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

Stress Interview Questions for Investment Banking

Interviews

by Matt - October 23, 2017July 9, 20180

Why Does the Stress Interview Exist? Investment banking interviews are stressful enough as is – however, it is popular to have a stress portion that tests a candidate’s mental fortitude by putting him/her on the spot (albeit less popular than before the financial crisis due to the industry’s public relations to

Interview with: Big 4 Transaction Advisory VP

by Karl - October 22, 2017February 19, 20180

What does a Big 4 professional services firm do in terms of Transaction Advisory/M&A advisory? Big 4 M&A typically has three sub-departments: Transaction Advisory, Corporate Finance, and Integration Services. Transaction Advisory does a lot of financial due diligence, which is coming up with a normalized level of EBITDA/NWC/net debt and analyzing

How To Answer: “Do You Have Any Questions For Us?”

Interviews

by Matt - October 12, 2017February 21, 20180

This is almost always asked at the end of any finance interview (actually, any interview - accounting, consulting, chef at nice restaurant). If it is not asked, it is generally a bad sign. Even if the interview was extensive and covered lots of ground, candidates should still ask questions. We

Investment Banking Networking Guide

This post is under construction... Getting Started with Networking Every recruiting season there are a lot of candidates with high raw intelligence, excellent grades and good market knowledge who lack the polish to network effectively and pass an investment banking interview. All good entry-level finance careers require soft skills – from investment banking