How Duties of Investment Banks Have Changed Over the Course of Time

The company that generally go to investment banking companies for their financial advisory services are companies that are either big corporates with a staff strength of more than 300, or those that are largely growing in business. It does not just have to be intangible entities but also high performing entrepreneurs or High Net worth Individuals (HNIs), featuring in the fortune list. This is because to be a part of the investment game that these investment banks deal with, you need to be a big player, a shark in the game as well. Investment bankers do not just see to increase yours or your company’s net worth, they strive to expand the boundaries of your business to wider scales.

Other than performing functions like the mergers and acquisitions, underwriting, taking care of the shares and equities, one of the newest responsibilities that have been given to the investment banks are the ESG funds in India. These funds are not like any regular funds, this is an investment that every giant corporation is required to make to keep their good will in standing as a proof of doing their bit in doing business ethically. It is important for the investors and the stake holders to see that the business they have put their money into, cares about the environment and the human relations as well. ESG funds which are the Environmental, Social and Government factors, make the company invest in betterment of their business internally.

So, the responsibility of the investment banks are no more restricted to advising their clients about stocks and shares, mutual funds and long only funds, but to also make sure that their client is following the guidelines laid down by the ESG mandate. Investing in this type of fund will get their client the goodwill they deserve and gain trust of other investors.

Seek Professional Help with Asset Management for Corporations

Long short fund is a type of mutual funds, that holds investments that are foreseen to go up, and sell securities that are anticipated to go down, these securities are the ones that the company does not own. It advises us to invest in both types with an anticipation of gaining returns on both types. Now, this does sound to complicated to be understood, and hence, bigger firms or budding entrepreneurs usually rely on investment bankers or asset management firms for this to be taken care of. Nobody wants to lose money or invest without having the basics right. But in case they aren’t sure about the types of investments they should make in order to make the backbone of their company stronger, then it is advised that they go to one of the investment banking firms or asset management firms to do that for them. Trust is a key issue in this entire process. Therefore, if you are a someone who is looking for such a firm who can help with something as complicated as the ESG funds, which has already gained momentum in India, or the long short funds we just discussed about, then you need to choose a firm with good name and reputation over the years. Sure, you can google names of one of the highly performing asset management firms in India, but with that, you also need to see the clientele that they have handled and get more information on them. Because, ultimately, this is money that we are talking about and we do not want to loose it just because we did not do a background check on the asset management firm that we hired to expand our assets and take care of the liabilities. The key role of asset managers, after all, is to live up to the trust of their clients and help them meet their asset goals in future.

What Do Investment Banks Really Do?

We have all heard about the big investment banking companies in India and may have even wondered to ourselves, what does it take to work for one? What other duties do they perform for their clients that are majorly highly performing entrepreneurs or HNIs that trust them with so much of their money, to invest it in the right place? Is it as glamorous as they show on popular sitcoms or is it just a boring job which brings with it a lot of stress? Let’s answer all these questions here today.
Investment banking firms are companies that help an organisation, private or government, in understanding smart investment and in return doing it for them. They become the mediators when there has to be any kind of merger or acquisition deal going on, perform underwriting services and act as a broker or financial advisor to huge corporations. Yes, the money earned by investment bankers, as shown on television is most of the time at par with what is in reality. There are expensive galas, meetings over high prices dinner with clients and other privileges too. but at the same time, the stress and the demand to be spontaneous is very true too.The work done by investment banking companies is many a times confused with asset management companies in India. However, the clear line between them, is that asset management companies are more involved in fund management, whereas investment bankers race to make these investments on behalf of their clients and making sure nothing that they do is risky or will out the business into jeopardy. While asset management deal with taking care of the existing assets and liabilities, investment banking is more about fighting on ground battles, making sure that there is more coming in, in the business than going out.

Why Is ESG Fund Important to A Business?

ESG funds in India is an emerging concept which is slowly paving its way into the investment mandate of big corporations. It might not be a compulsion on all the big industry players yet, but it certainly has become a silent need for any business to invest into ESG fund, so that they can be on the good will side of their traders, customers and other investors. Investment banking corporations providing financial advisory services generally advice in favour of these funds. With ESG, potential investors understand the management quality, corporate purpose and strategy of a particular business.

ESG funds in India or elsewhere in the world may not have direct impact on financial performance but will have deep impact on financial relevance of the firm. They cover issues and facts in broad spectrum that might not be a part of the financial analysis (by investors) traditionally, but do certainly matter when it comes to investing in the same company.

ESG (the Environmental, Social and Governance) funds are not to be confused with CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). While CSR is more about the corporates giving it back to the society through good deeds and charity, ESG funds is more about the internal matters and what the bigger companies are doing about them. It really matters whether or not the employees of the firm are faring well and are getting fair compensation, if the produce or service of the company is doing any harm to the environment, or how the company is contributing to the betterment of it and whether or not the relationship between the firm and suppliers, buyers, investors etc are taken care of, and also, whether all the proceedings of the firm are legal.

This is important today for the firms to maintain a good image in front of the world, ensuring it that they believe in betterment of the society as a whole.

What Do Investment Banking Companies in India Look for While Hiring?

If you are a finance aspirant whose dream is to work in one of the top investment banking companies in India, then you have landed on just the right piece of blog for you. In India, banking is one of the most sort after careers for students in finance. The over all demand in this sector has led to public sector, foreign and nationalised banks in India to recruit more and more graduates in finance, economics, MBA (finance and investment banking), CAs and CFAs as well. For any company to grow, finance is the backbone, without which, nothing falls in place. In India or anywhere around the globe, investment banking career is one of the most challenging yet exciting for fresh graduates in finance. Even thought he associate level of banking might seem very straining and draining, the over-all career prospective as you go up the ladder is very promising too. Investment banks, as we know, are those banks that deal with raising capital for different corporates through different sources. They deal with mergers and acquisitions, underwriting, debt and equity and long short funds in India and wherever investment banks might be present. To be working in an investment banking company in India, you require to have talent to crunch big numbers faster, have the ability to think critically and take quick decisions, and also have the knack for predicting markets of the future. All this is very important if you want to be a successful banker in this industry. Usually, the topmost investment banking companies in India hire graduates from prime institutions of the country. So, if you are someone who has just started their journey of finance and want to get into the big game directly after graduation or post-graduation, then it is advisable that you aim at the prime institutions of the country first.

Do You Have the Right Skills to Be an Investment Banker?

Having a career in investment banking is a goal and dream that many finance aspirants look forward to. It takes a lot of zeal and hard work to be working in any of the topmost investment banking firms in India. The prestige and the money earned attached to it brings more glamour to the career. However, it is very important to know that this career path, although has fruitful results at the end in terms of the payment, is a road of lots of thorns. Having just a knack for numbers is not going to suffice. You need to have the passion, aggressiveness, persuading power, and quick wit to become a successful investment banker. You need to have a lot of patience since you will be dealing with high profile clients who have invested a huge amount of money. Any bachelor’s degree holder in finance can get into it, given that they have the above-mentioned pre-requisites.

When you deal in investment banking, you deal with everything right from long only funds, mutual funds, shares, stock exchange, assets and liabilities of the clients etc. This is going to demand you to work for longer hours. To put it straight forward, a study has shown that an average investment banker working at higher position does not work less than 60 hours a week, which is around 12 hours a day in a five-day working week (although this is usually in the first few years of their job). As an investment banker, you will be needed to have all the ongoing market trends on your fingertips. To get into investment banking, you might also have to clear certain tests or exams as required by the investment banking company. This test is usually to testify that you possess the skills and knowledge required to become a successful investment banker.