Investment Banker
Investment banks help companies and governments raise money by issuing and selling securities in the capital markets (both equity and debt), as well as providing advice on transactions such as mergers and acquisitions. Until the late 1980s, the United States and Canada maintained a separation between investment banking and commercial banks.
A majority of investment banks offer strategic advisory services for mergers, acquisitions, divestiture or other financial services for clients, such as the trading of derivatives, fixed income, foreign exchange, commodity, and equity securities.
Trading securities for cash or securities (i.e., facilitating transactions, market-making), or the promotion of securities (i.e., underwriting, research, etc.) is referred to as the “sell side.”
Dealing with the pension funds, mutual funds, hedge funds, and the investing public who consume the products and services of the sell-side in order to maximize their return on investment constitutes the “buy side”. Many firms have buy and sell side components.
The largest bulge-bracket firms (by market capitalization) on Wall Street include Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, and Lehman Brothers. Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan Chase, and UBS AG are “universal banks” rather than bulge-bracket investment banks, since they also accept deposits (though not all of them have U.S. branches.)
Investment banking is the traditional aspect of investment banks which involves helping customers raise funds in the Capital Markets and advising on mergers and acquisitions. These jobs tend to be extremely competitive and difficult to land. Investment banking may involve subscribing investors to a security issuance, coordinating with bidders, or negotiating with a merger target. Other terms for the investment banking division include mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and corporate finance. The investment banking division (IBD) is generally divided into industry coverage and product coverage groups. Industry coverage groups focus on a specific industry such as healthcare, industrials, or technology, and maintain relationships with corporations within the industry to bring in business for a bank. Product coverage groups focus on financial products, such as mergers and acquisitions, leveraged finance, equity, and high-grade debt.
