Investment Banking Associate

To grow, plants need water, kids need milk and cities need people. Businesses, however, need money. To get it, they often make strategic financial transactions that are designed to quickly infuse their companies with the capital they need — to thrive, or in some cases, survive.

As an Investment Banking Associate, it’s your job to initiate these financial transactions, which typically include stock market transactions — including initial public offerings (IPOs), follow-on offerings and private placements — as well as mergers and acquisitions.

Here’s how it works: When a company needs cash, it often turns to an investment bank. At that point, Investment Bankers from the bank’s corporate finance department host a routine sales meeting called a “pitch” meeting, during which they make a presentation to the company about how they plan to raise its required capital, focusing on the bank’s services, as well as recommended strategies and opportunities.

A more senior Investment Banker will make the actual presentation and, if the client likes it, the transaction. The Investment Banking Associate, on the other hand, will do all the front-end work to prepare the pitch. Typically, that means managing Investment Banking Analysts — who analyze companies’ financial statements, build financial models and research market trends — by assigning them projects and checking their work. It also means doing your own financial analysis, however, and producing presentation materials for use in pitch meetings.

Because generating capital is easier said than done, Investment Banking Associates work long and late hours; like the transactions you plan for your clients, however, the result is a large return on investment.