Career as Investment Banker

Investment Banking careers provide support to their clients in raising funds in capital markets by issuing debt or selling equity in the organisations. Investment bankers work for the organisations and underwrite new debts and equity securities for every type of company, aid in the sale of securities, as well as help to facilitate mergers and acquisitions, reorganisations, and broker trades for both institutions and private Investors. A career in Investment Banking includes assisting clients with mergers and acquisitions and advising them on unique investment opportunities such as derivatives. Investment Bankers perform various tasks for their potential customers. Investment Bankers in a few organisations perform many duties, while at others, employees are specialised, with different bankers performing different jobs. 

Manage relations

As an Investment Banker, one is required to use letters and phone calls to contact delinquent customers. Individuals who opt for a career as investment bankers are also responsible for overseeing the business financial collection department. An Investment Banker supervises staff to confirm all finance owed to the company is billed and received correctly and in a timely manner. Most often, they are required to work for investing companies or collection agencies, but other types of businesses may also employ investment bankers to collect funds.

Supervision

The type of organisation an Investment Banker works for will determine their particular responsibilities, however, there are several main duties all investment bankers perform. As an Investment Banker, they are required to supervise a staff of collections personnel, they are responsible for minimizing financial losses, a large part of an Investment Banker job entails regularly reporting the fund and investment department’s progress and statistics.

Sales work

Investment managers are responsible for a variety of tasks including sales expansion, expansion into new international markets, better financing terms, reduction in bad debt reserves, actionable economic knowledge, protection against non-payment and catastrophic loss, increase in sales and profits, improved lender relationship.

Tax planning

Tax planning can take a number of different forms. Investment Bankers often help companies and people address certain tax issues and find a feasible solution to maximise the possible tax returns and minimize tax accountability. There are various Investment Advisors who help individuals with the preparation of their tax returns.

Manage files

The investment file is a document that belongs to the customer which consists of a collection of data about an individual’s borrowing and repaying activity. The file contains the data that determines the investment score of a customer. Investment Bankers are required to manage the investment files in order to keep track of their customers' financial reports.

Investment planning

Investment Bankers are responsible for managing the assets of various corporations, along with helping them with the investment portfolio by mapping out how one should be investing and in which types of investments.

Here, in this article, we will discuss various types of career in investment banking.

Financial Planner: A Financial Planner is a person qualified in investment and finance who helps individuals and corporations meet their long-term financial goals. After consulting with clients, a financial planner starts analyzing factors like the client’s goals, risk tolerance, life or corporate stages and identifies a suitable class of investments for them. The financial planner works closely with both individuals and corporations to help them attain their financial objectives. A financial planner works over several factors like budgeting, investments, saving for retirement, tax planning, insurance coverage, and more. 

Credit Manager: A Credit Manager Specialist is defined as a professional working for an organisation to manage and supervise credit management and make decisions concerning credit limits. However, the role of a credit manager is variable in its scope. The position of a credit manager is accountable for the entire credit granting process, including the continuous application of credit policies. As a credit manager, one is required to periodically review the credits of existing customers, and also assess the creditworthiness of potential customers, with the aim of optimising company sales along with bad debt losses.

Certified Management Accountant: Certified Management Accountant is a person who possesses knowledge in the areas of financial planning, analysis, control, decision support, and professional ethics. They work inside organisations of all sizes, industries, and types, including manufacturing and services, public and private enterprises, not-for-profit organisations, academic institutions, government entities, and multinational corporations worldwide. 

Accountant: A person who is person a career as an Accountant is responsible for ensuring that the company does not go overboard with the expenses and deplete its coffers. Accountants play an important part in business operations; their duties include collection, recording, analysing and presentation of a company’s financial operations to the stakeholders. The role of an accountant can change if the company is large.

Financial Advisor: A  career as a Financial Advisor is all about assessing one’s financial situation, understanding what one wants to do with his or her money, and helping in creating a plan to reach one’s financial objectives. He or she helps individuals and corporations to reduce spending, pay off their debt, and save and invest for the future. 

Account Manager: A person who is pursuing a career as an Account Manager who directly deals with clients. He or she makes beneficial relationships with their clients and keep a record of other beneficial contacts. Key account manager responsibilities include collecting all the necessary information about their clients such as the identification documents.

Individuals who opt for a career as an Investment Banker are required to check on the reference list and decide whether the investment has to be granted or not. They also handle customer complaints and check for late payments.  However, in large firms, Investment Bankers are required to perform all the jobs provided by the small firms along with making final investment decisions. They are also required to manage the hiring and supervision of Investment Checkers and other employees in their department. 

Does Investment Banker require travelling?

Not Likely

Customer Investment Bankers spend most of their working time in the office itself unless they are required to visit a client or firm for some new investment lending project. Individuals who opt for a career as Investment Banker are required to travel to business plants and industries in order to interview existing and potential clients.

Employment Shifts

Full Time

Investment Bankers are expected to work full time. Individuals who opt for a career as an Investment Banker usually work for forty hours per week. Sometimes, when the work pressure is more and they are required to accomplish a project in less time, their working hours may extend to 45-50 hours per week. 

Employment Nature

Permanent

Individuals in Investment Banking careers are employed on a permanent basis as well as on a contract basis. The nature of work for Investment Bankers depends on the task allotted to them, some are recruited by big management and finance firms and industries while some are recruited by private organisations to meet a particular assignment or conduct research. Investment management is a service-based industry that requires the employees to work as per the requirements of a specific project. 

Work Place

Office

The workplace of Investment Banker is based on office. They may also be required to visit a client or firm for some new investment lending project.

Presence in Geographical Area

Semi-urban, Urban

When it comes to the finance and marketing sector, certain cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Noida/Gurugram, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad seem to offer more than the rest in terms of opportunities, salary, and career growth. Mumbai is home to a maximum number of financial institutions including the Reserve Bank of India, and State Bank of India. 

Time Pressure

Likely

Time pressure is considered moderate in the case of Investment Banker careers. Investment Bankers usually work for forty hours per week. Sometimes, when the work pressure is more and they are required to accomplish a project in less time, their working hours may extend to 45-50 hours per week.

Overtime Details

Individuals who opt for a career as an Investment Banker are expected to work full time. They usually work for forty hours per week. Customer Investment Bankers spend most of their working time in the office itself unless they are required to visit a client or firm for some new investment lending project.  However, when the work pressure is expected to be high they might be required to work overtime.

Weekly Hours of Work

Min 50 Hours

In a career as Investment Banking, individuals are expected to work full time. They usually work for forty hours per week. Sometimes, when the work pressure is more and they are required to accomplish a project in less time, their working hours may extend to 45-50 hours per week.

There are several requirements to opt for an Investment Banking career path. We have mentioned below the skills required for an investment banking career.

Communication skills: Investment Bankers work with a big staff, they supervise and oversee professionals working under them. Individuals who opt for a career as investment bankers also manage the customers and directly interact with them in order to conduct proper research for investment worthiness. Investment bankers are also required to conduct meetings and present their projects in front of clients and customers. It is important for investment bankers to possess good spoken and written communication skills.

Decision-making skills: Investment Bankers are required to review the investment processes of their potential corporations along with managing the financial losses and gains for the firm. Hence it is important to possess accurate decision-making skills and be able to conduct a proper judgment.  

Patience: Investment Banking is a task that requires a lot of awareness and precautions before taking a decision. There are times when investment bankers are required to manage their staff along with supervising the financial reports which require them to remain calm under pressure. Only proper confidence and calmness can ensure an appropriate result. 

Numerical Ability: Individuals who opt for a career as an Investment Banker are responsible for determining the investment worthiness of their potential corporations, individuals who opt for a career as an Investment Banker are also required to calculate financial reports of individual customers and firms. Investment Banking is a task that involves a lot of accounting and mathematics. Hence, possessing a high level of numeracy skills is a must for excelling in the field. 

Leadership: Investment Bankers lead a huge team filled with aggressive and intelligent salespeople. They supervise and oversee the staff working with them. They are required to manage the work of each and every employee who works under their supervision. In a scenario like this, exhibiting excellent leadership skills and teamwork skills are mandatory for investment bankers. Jobs in investment banks require leadership skills to manage banking advisory jobs.

Attention to Detail: Investment Banking involves accounting, money losses, analyses of information, and data of customers and the investing department. There is a big pile of numerical data that is to be handled by the investment bankers. They must possess accuracy in calculations since a single mistake can result in a big hazard. 

Organising skills: Investment Bankers oversee a big staff and supervise almost every customer's details personally, they are required to work under the proper organisation. With so much responsibility and work, comes the responsibility of managing the staff. Investment bankers are required to work in a team with proper organisational conduct and so are required to possess proper organisational skills in addition to teamwork skills. 

Critical thinking: Management of the investment department requires sharp critical thinking skills that involve using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Active learning: Active learning involves understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem solving and decision making which is an important asset for employees working in investment banking.  

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We have mentioned below certifications that individuals may opt who want to establish a career as investment banker.

Interns: Candidates are required to work as an intern for a firm or organisation in order to get industry exposure and learn applications of the tools taught in college. Candidates can work for various organisations for positions such as accountant, finance operator, subject matter expert, online teacher, research and stock trader, management supervisor assistant. These roles are chosen on the basis of interests and requirements the students possess. Generally, internships are unpaid and students are required to work under the supervision of professionals. However, if possessing strong technical skills along with a good academic background, these types of investment bankers get paid for their internship. 

Junior investment banker: The junior investment banker is a position offered to the entry-level candidate in investment management. Junior investment bankers work under the supervision of senior investment bankers or general managers. The roles and responsibilities of a junior investment banker include meeting applicants and potential customers to understand their loan requirements, gathering loan information based on specific criteria, analyzing and verifying applicants financial information, explaining and presenting different financial investment options to the potential customers, presenting approval and rejection decisions to management, ensuring investment terms and conditions comply with government regulations. 

Senior investment banker: Senior investment bankers are responsible for overseeing the interns and junior staff in addition to the responsibility for researching and evaluating the client’s investment worthiness, creating investment scoring models to predict risks, approving or rejecting the loan requests, based on credibility and potential revenues and losses, calculation and setting of interest rates, negotiating loan terms with clients, monitoring payments, maintaining records of loan applications, following up with the clients to manage debt settlements and loan renewals, ensuring all lending procedures comply with regulations, developing, reviewing, and updating organisation’s investment policies.

The investment banking career path is huge. Investment bankers are in demand in a wide range of industries and businesses along with banks and investment rating agencies. There are several industries like auto manufacturers, retail store chains, and even utilities and energy companies that extend investment to their customers and require investment bankers to do it for them. An investment banking career is to build a pathway to have a career as an investment banker, portfolio manager, or loan or trust manager. There are several sectors such as finance, accounting, Information technology that require investment bankers to uplift their customer support and manage the finance of their firm.  Whether the job seekers are looking for accountant jobs or jobs in finance, there are a lot of options available in almost all the major cities of India.