How to Become a Top Investment Banking Professional?

How to Become a Top Investment Banking Professional?

Investment banking is one of the most sought after professions in the financial sector. However, making it big in this field comes with its own requirements of skills and huge competition. In this case being well versed with all the steps to be taken becomes essential. This learn path shall give an overview of all the skill sets required, finance certification courses, career paths to become an investment banker. However a detail-oriented learn path is also designed, the details of which are at the end of this article.

Investment banking: Investment Banking is that division of a bank which aims to serve corporations, hedge funds, government, etc. by providing services like Merger & acquisition advisory services, Underwriting/ capital raising, sales and trading, equity research services, etc. It acts as an intermediary in large financial transactions and caters to the financial and investment needs of big entities. Further we shall discuss the skills required from beginner to advanced.

❖ Soft skills: Investment banking being a very diverse field requires a well mastered set of soft skills that are attained with determination and consistency. Below are the important soft skills that you need to have:

1. Quantitative skills- As an investment banker you’ll be dealing with numerous numbers and data sets which implies that your efficiency in handling numbers is a prerequisite.

2. Analytical skills- Analytical skills need to be mastered as you’ll have to present detailed analysis of investment plans, business ventures and other prospects to your clients.

3. Communication skills- Due to being one on one with the clients where you’ll have to pitch, persuade and present multiple projects, you’ll need to master communication skills. Sales and negotiation are important arms of this industry which’ll require both interpersonal and group communication skills.

4. Entrepreneurial skills- Mastering this skill means you should be able to identify business opportunities, growth prospects etc. Thus an entrepreneurial mindset is required to identify the best possibilities and options available in the market.

5. Networking skills- As a beginner you’ll need to develop networking skills in order to unfurl opportunities and as a working professional these skills will help you to do efficient networking and broaden your client base.

6. Management skills- In an entry level position, various tasks and responsibilities await you for which you need good management skills. You’ll need to work in teams, work with internal divisions and build partnerships. A good demonstration of leadership skills will help you to reach top positions.

❖ Technical skills: Procuring proper technical skills after you’ve got hold of the soft skills is another important step that’ll take you one step ahead in this profession. If you’re wondering what all technical skills are to be amassed, read on further to this next segment which is divided into two parts.

1. Entry Level: At an entry level, you must focus on expanding your knowledge base so as to stand out from the crowd. These are the skills that you’ll need to acquire at the initial stage: ● Fundamentals of finance and accounting: You’ll require a good knowledge of the fundamentals of finance and accounting, various terminologies used, functions and processes etc. If you’re from a commerce background, you can take a refresher course to get hold of the basics. It’ll help in effective accounting and financial reporting which is important in this profession.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following courses:

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Introduction to Corporate Finance Provider: edX, Price: ₹17,443 ($239), Duration: 4 Weeks, Level: Beginner

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Introduction to Finance: the Basics Provider: Coursera, Price: ₹4,453 ($59), Duration: 19 Hours, Level: Intermediate

Financial modeling: It is basically preparing an abstract model used to present to the real financial world. A strong foundation in financial modeling is required to move to the advanced stages of investment banking.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following courses:

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Financial Modeling Course Provider: Henry Harvin, Price: ₹ 26,550 ($364), Duration: 40 Hours, Level: Intermediate

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Business and Financial Modeling Specialization Provider: Coursera, Price: ₹ 11,925 ($159), Duration: 6 Months, Level: Beginner

Business valuation: An important function of investment banking is valuation of a business entity.You need to focus on three main methods of valuation - DCF Analysis, Precedent transactions and Comparable company analysis.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following courses: ○

Business Valuation Provider: CFI, Price: Subscription-based, Duration: Approx 7.5 hours

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Technical tools: Being well versed in technical knowledge is a must here as you’ll have to perform the majority of tasks through technical applications. Some of the tools that you can master are MS Excel, Powerpoint and Pitchbook.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following courses:

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Powerpoint and PitchBook course Provider: CFI, Price: ₹2,414 ($33), Duration: 7 Hours, Level: Intermediate

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Everyday Excel Specialization Provider: Coursera, Price: ₹ 7,742 ($103), Duration: 4 months, Level: Beginner

Comprehensive courses: Investment banking has professionals from various educational backgrounds implying that with the proper degree and certification you can definitely enter the domain of investment banking irrespective of your educational background.

You can look for the following courses to help you enter this field: ○

Investment Banking Operations Provider: Imarticus Learning, Price: ₹ 1,10,000 ($1,510), Duration: 2 months, Level: Beginner

2. Expert level: Now that we’ve covered the entry level skills, let’s talk about the expert level skills that you need to have to reach the top levels in this industry.

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Programming languages are not only restricted to core IT, but a basic understanding of these languages is essential for a profession in finance due to its transition towards a more tech-savvy orientation. Some of them are JAVA, SAS, Python, MATLAB, SQL. You can learn these programming languages from the following courses:

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Learn Basics of Python Provider: Simpliv, Price: ₹15,190 ($208), Duration: Approx 3 hours, Level:Intermediate

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Java Programming Fundamentals Provider: edX, Price: ₹3,685 ($49), Duration: Approx 1 month, Level: Intermediate

Advanced technical tools that you’ll need to focus on are advanced MS Excel and VBA Macros.

For more structured learning, you can refer to the following courses: ○

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Excel Vba and Macros Programming for Absolute Beginners Provider: Skillshare, Price: ₹ 300 ($17), Duration: 1.83 Hours, Level: Beginner

Advanced financial modeling that you can focus on are- detailed operating model, merger & acquisition model and leveraged buyout model. You can focus on advancing these.

Software system for trading as having knowledge of trading tools is important in this industry, so you can learn about the Bloomberg terminal that allows investors and professionals to access the data service of Bloomberg which provides real-time worldwide financial data, news feeds, and messages.

Comprehensive learning options where you can focus on specializations according to your interest and further grow your career.

Conclusion: A career in investment banking comes with its own set of challenges along with excitement and enormous growth personally as well as professionally. It ensures high remunerative prospects and is currently proving to be one of the high paying job profiles available.

Apart from all the information we provided in this learn path, if you want to explore more about this sector as to how to learn these skills, what degree or certifications will be helpful, detailed career prospects and the learning approaches, you can refer to our more well-defined learn path.

We have a lot of learn paths which you can explore from our advice page.

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