Break Into Investment Banking and Finance

Attending a target versus a non-target university makes a huge difference when it comes to landing your first role. These categories are based on the relative attractiveness of universities reputation and more concretely, recruitment activity and networking opportunities available on campus.

A commonly asked question by students is: would [insert degree] be "good enough" to break into [insert industry]? While a valid question to ask, the answer is complex and is not always a simple "Yes" or "No".

Industry Coverage Groups are specialized teams within investment banks that focus and have expertise in specific sectors/industries exclusively. Within a deal team, analysts to MD gain deep industry knowledge (as well as build valuable relationships in parallel) mostly through helping these enterprises raise capital or merge with another enterprise.

Big US banks have relied on traders for at least 75% of their Wall Street revenues for more than three years

Decision comes as Big Four group grapples with ‘uncertain’ market conditions

Breaking into top finance roles means embarking on one of the most intense and potentially rewarding career paths. Long hours, steep learning curves, and high-stakes deliverables will test even the most driven junior analyst or associate. But with the right playbook, you can not only survive but also build lasting momentum.

A crucial tool of the trade, PowerPoint is the powerhouse for your slide decks for every dealmaker in finance. It's used to create expensive, high-stakes, storytelling, marketing materials to sell a business or raise capital. However, PowerPoint can quickly become a huge time-drain, especially for juniors, with seemingly minor issues such as alignment, colour compatibility or endless iterations to improve slides...

HSBC fired investment bankers on the day they were due to learn their bonus figures and gave no bonuses to many it let go, in a sign of how the bank is taking a more ruthless approach to costs under new chief executive Georges Elhedery.

In the finance world, Excel is where the technical work gets done, and keyboard shortcuts are your cheat codes. Few things are more frustrating than spending hours in Excel, clicking through menus with your mouse, only to see a colleague complete the same work in half the time, blazing through with multiple tips and tricks.

Sooner or later in their lives and careers, individuals pursuing further educational opportunities go through a decision-making process whether such move is worth their while and if so, which institution to select. Motivations behind the choice to continue studying vary, spanning from advancing existing knowledge in a certain field, gaining a new skill or simply buying a ticket into the networking opportunities a prestigious institution would potentially offer via its alumni.