Unlock a career in Investment Banking
Posted on January 22, 2010 by Tahlent Team
Investment banking has suffered some tarnish at the end of the last decade, when the fall of some big players triggered the market collapse of 2008 and the ensuing economic crisis. There are now much tighter controls over investment banking firms and its employees are under closer surveillance. However, as a career option, investment banking continues to be lucrative.
What is investment banking all about?
An investment banker’s job involves raising equity and debt capital for companies. Investment banks provide a slew of finance-related services to companies, which include underwriting and raising capital by issuing equity or debt securities and facilitating mergers and acquisitions. In all of these transactions, an investment bank acts as an intermediary between investors and the issuer. Investment bankers may also help a company restructure its equity or debt to emerge from a financial crisis.
Who can be an investment banker?
Investment banking demands much more than a regular 9-to-5 job. It is a career for the clever and the stout-hearted, for it brings the burden of extreme stress and pressure. Additionally, investment bankers carry great responsibility because their advice is key to the success of their customers and the future of their finances. On the flip side, it is extremely lucrative to graduates who have the physical and mental stamina to withstand such pressure. By making an early start in this career, you stand to gain. Investment banking is open to all graduates but students qualified in accounting and finance are best-equipped to get ahead in this line of work. But it takes more than good grades. You must be tenacious, hard-working, quick at comprehending trends and must possess excellent interpersonal skills. Investment banks seek applicants with high academic achievement, involvement in campus leadership positions, stellar communication skills and internships at well-regarded companies and nonprofit organizations. Many successful investment bankers are completely self-taught and owe their success to a keen pursuit of their chosen trade. They watch markets and stocks closely, remain clued in to the performance of companies by performing competitive analysis, and scan the corporate world for high performing scrips. Once they help their customers taste success, investment bankers can hope to grow in reputation and personal wealth.
What are the jobs available in investment banking?
There are a number of job options available within the domain of investment banking. You may start off in Industry Coverage, tracking a specific industry vertical. Later, you may turn your interest in Corporate Finance into a strong career path, helping companies raise capital. You may also cut a career stream in Debt Capital Markets or Equity Capital Markets, where you help companies originate new issues of debt or equity. You may choose to specialize in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), an important source of fee income for banks, and make solid careers with employers like Goldman Sachs, Lazard and Morgan Stanley. Project Finance is another stream within investment banking that offers a lucrative career and helps bring money into new markets and new countries. Sales and Trading offer some of the most desirable jobs in investment banking, and involve undertaking transactions in equities, bonds, forex, options or futures with traders at commercial banks, investment banks as well as institutional investors. Structured Finance, another job stream, involves the creation of financing vehicles to redirect cash flows to investors. The Derivatives business, which involves options, swaps and futures, is highly lucrative and advertises some of the hottest job vacancies on Wall Street. Many investment banks offer Advisory Services, and jobs in this line of work involve determining a client’s value and options for creating value. Equity and Fixed Income Research involves visiting companies and making heavy telephone contact with institutional investors in order to buy or sell recommendations to investors about a stock or bond. Other job areas within investment banking include International Sales, Public Finance, Stockbroking, Retail Brokerage, Institutional Sales, Ratings Analysis and IT & Systems.
If you are energetic with excellent communication skills (especially interaction skills like negotiation and persuasion) and strong valuation skills, you could forge a lucrative and satisfying career in investment banking.
Tags: Advisory Services, Corporate Finance, Debt Capital Markets, Derivatives, Equity and Fixed Income Research, Equity Capital Markets, Industry Coverage, Institutional Sales, International Sales, investment banking, IT & Systems, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), Project Finance, Public Finance, Ratings Analysis, Retail Brokerage, Sales and Trading, Stockbroking, Structured Finance
