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Tag: Investment Banking

Investment Banking – Understanding the Deal – The Deal Process (III)

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

As we discussed in
Investment Banking- Why do Sellers use an Investment Banker (I)
Investment Banking- Understanding the Deal: The Pitch Process (II)
So now that the banks have pitched for the deal by showcasing their industry knowledge, negotiation and deal prowess and asset valuation, one bank is chosen to exclusively market the asset and execute the deal. The business of developing relationship and signing mandates by going to meetings, researching the industry and pitching is called origination. It is often done by the business development team in large bulge bracket investment banks like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. Once the deal has been mandated and a Client Agreement has been signed, the execution team takes over. In a boutique bank like Avendus or Mape, same teams often specializing in an industry handle both origination and execution.
The deal process for buying and selling are slightly different and today we will be focusing on selling an asset. A typical advisory structure.

This is the usual process of a deal
1. Preparation –Diagnostics and Consolidation of information- this is where the execution team visits the site and spends time understanding deal nuances, strategic considerations like potential valuation and transaction process once they look at all the information.
•Review The Business, Financial Results & Prospects
•Develop & Refine Financial Forecast
•Gather Financial & Legal Due Diligence Material
•Analyze Structural Considerations, Including Tax & Accounting Issues
•Review Tactical & Strategic Considerations
•Analyze Structural & Timing Considerations
• Create deal Collateral including Information Memorandum, Financial Model and Teaser
2. Planning– Establish Valuation Based On Standard Valuation Techniques
a. Review Strategic Options In Light Of Valuation & Structural Goals
b. Analyze Transaction Structure Alternatives
c. Assist In Development Of Appropriate Acquisition Contract
3. Marketing– Use deal collateral and contacts to
a. Position Company To Appeal To Specific Buyers
b. Identify & Screen Potential Buyers
c. Prepare Management Presentation
d. Develop Data Room and coordinate site visits
e. Conduct Marketing Process With Strict Time Guidelines
f. Minimize Business Disruption
4. Due Diligence and Bid Evaluation–
a. Compare & Analyze Bids & Considerations
b. Evaluate Company’s Options
c. Due Diligence by Buyers
d. Analyze Tax & Structural Impact Of Proposed Transaction
5. Negotiation- Negotiate pricing through auction rounds. There are different ways in which you sell or buy a company (See box below) but all of it involves a fair amount of negotiation and many rounds of it. A couple before the due diligence and a few after.

a. Negotiate Price
b. Negotiate terms of sale or SHA and SPA terms
c. Negotiate R & W terms
6. Documentation and closure- A primary legal process but also important for bankers as they coordinate everything. This is one of the reasons why bankers wear many hats. A salesperson, a lawyer, an accountant and sometimes even the local errand boy.
Every part of this process is delved into in detail in FMVC and Diploma in Corporate Finance, India’s leading programs in Financial Modelling and Corporate Finance.

 

Investment Banking- Understanding the Deal: The Pitch Process (II)

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In our last post we looked at why companies use investment bankers to sell or buy assets. In this post we try and understand what happens once a company decides to use an Investment Banker. What happens next?
Well they first need to look for a banker. So let’s go back to our earlier example taking the government’s stake sale in its Stuuti companies. Before they decided to shortlist Citibank, ICICI and HDFC, they hold a beauty parade where every banker worth their salt ‘parades’ their wares and offerings during a ‘pitch.’
Quite often you’ll find Investment Banking analyst friends working late on Saturday evening. When you ask them why, it’s quite likely they’ll utter the dreaded words, ‘pitch document’. The Pitch Document is the bread of Investment Banking, it’s the pizza base of that great Margerita. Without a great pitch document, all you are left with are handful of deals you managed to wing through your bosses contacts and even then you’re going to have to pitch for the deal. So what is a pitch document? It is a meeting backed up by a document where a banker convinces you, the client, why they are the best team to sell your asset. How do they do it?
The easiest way to explain this is to liken it to selling a pencil. If I have to sell you a pencil, what would I say? I need to tell you why this pencil is better than all the other pencils out there. I also need to tell you why this pencil costs as much as it does. For that I need to know what goes inside the pencil, how much those cost etc. If I need to sell the pencil on your behalf because you are my ‘client’ I need to know everything YOU know about the pencil. The price I sell the pencil at is the ‘value’ of the pencil. I have to explain to you what that value is and how I arrived at that value. I need to convince you I know everything there is to know about pencils, pencil making, the pencil industry, competing pencils so I can sell this pencil better than anyone else out there. So a usual Pitch Document consists of five elements.
1. Establishing my credentials – how many pencils have I sold before and to whom. Whose pencils have I sold and my expertise in selling these pencils. Perhaps I have someone who used to work in pencil manufacturing, Steadler maybe or Apsara, and knows the nuances of pencil making, has the inside track if you will.
2. Company Overview– I tell you a little bit about your company to show you that I know about your pencils. It’s a little counterintuitive I know but it shows I’ve done my homework and know what makes your pencils tick. I might also use this opportunity to tell you any risks I foresee with selling this pencil. Perhaps the pencil has an eraser that’s of an older technology or uses too much wood etc
3. Industry Overview– Here I showcase how much I know about pencils in general, trends in pencil making, what drives pencils usage, opportunities and risks in pencils which will help me forecast the market for pencils and therefore my clients potential market which will flow down to profitability and cashflows
4. Valuation– Once I have cashflows and industry numbers I put together the pencil’s valuation using both cashflows (DCF) as well as the value multiples of other pencils (Comparable PE and EV/EBITDA, EV/Sales multiples )in the market along with the value of what other pencils have been sold at in the past (Transaction multiples)
5. Potential Buyers of your pencil. Using my considerable industry knowledge I tell you who would be most interested in buying your pencil.
All this and more is taught in our FMVC as well as our Diploma in Corporate Finance, both of which are Mumbai’s best courses in Financial Modeling and Corporate Finance and Investment Banking.

 

Investment Banking Operations: The Engine of Growth

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Think Investment Banker, think Gordon Gekko? Well there is no denying the glamour quotient is higher for high rollers who trade and make deals worth millions of dollars. But Gordon Gekko and his ilk would never be as successful or efficient if he didn’t have a trusty Operations team in the Back Office, managing transactions, ensuring processes are followed and well, just getting things done.
The Operations division of an investment bank or investment management firm is commonly referred to as the Back Office in I-Banking jargon. This is also the ‘engine room’ of an investment bank, working tirelessly to keep the vast quantities of information, money and products flowing correctly, to ensure millions of transactions are processed every day.

Playing a Hidden But Critical Function

Banking operations make sure banks’ processes and transactions are executed correctly, which minimizes risk and maximizes quality of service. The operations function also acts as a watchdog for the bank and oversees the regulatory requirements of the banks. Although this is a non-revenue generating function, this function is highly critical to the profitable functioning of a bank. Stream-lined banking operations can save billions of dollars to a bank. The more efficient a bank is at conducting its day-to-day business, the greater the percentage of revenues that will feed into the bottom line.

Starting Out? What to Expect

Firstly know that there is a HUGE variety of roles within the Operations team, and you will never have to do it all. Owing to the specialized knowledge one requires for these tasks, Operations roles usually focus on a particular function, for instance clearing or settling transactions, managing documentation, customer servicing, compliance, accounting and risk management. For example, you could be responsible for working on initiatives to enhance settlement processes, or ensuring that the information in an organisation’s P&L accounts is accurate or that risks are being reported accurately.
Most new entrants into an Ops role will have the opportunity to work in several different areas of Operations. This will allow you to gain an overview of the various types of work available, eg process-driven or project management roles.

Interested in pursuing a career in Investment Banking Operations? Imarticus Learning offers a comprehensive Investment Banking Operations certification (CIBOP) which offers a power-packed 180 hours of hands-on learning into the inner workings of an Investment Bank. Sign up today!

Introduction to Investment Management

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What is Investment Management? What does the investment management industry constitute?

The world of finance can be complicated. To simplify for the sake of understanding, let us consider the financial world as broadly constituting of banks – (retail, commercial, and investment), insurance companies, and investment managers.

Banking: Retail and commercial banks are the ones most people are familiar with and are mostly straightforward. They take in money through deposits from customers, other banks, and shareholders. They then distribute this money through credit cards and loans to individuals, companies, and other banks.

Retail and commercial banks make money on the interest charged on these loans. Investment banks on the other hand are more complicated. They allow their clients, which include investment managers, to trade on the financial markets. They also deal with IPO, mergers, and acquisitions.

Insurance: Insurance companies take in money by charging for private and corporate insurance policies, in return for against the unexpected. They in turn are protected from being unable to payout on policy claims by moving money to a reinsurance company and therefore reducing exposure.

Investment Management: Investment managers also known as fund or asset managers do as the name suggests – they manage investments of private investors, corporates, banks, or insurance companies. Investment managers make their clients’ money grow by using investment banks to buy and sell investments.

Let us consider the funds managed by an investment manager as raw material whether in shares, bonds, commodities, or derivatives, and an investment manager as a machine that converts this raw material into a product by using a series of processes. The product is a fund. The goal of the fund is to make money for the investors. Thus, an investment manager uses an investor’s money to make money.

These processes vary greatly and depend on the investment strategy used. E.g.: passive vs. active investment. However, the principle remains the same. The fund aims to make a return by balancing risk and rewards and thus, in a process-driven manner ensures effective mobilization/channeling of its resource i.e. money from investors.

Thus, the players in the investment management industry can be classified into just two broad categories – the investment managers and the investors. Investment occurs directly i.e. investment contracts or more commonly via collective investment schemes. A mutual fund is a type of collective investment scheme. They provide an efficient way of pooling funds for investment purposes.

The Flow of funds in the asset management industry:

*PMS – Portfolio Management Services, AMC – Asset Management Services, WM – Wealth Managers.

What is the Investment Process? What role does the investment manager play? What is the role of portfolio performance measurement in the investment process?

Like any process, the investment process can be broadly classified based on four phases – Plan, Do, Check and Act. Similarly, it is pertinent to note that the investment management process, forming a part of the investment process cannot be improved without performance measurement. The following is an overview of the Investment Process.

From the above, it is clear that for the investment process to be complete it needs to be measured. This measuring of the portfolio performance should preferably be a part of the investment management process itself. In this case, it will contribute to improving the portfolio management process internally and thus contribute to process improvement. On the other hand, performance measurement can be undertaken by the investor as a part of the larger investment process. In this case, the same measures behave as a stricter audit function rather than a must-suited process improvement role.

What Can You Do with Your FMVC Certificate?

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The great thing about short programs in Financial Services at Imarticus Learning is that you learn skills that can be ‘applied’ rather than just theory, or even cases that are general in nature. We offer one of the leading professional courses in Financial Modeling in Mumbai, which allows you to pursue multiple career opportunities.

Learning Financial Modeling and Valuation is extremely important when you are pursuing a career in both Financial Services and Corporate Finance. The ability to forecast financial statements and build a robust model that is dynamic and clearly reflects underlying assumptions is imperative. The more robust your model, the more accurate your analysis and therefore your company or asset valuations.

Financial Modelling and Valuation is a skill useful across careers like

  • Investment Banking– A good investment banker is at heart a good modeler and someone who is able to fundamentally value a company.
  • Both valuation and forecasting is both a science and an art, therefore you not only need a strong grasp of the fundamentals but an intuitive understanding of their limitations to be able to model and value effectively.
  • Investment Bankers create Financial Models to help make Pitch Documents, Information Memorandums and create scenarios that will help them fine tune valuations. They need to forecast cash flows to be able to do a DCF as well as future Profitability numbers which they can apply multiples to.
  • Private Equity and Venture Capital– As investors, Private Equity professionals need to be able to create financial models of prospective companies they want to invest in to be able to both value as well us understand future cashflows which will determine valuation at exit. Private Equity professionals also have to learn how to create specialized investment specific financial models like Leveraged Buy Out models which will also incorporate the debt into future cashflows to arrive at optimum valuation once you build in exit multiples etc.
  • CEO’s– Financial models are prepared by CEO’s and controllers for both budgeting and funding purposes. Models help finance teams understand cashflow requirements which help them manage their treasury better. Financial Models are also critical to valuing mergers through building in synergy. We call this merger models. Merger models will involve combining the future cashflows of two companies to understand synergy potential that arises out of various economies of scale. This synergy calculation will help in valuation and calculation of control premium
  • Equity Research- Financial Modeling and Valuation is a critical element in the Equity Research toolkit. Equity Research analysts do fundamental analysis to help recommend a ‘buy’ ‘sell’ or hold on a stock. They do this by understanding the industry fundamentals, doing porter’s analysis, and applying these dynamics to a Financial Model which will help them value the company down to the price of a share at any point in time. Their expertise in an industry helps them fine-tune the model.

Financial Modelling and Valuation is also critical to project finance, corporate banking and essentially any role in Corporate Finance which makes FMVC the most career orientated financial modeling course in Mumbai and the most seful certification to help you enhance your resume and kick start your career.

What does an Investment Banking Analyst do?

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Investment Banking Analyst Work

  • Preparing reports affecting decision making.
  • Financial and data modelling.
  • Conduct analysis and research of financials.
  • Dealing with client debt-portfolios and issuances.
  • Sales and promotions of financial instruments.
  • Creating market and data reports.
  • Presenting and justifying emerging trends and case studies.

Investment Banking offers many job and career titles and routes. The main areas are in

  • Boutique or bulk-investment banks
  • The real-estate segment
  • Firms on the Sell or buy side.
  • Insurance and Fintech sectors.
  • Companies involving investment decisions that are data-driven.
  • Brokers and their firms.
  • Company acquisitions, sale or mergers.
  • Raising capital and fund-sourcing.
  • Stock markets and players of private equity.

The Investment Banking Job Role

The role of an investment banking analyst would typically involve pattern finding, providing insights, reports and research into trends, errors etc in databases which can successfully be used to base decisions on, detect errors, forecast, make data-justified predictions and such tasks helpful to investments of clients both external and internal.

The analyst is all important in the making of management and operational decisions based on financial and investment data. Though investment-related the analyst’s decisions have far-reaching consequences in managing workflow and processes, inter-department connections, business models, and technical infrastructure involved. They are responsible to spot and present trends that affect employee productivity, overall efficiency, management decisions and operational workflow.

Across the board of enterprises, companies, banks, and other industrial verticals the role of an analyst is fast becoming a good career decision. And in investment banking, the lucre and prestige associated is a big draw.

Education Required:
Though there are no educational criteria fixed for the analyst’s role, graduation with subjects like statistics, business management, economics, mathematics, computer science and finance, do go a long way in being efficient in this job role. Since data means control of literally every decision today, the analyst also needs to be adept at using data skills for using the latest technology to enable decisions and impact efficiency, productivity and further growth.

Doing a professional course in financial data analysis from a reputed institute like Imarticus adds great value. Such investment banking analyst training also leads to certification and helps you enhance your resume while furthering your prospects and career growth.

Why Investment Banking Analyst Certification Is Important?

Yes, many analysts need certifications which may be a pre-condition especially in the banking sector as a true measure of your skills and being job ready. Doing such a course allows the investment banking business analyst with training that focuses on hands-on live projects and practical skills.

The obvious advantage of skills enabled through a global practical-oriented curriculum, sufficient industry-relevant applications and projects, workshops, quizzes and assignments and help in the certification exams makes such courses a logical must-do.

Gaining Technical Skills:
Most analysts pursue investment banking analyst courses at Imarticus to hone their data-analytics skills with the latest technologies, advanced techniques, industry-accepted norms, tricks and best-practices. Certifications in investment banking and financial analysis are relatively new and insist on the acquisition of practical skills to apply theoretical knowledge imbibed in the courses.

Classes can be generally be availed in the classroom, self-paced learning and online virtual classroom modes. This also provides working professionals with the opportunity to change career tracks and adopt newer skills to their portfolio.

Job Scope and payouts:
According to Payscale, the analyst roles can fetch lucrative payouts which start with 67,000$ pa. Incentives and bonuses depend on the performance and can match the salary. The demand for trained and certified professionals is very high as these fields and the technology involved is constantly being upgraded.

Here is a brief explanation of the investment banking analyst terminology involved.

  • Debt Markets:
    Debt investment banking markets involve a blend of trading and sales. If a debt is raised then the company pays interest to the holders for borrowed funds and does not involve ownership decreases as in Equity funds.
    There are three forms of funding involved in the debt financial markets
  • The mutual funds:
    The definition is a sum of money collected from investors with the intention of making sizeable profits. Just as when you deposit money into the bank to earn interest, the money collected is invested in other assets like debt funds and other money markets for a small fee. The profits or losses are calculated on NAV of the fund money after deducting expenses. It is a partnership effort where both losses and gains are shared based on one’s share in the fund.
  • Debt Funds:
    Those funds invested in company debentures, government bonds, and other fixed assets are considered low risk as they provide a fixed percentage of income on maturity and when traded in. The term debt means the fund loans the money to the company invested in for a fixed return.
  • Equity Funds:
    Those funds invested in company shares or in buying stocks and equities in promising companies carry a high degree of risk and provide higher returns when traded in or sold. The term equity means the fund is used for buying a share in the company invested in.
  • Equity Markets:
    The Equity Market has three categories:
    Equity Funds: This mainly deals with IPOs, raising capital, financing deals, etc.
    Syndicated: This interbank transaction involves multiple-bank equity deals.
    Convertible Bonds: Debts that convert into a share in equity help raise company capital through the issuance of such convertible bonds.Both the debt and equity financial markets offer immense opportunities for financial and data analysts. Debt Capital Markets that are debt-based involve lesser amounts of financial modeling when compared to Equity Markets being higher in volumes since global credit outstrips global equity in the markets. The environment in debt markets is fast and deals culminate rapidly. This is also a lesser risk market.

Remember that an investment banking analyst deals with management and operational aspects of financial investments. Expect a lot of hard work and long hours to be a part of the job. Its handsome payouts mean your career decision should be based on your inherent interests for numbers and management practices.

In conclusion, of the many courses available for certification especially in the banking domain, Imarticus courses score high. By doing the course and certification with Imarticus Learning you can carve a career for yourself as a Business Analyst in the banking domain.

Top 5 Best Paying Jobs in 2016

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

by Zenobia Sethna

High pay continues to be tied to in-demand skills, a higher education, and working in jobs that are shielded from competition or automation. In this article, we will explore the top paying jobs in the Finance field. Further, to compare apples to apples, we will look at the average salaries for entry level positions at these jobs.
Investment Banking
Some of the most glamorous careers in Finance are those in investment banking. Investment-banking jobs deal with enabling the issuance of corporate securities and making these securities available for investors to purchase, all while trading securities and giving financial advice to both corporations and wealthy individual investors.
The salary of an Investment Banker at an entry level Analyst role ranges from $70k – $150k, with the average salary being $102,000 per year as of April 2016, according to Indeed.com. An Associate typically earns in the range of $150K – $350K. As you move further up the ladder, salaries sky rocket. Vice Presidents earn between $350K – $1.5MM, while Managing Directors/Partners could pocket anywhere between  $500K – $20MM+.
Be aware, though, that these jobs are also very intense and demand a lot of hours – especially if you are starting out. From analysts to managing directors, the pay is traditionally heavily weighted toward the investment banking bonus portion of the compensation which is part of the reason for such long hours.
Hedge Funds
Hedge funds are largely unregulated private investment funds whose managers can buy or sell a wide range of financial assets and products. Basically, a hedge fund is a pooling of investments from high net worth individuals. In India, we have hedge funds like Karma Capital Management, Atyant Capital, and Atlantis India Opportunities Fund. A certain enigma does surround
this type of entity, and likewise, hedge-fund jobs are considered by many to be somewhat glamorous.
Typical hedge-fund jobs include Financial analyst, Trader, Regulatory compliance officer, Quantitative analyst, Marketing manager, and Portfolio manager.
The average entry level pay (combination of base and performance bonus) for a “Fund Accountant” in this category is $90,000 in the United States. In London, the pay for the same post would be GBP 35,000 and in India it is Rs. 600,000.
Private Equity
Private equity is an asset class consisting of equity securities and debt in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange. Private-equity professionals help businesses find capital for both expansion and current operations. They also finance a number of corporate business transactions, such as managed buyouts and restructurings.
The average salary of a Private Equity Analyst in the US is $79,000 per year as of April 2016, according to Indeed.com. This could rise to the range of $150K – $300K for a second year Analyst /Associate or between $170 K and $ 350K for a third year Analyst/Associate. Vice Presidents at a PE firm could take home anywhere between $300K – $ 800K, while Managing Directors/Partners could pocket $ 500K – $ 10MM+.
The private equity compensation for Vice Presidents, Directors and Managing Directors is much more variable at PE firms, but the salary and bonus is much more of a function of the fund’s performance since a lot of the compensation is tied up in Carry.
Venture Capital
Venture-capital professionals (VCs) spend most of their time scouting start-ups or small, fast-growth companies. Venture-capital firms evaluate pitches by founders and small-company leaders to determine if the firm will make an investment. Venture capital is a toug
h business where the failure rates are high. On the flip side, the rewards, when they are realized, are huge!
Annual salary and bonuses differ broadly in this field depending on the size of the VC firm and specialization. In general, pre-MBA VC associates can expect an annual salary of $80,000 -$130,000. With a bonus, which is typically a percentage of salary, this can be boosted to $86,000-$250,000 with a median of $170,000.
Financial Analysis
Financial analysis involves an assessment of the viability, stability and profitability of a business, sub-business or project. The skills that increase pay for this job the most are Valuation, Risk Management / Risk Control, Financial Modeling, SAS, and SAP Financial Accounting and Controlling (SAP FICO).
The average salary of a Financial Analyst in the US is $73000 per year in April 2016, according to Indeed.com. A Financial Analyst in India earns between Rs. 187,810 and Rs. 879,047, with an average salary of Rs. 354,687 per year, according to Payscale.com.
 
Finally, if you’re not an Investment Banker or working at a VC firm though, despair not! The size of your pay check isn’t always tied to long-term satisfaction in your job. Rather, the biggest drivers of happiness are company culture, advancement opportunities, and trust in senior leadership.

Overview of Investment Banking- Part One

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“Wall Street is the only place where people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.” – Warren Buffet

As the credit crisis unfolds globally, I’ve heard a lot of people asking the question “What is an investment bank? How does it differ from a regular, commercial bank?” Unless you work in finance, you may not have come across the term investment bank before the global meltdown began.Let’s begin with the basics. What is an Investment bank? Why does it have the glitz and glam factor that your commercial bank does not?

What is investment banking?

An investment bank is a special type of financial institution that caters to the financial needs of large institutions, rather than retail consumers like you and I. Investment Banks help companies and governments issue securities, help investors purchase securities, manage financial assets, trade securities and provide financial advice. Simply put, an Investment Bank acts as an intermediary between those who need capital (the demand side) and those who have excess capital (the supply side).
For example, If Coca-Cola wanted to sell $10 billion worth of bonds to build new bottling plants in Asia, an investment bank would help them find buyers for the bonds and handle the paperwork, along with a team of lawyers and accountants.
The top investment banks including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, are called Bulge Bracket, meaning they offer an entire gamut of services including Research, Securities Trading, Traditional M&A and IPO advisory as well as Asset Management services and even have their own Private Equity Arms. A boutique like Avendus Capital or Lazard, for instance, will only focus on Corporate Finance advisory which includes M&A and raising private equity on behalf of its clients. Slightly larger ones might even run an IPO but that means you need to have large teams that can support you on the sales and trading side.

What does an Investment Bank Actually Do?

A typical investment bank will engage in some or all of the following activities:

  • Raise equity capital (e.g., helping launch an IPO or creating a special class of preferred stock that can be placed with sophisticated investors such as insurance companies or banks)
  • Raise debt capital (e.g., issuing bonds to help raise money for a factory expansion)
  • Insure bonds or launching new products (e.g., such as credit default swaps)

The Buy Side vs. Sell Side of an Investment Bank

Investment banks are often divided into two camps: the buy side and the sell side. Many investment banks offer both buy side and sell side services. The sell side typically refers to selling shares of newly issued IPOs, placing new bond issues, engaging in market making services, or helping clients facilitate transactions. The buy side, in contrast, worked with pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds, and the investing public to help them maximize their returns when trading or investing in securities such as stocks and bonds.

Key Skills to be an Investment Banker

Careers in Investment Banking can be extremely rewarding, exciting, and lucrative, but also high pressured, demanding and nerve-wracking! Because of the confluence of emotional and mental aspects required for these careers, investment firms often look for specific skills and characteristics in potential employees.
First and foremost, Investment Banks are looking for dynamic candidates who can thrive in an ever changing environment – This means they must be able to multi-task and manage their time effectively.
Strong analytical and interpersonal skills are an added advantage since candidates will have exposure to clients globally.
Interestingly, with all the rigor and structure in Investment Banking, the ability to be creative and innovation is an extremely highly regarded skill.
Ultimately, this is a high risk / high reward profession both in terms of the money you make and overall personal growth. Those that excel need to be mentally prepared to work long hours – not necessarily all the time, but yes, at least at the start of your career where you would need to focus on sharpening your skills sets and domain knowledge.
Many college graduates start or target jobs at an Analyst level and through hard work, perseverance and continuous improvement are able to rise to the levels of top management.

Job Roles on Offer in an Investment Bank

Finally, let’s look at the type of jobs that can be offered to you at an Investment Bank.
Investment Banks are segregated into three major roles:

  • Front Office, Middle Office, and Back Office operations where trades are booked, processed and settled respectively.
  • But beyond these three major departments, we need to know that clients just can’t start trading.
  • We need to conduct extensive research on their backgrounds hence there has to be an AML/KYC department at an IB. Hence, we see a lot of jobs offered in Anti-Money Laundering –where we understand if the source of income from an investor is illicit or not.
  • Know your Customer- This step makes the bank understand the type of customers they will be dealing with, Client Onboarding and Reference data Management and setup helps clients to be setup successfully on the banking platforms.
  • The Risk Management teams reduce the risk exposure which a client would be exposed to due to the volatility of global markets, Legal and Compliance and the regulatory environment.

All in all, working in an Investment Bank gives an end to end flavor of global markets and economic development.
Think you are up to the challenge and have what it takes? Your first step is to educate yourself. Imarticus Learning offers various courses on Finance and our CIBOP (Investment Banking Operations) course is best suited for those who want a fulfilling career in Investment Banking.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Understand the role of Information Technology in Investment Banking

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Imarticus Learning introduces the first batch of the program ‘Certified Investment Banking IT Professional’ (CIBIT 2012) at its Mumbai campus.
Information Technology plays an integral part in the financial services industry, particularly in investment banking. A key enabler for success, technology touches every aspect of an investment bank and acts as a key differentiator in providing effective solutions to clients globally. While the significance of technology and need for special skill sets to understand the application of IT in investment banking has been cited as a necessity by many industry veterans, it has been observed that not too many special training programs exist for this purpose.
It gives us great pleasure to announce the commencement of the first batch of ‘Certified Investment Banking IT Professional’ (CIBIT) program at Imarticus Learning through which we aim to provide a certification in investment banking technology to eligible students to help them get an in depth understanding of the application of IT in investment banking. Taught by industry veterans with years of experience, our students will be trained in areas like Microsoft Technologies (VB/ASP, .Net, Sql Server DB), data modeling, project management (Water-fall/Agile) and capital markets.
In a span of 3 months, the CIBIT programs will give the students a practical understanding of the various roles under technology in IB through advanced application development skills, real life case studies and live project experiences.
The batch which has currently enrolled with us at Imarticus for the CIBIT course is an eclectic mix of freshers and engineering graduates. Here’s a brief insight into the student profiles:

Tejas Kulkarni

“In just two weeks, I feel that I have learnt more on programming than what I did during my engineering. The sessions are very interactive and very informative. I have started getting the bigger picture of programming and the role of Information Technology in Investment Banking. We get to interact with experienced people from the industry, and during the guest lectures, people from higher management in the industry give a brief on their roles and experiences.”

Sagar Rao

“As a Computer Science graduate, I was quite confused on how to start my career in IT because nowadays it is very important to have a good start and to have skills that differentiate you from the rest of the crowd. I heard about Imarticus Learning and after the counseling I realized CIBIT was exactly what I was looking for. Through this program, the amount of knowledge that I have gained is vast and the exposure that Imarticus provides has proved to be extremely helpful. Interaction with Mr.Yogesh, Ms. Shikha, Mr. Harish and mentor cum friend Mr. Gagan, has provided guidance to all the students on how to really push yourself, how things work in the corporate world and how to develop extra skills that makes you stand apart. The technology training that Onkar Sir provides is really unique and excellent, right from building the basics to step by step approach towards complex areas of Java. I am confident that this course will mould my personality and provide that extra something that will give me an edge over all the other candidates.”

To know more about our CIBIT batch, please visit https://imarticus.org/certified-investment-banking-operations-program/  For more details, contact us on: +91 22 6643 3777/8

Investment Banking Talks with Sanjeet Miranda- An Investment Banking Expert

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

I’m a Mangalorean & was born and brought up in Doha-Qatar, where I completed all of my schooling. I came to Bangalore to complete my graduation and then joined Goldman Sachs via the Campus Placements. My first department was Foreign Exchange Derivatives where I was an Analyst in the Confirmations process. I’m crazy about football and follow Bengaluru FC and Manchester United a lot. I’m also a big foodie!

What do you teach at Imarticus?

I train students on Certified Investment Banking Operations Professional (CIBOP) Program, which makes them Investment Banking (IB) Ops ready.
I have also conducted few sessions for Business Analysis Certified Program (BACP). Over the past year or so, I have also started conducting a lot of corporate trainings at leading IB’s, Custodians and Third Party service providers.

What made you want to become a teacher? Has it always been a dream?

Well….It honestly wasn’t a dream per se but throughout my career in GS I liked mentoring the new joiners in improving their product and process knowledge, and gradually started setting up FX related training programs. This was my first step into the training world. Simplifying complicated IB products/processes was my goal.

Tell us about some memorable instances?

The memorable instances are by far the times when students have come back to say a BIG ‘thank you’ and share the fact that all the trainings, advice and words of encouragement we gave them throughout the course was extremely helpful in them getting their dream job.
I had also trained a batch from the start to the finish for one of the leading IB’s in Bangalore and as a gift of appreciation; they had given me a large painting. It still hangs over my desk in the office.

What’s your favorite part of the course?

My favorite part of the course is training students on my beloved FX. FX is the first product I learnt, and every single time I train my students, I cannot stop thinking of my fun filled days in FX! And secondly, I love options – because it’s extremely confusing to understand, but I like simplifying it to the student level and make it interesting.

Tell us a little bit about what is special about Imarticus?

At Imarticus, everything we do is inspired by our vision and philosophy. Our vision is to provide opportunities and fulfill individual aspirations through skill based education. These courses include business analyst certification, financial modeling course, and equity research analyst programs. There are various certification courses in finance, however, at Imarticus, we believe in offering industry relevant programs which helps fresher’s to bloom as professional, and professionals to get the fundamental skills brushed up.

What do you think is ailing the current education system in India?

I think there are a couple of issues. Firstly, the content being taught isn’t updated to the recent times. I have read few textbooks recently and the information there is the same one I learnt in college – and that was many years ago!
Secondly, and more importantly, there is a lack of a theory-practicality link. The theoretical knowledge isn’t linked to what’s happening in the real world, and there isn’t an expectation to do that as well – which is plain wrong. This gives the students a culture shock when they start working at an organization, which belies whatever they have learnt earlier.

What would you like to tell a student who wanted to join your course?

I would say that they have joined an excellent course :D. On a serious note, I know that the training on products, trade life cycle, operations, risk management (to name a few) is something that they will not get anywhere else. The biggest advantage we have is that we have lived the IB role, and can immediately link our experience to the products/processes to make the learning even more interesting and realistic for the student

What do you do in your free time?

I enjoy football (more watching than playing – but would like to reverse that very soon!), reading novels (just finished reading ‘The truth about the Harry Quebert affair’) and watching TV series (I love House M.D. Game of thrones is next…).

What is the best part about living in Bangalore?

Bangalore is a fantastic city, and I love it for what it is. It isn’t perfect, but the people and the vibe in the city are unmatched. It already has terrific breweries/clubs and due to the influx of a lot of non-bangaloreans, it’s more like a one-stop-shop for a variety of cultures. It is home to Bengaluru FC and has more than enough eat-outs places, which keeps me and my stomach more than busy :-D.