Interview with: Real Estate Commercial Banking VP

by Karl - February 10, 2018February 19, 20180

What candidates do commercial banks hire for in terms of degree and grades? I would say that the commercial banking sector assesses candidates from a fairly diverse background in terms of undergraduate degrees. That being said, a deeper understanding of business concepts, economics, accounting, and/or mathematics goes a long way in

Accounting Questions for Investing and Equity Research

by Matt - February 9, 2018February 19, 20180

For equity research and investment roles, a very good understanding of accounting is required to parse through financial statements and figure out what does and does not matter. Understanding how things flow through the three statements and how foreign operations affect company profits and cash flow is especially important for companies

Pitch Me an Oil & Gas Stock

Interview Questions

by Matt - February 6, 2018February 19, 20180

What Energy Stock Would You Buy? Pitch me a stock is a question you are certain to get in any investing role or for equity research. You will occasionally get "pitch me a stock" in investment banking, but will not be required to go as in depth. For research and investing

Interview with: Transfer Pricing VP

Interview Series

by Karl - February 2, 2018February 18, 20180

What is transfer pricing? Transfer pricing refers to the rules and methods for pricing transactions between enterprises under common ownership or control (ie. subsidiaries of large multinationals). It largely applies to the pricing of cross-border transactions between related entities, a good example would be the pricing of services provided by a subsidiary

How to Build Wealth as an Investment Banker

Life & Work

by Matt - January 22, 2018February 19, 20180

In a previous post, we confirmed that investment bankers do make a lot of money but do not necessarily have a lot of wealth. Most investment bankers end up saving less than their professional peers in consulting or accounting, which are lower paying professions – and much less than their

Interview with: Private Debt Analyst

by Karl - January 16, 2018February 18, 20180

What is Private Debt? Think Private Equity, but in debt instruments. Private Debt invests in privately placed bonds that are closely negotiated between the bond issuer and purchaser. Debt structures are often highly tailored to the needs of the issuer. Due to this closed negotiation process, private debt investors often can "peek under

Do Investment Bankers Actually Make a Lot of Money?

Life & Work

by Matt - January 16, 2018February 19, 20180

Before we knew any better, we were at a wine and cheese in our undergraduate years to pillage extravagant free food at the information sessions and club events. From time to time we would run into someone from a major asset manager or corporate and they would try to do

Should You Enroll in the Company Employee Share/Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)?

by Matt - November 19, 2017February 19, 20180

This is written from the perspective from a previous Canadian bank employee, but the ESPP is a popular form of compensation across various jurisdictions Many companies have employee share purchase plans (ESPP) where purchases of the company’s stock by employees will be matched to a certain amount - usually as a

Investment Banking Information Sessions

Networking

by Matt - October 29, 2017February 18, 20180

Attending Information Sessions for Recruiting Key Takeaway: It is better to make a mild positive impression on a few people than to be disliked by one person - one no is all it takes to lose you an interview - this is especially true if you have good grades All organizations looking

Interview with: Treasury Analyst

by Karl - October 25, 2017February 19, 20180

An Interview with a Treasury Analyst What is your background? I studied Commerce at Sauder School of Business, with a specialization in marketing and sustainability. I did not do co-op; however, I did do a banking PCM (Payments and Cash Management) internship. My first job coming out of school was a leasing