deal-you immediately have to look for a bigger, better, and more lucrative one, and so on after that one.