Investment banking course with job assurance: A path full of opportunities

Introduction

An investment banking career is an opportunity for students with a good understanding of commerce, mathematics, statistics, economics and finance. Students from all backgrounds are welcome to embrace this career, a thorough know-how of the above-mentioned subjects, good soft and interpersonal skills and a piece of overall business knowledge will be the basis for developing an investment banker. The additional learnings required by the prospective individual are equity research, valuation skills, merger and acquisition analysis, leverage buyout analysis, etc. with a top-notch knowledge of advanced excel. It is highly recommended that prospective students complete an internship with an investment banking firm.

Activities Of Investment Banks

Investment banks look after portfolios of diverse client types and offer financial services to them. Their activities can be bifurcated as:

1) Underwriting or IPO services

2) Investment management field

3) Advisory work

4) Investment and lending functions

5) Institutional client solutions

When a private organisation wishes to raise money from the market through the issuance of shares, that is called an IPO function. This is what the underwriting function is all about. The decision by an organisation to where it will invest its own money to grow is its function in the investment management field. Before a company goes through a suitable merger and /or acquisition, investment bankers analyse the probable outcomes. They work on the valuation of a company, prediction analysis, etc. All these are advisory functions of an investment banker. Investment banks even offer a bouquet of different financial products to their clients to invest and grow their money. The investment banks also lend their own money (investment and lending function). Investment banks help their clients to solve several complex financial transactions, most of which are international. This is the institutional client solution function.

Investment banking organisations are of two types. The first one, the big giants in this industry, are the ‘Bulge Bracket Investment Bankers’. They work covering all the roles that the investment banks are supposed to do. Their huge clientele base includes government and institutional customers (on the international circuit) and large international commercial banks. These banks play the advisory role, mainly. Then, there is another type of investment banker, called the boutique banker. They pick and choose some of the functions and restrict to them only. Their jobs are most analytical and hence highly technical. In India, mostly boutique investment banks are found to exist.

Difference Between A Commercial Bank And An Investment Bank

Commercial banks are account keepers of retail and institutional customers. They also offer financial products to their clients, but their primary function is lending to retail customers. They never provide advisory functions such as organisation valuation, merger acquisition or underwriting functions. The earnings and profitability of investment banks are more than those of commercial banks. They earn out of commission from big institutions, either government or private, through their different services. Their lending functions are also limited to very large corporations. Thus, their risks of bad debts are minimal. This also explains why an investment banking career is a rewarding one and the salary is more than that of a commercial banker.

Type of Investment Banker Roles

The investment banker may be primarily assigned two distinct types of roles – one at the back-end and the other at the front end. In India, back-end roles are mostly offered to prospective investment bankers. The front-end roles are available in most developed nations like the US, western countries or Singapore, etc. The main difference between the two roles is that the back-end investment bankers must be extremely sound in technical skills while the front-end investment bankers must be extremely sound in their deliberations and soft skills with reasoning ability.

Investment Banking Course after Graduation

An undergraduate in commerce is ideal for a career as an investment banker. Students who have done their undergraduate in statistics, economics and mathematics can also study investment banking. Nowadays IIT and IIM graduates are also opting for an investment banking career option. A prospective candidate should choose a proper investment banking course after graduation depending upon the background he or she has completed the UG program. For example, if the candidate is from an IIT / NIT or IIM, he or she may complete the CA or the CFA course to pursue his investment banking career. In India, the placements are mostly offered in boutique investment banks. However, big international houses may also recruit their back-end teams.

Conclusion

The Certified Investment Banking Operations Professional course at Imarticus will guide you on how to become an investment banker and it will help you to achieve your dream. The mode of training is both online and offline. This course at Imarticus is an investment banking course with placement. Thus, it will not only provide you with complete knowledge about investment banking but will also offer a guaranteed job interviews.