The average remuneration drawable by an Investment Banking who has no experience could be valued at 60,200 annually. This is not the gross salary of a banker but it will be enhanced by the amount of bonus and benefits, he is admissible to. It becomes possible for a subordinate Investment Banking to take his salary up to 90,000-over $100,000 in the very first year with his bonuses. The norm pay for an Investment Banking in the United States is $162,000 per annum. The median value is not inclusive of bonus which is to add separately, which further enhances the amount. Most of the Investment Bankers who gain well on experience make themselves eligible for an annual basic pay of $200,000 or more than that also, again bonus to be added separately.

In case of an Investment Banker, what makes a bigger difference is the amount of bonus which reaches upto more than double of the basic pay. After the inclusion of bonus amount, majority of Investment Bankers will get to an amount of more than $500,000 every year. Many bankers have turned into millionaires with the wonders done by bonuses. There might be a limit to the amount of base salary to be given to a banker, but there is just no limit on the amount of bonus. A banker may earn as much as he intends to provided that he puts in as much labor and effort.

Investment banking engrosses into propositions with huge financial risks and large scale crises, the work of an Investment Banker is very stressful and demanding. The ones who are employed on field have an average workday of about fourteen hours frequented by intervals of travel, all night work periods and overworked weekends. And above all, the reward for all the hard work put in, is put on stake due the vulnerability of financial markets. The job security in the industry is very low, but the task is found to be really exciting by most bankers.

There are plentiful opportunities for Investment Bankers to augment their careers.

A successful Investment Banker possessing the necessary qualifications and skills can hope to reach the position of Vice President in the company, he is working for. Another capacity to which he could be promoted is the Managing Director, depending upon the organizational structure of the organization. An Investment Banker, at the same time, stands a chance to be admitted as a partner in large scale investment firms. He can, also, stand as an independent party and start his own undertaking. They can set out as venture capitalists too.

The opportunities in investment banking are largely dependent on the economic performance of the country. The number of jobs characteristically grows when the economy grows. But since the number of banks operant in the economy is limited, there is very concentrated competition amongst the prospects to achieve the position of an investment baker with a reputed bank.

It is not an easy task to become the risk absorber for a lot of people especially when the matter is connected with money. A person may not need very stringent qualifications, like in the case of a doctor or pilot, to be an Investment Banker but he must posses some skills in abundance to ensure a steady career in the field surrounded by money on all sides.

Abilities required

• Creative communication skills: A person has to be a creative communicator to become an effective investment baker. He is supposed to intervene in a scene when big strategic decisions are taken. He has to be good at convincing the clients as to why they should go for what the banker is asking them to.

• Strong analytical skills: Investment Banker are instrumental in carrying out the strategic changes in an organization, hence they should be very strong at analyzing which of the thought alternatives will suit the needs of client best. In making a decision he should take due notice of the risk involved and think to the effect t if minimizing the risk of client

• Endurance: The banker has to exhibit a lot of patience and tolerance because his job is not restricted to a few hours but be extended upto many days. Apart from that, Investment Banker may also need to travel a lot for finding investors for client’s securities.

• Strategic Skills: There is a direct involvement of the Investment Banker in the strategic formulations of the client’s organization; therefore he must be proficient with strategic and interpersonal skills.

• Tolerance of risk: An Investment Banker is expected to go through a lot of risk situations. He should be capable of assuming the risk because the profession he has chosen gives more returns with assumption of more risks.

Qualifications needed

The minimum educational requirement to be an Investment Banker is a bachelor’s degree. But in the event of more and more management courses, the desirability of having a post graduate Investment Banker has intensified. The fundamental qualifications an aspiring iInvestment Banker must possess can be viewed as follows.

• Bachelor’s degree: Any person intending to join as an Investment Banker must be a graduate at least. This is the most basic qualification sought from a banker.

• Experience in the capacity of an analyst: A simple college graduate can conveniently find the job of an analyst which is easily obtainable by the colleges. Analysts, at this position, fair out their hand working at preparation of financial plans, proposals and reports on computer. They often accompany senior analysts on client visits, getting an opportunity to observe and learn interactive and idea selling ability of the seniors.

• Business Schools: After attaining a good two years’ experience as analyst, the prospect could get himself enrolled for a management course at a business school, where he could do his management in business administration with finance. This degree can make him straightaway take a leap to the position of an Investment Banker. However, an MBA isn’t a compulsory parameter.

The key responsibility of a banker is to meet the financial requirements of the client and in the case of an Investment Banker the clients are huge loan seekers. The primary task of an Investment Banker becomes to act as a middleman between the ones who are looking for a suitable investment opportunity but lack knowledge and the ones who are in desperate need of finances. Their duties could involve a lot of activities in the fulfillment of the key task.

• Generation of funds: For doing this, the Investment Banker, generally, adopts two ways. He can produce funds by selling the stock of client within his company. And the other way is to look out for venture capitalists.
• Underwriting: An important responsibility of the banker is underwriting of clients’ securities. Underwriting implies guaranteeing to the client, the sale of securities intended to be sold by the client.
• Must be in possession of knowledge on investment industry: The Investment Banker must be will conversant with the trends that prevail in the investment market and their impact on the need of client. It is their job to be aware of various government regulations, policies and economic factors that impact the industry
• Risk Assessment: The banker must be absolutely thorough with the risk estimates that might encompass a situation. They have to use this ability in minimizing the losses of client both as an investor and as a fund seeker.
• Good Communicator: It is the power to persuade the risk bearer that fetches some business for the Investment Banker. They have to be effectively articulate in expressing their views to their clients.
• Lots of travel: An Investment Banker needs to travel a lot to reach out to the client. They should not keep their limits confined to an area or a country.
• Professional relations: The banker has to work in consortium with what has been laid down for them by specialized training institutions like National Investment Banker Association, to keep himself abreast of what changes are taking place in the industry and what are their likely effects.

Ever wondered how the big shots of the industry or the Government, for that matter, raise required funds conveniently. Their requirement is comfortably met through something known as investment banking. Now, what does this term mean? Investment Banking refers to a financial institution that lends a hand to individuals, business houses and governments too, in raising capital funds, essentially by underwriting or acting as the agent of client in the floatation of securities. In all strategic dealings of a company where there is a commitment of large amount of funds, like in the case of Mergers/ Acquisitions, the pool of funds could be sought from Investment Banker.

In Investment Banking, the traditional commercial banking practice of accepting deposits is condoned. In the U.S. there is a clear demarcation between a commercial and an investment bank.

The need for such an arrangement occurred because of complexities in the financial markets in the form of confusing debt instruments and their governing legislations.

Providing finance is not the only task of the Investment Banker. A more crucial function that he performs is the devising financial plans and strategies for his client. This way he helps in promotion of trade of an individual and in turn, the economy. They provide a helping hand to the corporates that are facing issues when dealing with stock and securities. Investment banks help companies float securities; investors purchase securities and manage financial assets. Investment banks bridge the gap as intermediaries between the ones who need funds and the ones who wish to invest their funds.

The primary activities that an Investment Banker does include trading securities for cash or securities, promotion of securities known as sell side; dealing with mutual funds, pension funds, hedge funds; dealing with the public that has surplus funds and wants to invest, to channelize their savings towards the ones who are in need.