What does an investment banker do?
An investment banker is responsible for selling and issuing securities and financial assets to the stock markets to generate money and raise capital for organizations and financial institutions. Investment bankers also work with private clients to advise them of investment options and financial transactions according to the market's condition and clients' interests. They handle the clients' investment portfolios and create propositions for acquisitions and company mergers. An investment banker must have excellent knowledge of the financial and stock industry, as well as having excellent analytical skills to review statistical data and determine the best financial strategies.
Investment banker responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real investment banker resumes:
- Utilize Bloomberg system and company proprietary research to actively monitor portfolios and manage trading activities to achieve customers' goals.
- Provide service for existing brokerage accounts, manage accounts, annuities, and securities-base lines of credit.
- Attain NMLS identification number for mortgage origination.
- Generate reporting data from Salesforce platform to facilitate growth and manage firm operations.
- Manage customer portfolios, service relationships, and used profiling analysis tools to identify cross-selling opportunities.
- Manage a variety of internal initiatives including merchandising, cross-selling, customer retention programs and promotional campaigns.
- Develop new business opportunities and cross-sell additional products and services with an emphasis on establishing profitable client relationships.
- Ensure client retention by providing strategic investment recommendations base on evaluation of analyst reports covering fix income and equity securities.
- License through NMLS to provide customers home lending solutions.
- Increase new client investment in single equities by $425K in three months.
- Utilize Bloomberg to locate bonds that comply with parameters pre-set in the system.
- Assist compliance department to promptly resolve a diverse range of issues involving FINRA requests and inquiries.
- Leverage high value clientele to deepen relationship and cross sell products and services through needs base selling.
- Solicit and implement all product and service areas inclusive of annuities, insurance, credit/lending and investments.
- Recognize and resolve any written customer complaints and follow proper channels to ensure these are file within FINRA guidelines.
Investment banker skills and personality traits
We calculated that 6% of Investment Bankers are proficient in Financial Services, Discounted Cash Flow, and Capital Markets. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Initiative, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Investment Bankers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Financial Services, 6%
Provided financial services to small American life science companies in transactions such as IPO, M&A, etc.
- Discounted Cash Flow, 6%
Created corporate comparable analysis and Discounted Cash Flow Models Calculated firm valuations as well as analyzed financial statements
- Capital Markets, 6%
Addressed additional issues involving unwanted suitors, dissident shareholders, and current merger / capital market metrics.
- Financial Statements, 6%
Performed financial reporting by preparing monthly and quarterly financial statements, supporting documents, management reports and budget variance analysis.
- Client Relationships, 4%
Develop and maintain private client relationships.
- Securities, 4%
Ensured client retention by providing strategic investment recommendations based on evaluation of analyst reports covering fixed income and equity securities.
Most investment bankers use their skills in "financial services," "discounted cash flow," and "capital markets" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential investment banker responsibilities here:
Customer-service skills. One of the key soft skills for an investment banker to have is customer-service skills. You can see how this relates to what investment bankers do because "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must be persuasive and make clients feel comfortable with the agent’s recommendations." Additionally, an investment banker resume shows how investment bankers use customer-service skills: "helped customers choose from multiple account options and financial services while cross-selling bank products and services. "
Initiative. Another essential skill to perform investment banker duties is initiative. Investment bankers responsibilities require that "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must create their own client base by making “cold” sales calls to people to whom they have not been referred and to people not expecting the call." Investment bankers also use initiative in their role according to a real resume snippet: "lead business development initiatives of premier boutique investment bank. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for investment bankers to perform their duties. For an example of how investment banker responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "investment bankers must pay close attention to the details of initial public offerings and mergers and acquisitions because small changes can have large consequences." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an investment banker: "detailed due diligence material available for review. ".
Analytical skills. A big part of what investment bankers do relies on "analytical skills." You can see how essential it is to investment banker responsibilities because "to judge the profitability of potential deals, securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents must have strong analytical skills." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical investment banker tasks: "analyzed m&a; and strategic alternatives for insurance companies, asset management firms, and financial technology firms. "
Math skills. Another crucial skill for an investment banker to carry out their responsibilities is "math skills." A big part of what investment bankers relies on this skill, since "securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents need to be familiar with mathematical tools, including investment formulas." How this skill relates to investment banker duties can be seen in an example from an investment banker resume snippet: "provided compliance officers with training statistics for equities, fixed income, derivatives, prime services and operations. "
The three companies that hire the most investment bankers are:
- J.P. Morgan130 investment bankers jobs
- Citizens Alliance46 investment bankers jobs
- Citizens Financial Group34 investment bankers jobs
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Compare different investment bankers
Investment banker vs. Personal banker
A personal banker is responsible for managing the customers' financial records and assisting them in various banking transactions. Personal bankers' duties also include handling customers' inquiries for financial plans, understanding the banking and financial industry principles, processing applications, verifying account details, and offering bank products based on the customers' needs. A personal banker must have excellent customer service and communication skills, providing the best options for the customers, and helping them achieve their financial goals.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, investment banker responsibilities require skills like "discounted cash flow," "capital markets," "financial statements," and "mergers." Meanwhile a typical personal banker has skills in areas such as "cross-sell," "customer satisfaction," "nmls," and "cash handling." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Personal bankers tend to make the most money working in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $37,146. In contrast, investment bankers make the biggest average salary, $180,770, in the real estate industry.The education levels that personal bankers earn slightly differ from investment bankers. In particular, personal bankers are 13.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an investment banker. Additionally, they're 1.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Investment banker vs. Banker
A banker is primarily responsible for assisting clients with their banking needs, particularly when withdrawing, depositing, and paying. Aside from handling transactions, bankers are also mainly responsible for opening and closing accounts, processing requirements, verifying the validity of documentation, recommending services and other financial options to clients, and resolving inquiries and concerns. A banker may answer calls and correspondence, coordinate with other banking personnel, maintain accurate data, and discuss conditions to clients thoroughly. Furthermore, because a banker mainly works with clients, it is essential to attain customer satisfaction.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, investment banker responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "discounted cash flow," "capital markets," "financial statements," and "mergers." Meanwhile, a banker has duties that require skills in areas such as "taking care," "nmls," "upselling," and "financial solutions." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Bankers may earn a lower salary than investment bankers, but bankers earn the most pay in the finance industry with an average salary of $55,656. On the other hand, investment bankers receive higher pay in the real estate industry, where they earn an average salary of $180,770.bankers earn lower levels of education than investment bankers in general. They're 12.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Investment banker vs. Investment consultant
An investment consultant is an individual who gives investment products, planning, and/or advice to investors. Investment consultants formulate investment strategies to help clients fulfill their necessities and realize their financial objectives. They create internal research documents that outline real estate investment opportunities and private equity. It is also part of their job to review strategies of asset management that recognize estate and income tax needs.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from investment banker resumes include skills like "discounted cash flow," "capital markets," "mergers," and "financial models," whereas an investment consultant is more likely to list skills in "finra," "client satisfaction," "asset allocation," and "investment decisions. "
Investment consultants make a very good living in the finance industry with an average annual salary of $112,063. On the other hand, investment bankers are paid the highest salary in the real estate industry, with average annual pay of $180,770.Most investment consultants achieve a similar degree level compared to investment bankers. For example, they're 4.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Investment banker vs. Investment advisor
An investment advisor is responsible for managing the clients' financial portfolios, advising them of investment options according to their financial goals and objectives, and their ability to handle risks. Investment advisors should have excellent knowledge of the investment policies, providing the clients with the best financial strategies according to their interests. They also determine their expenses, income, and credit scores to identify a comprehensive financial plan. An investment advisor helps the clients with cash management techniques, as well as conducting data analysis on financial market projections.
Types of investment banker
Updated January 8, 2025
