2. Banking / Brokerage Firm Overview
Investment Banking and Brokerage Firm
Brokerage Banking and Capital Markets
Brings in client money that the firm will be paid Provides financial advice and general banking
to manage and invest, and that the firm can services to corporations, handles the logistics of
also lend to others complex financial transactions such as
mergers, and trades stocks and bonds for the
firm’s clients
Private Bank / Retail Brokerage Investment Banking
Equity Research Corporate Banking
Sales and Trading
Transaction Services
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3. Private Bank
Overall Provides banking and other services to clients with large amounts of money to invest
Function (typically more than $10 million)
Handling client requests, e.g. investment advice, buying or selling a certain stock or
bond, or arranging a large loan
Prospecting new clients through networking and cooperation with other divisions of the
bank
Examples:
Meet with client in order to discuss strategies to minimize taxes or achieve other
Day-to-Day
financial objectives
Work
Advise client on investing in non-traditional areas such as art or sophisticated financial
instruments such as hedge funds
Meet with investment bankers in order to bring CEO of a client company in on a
personal basis as a private bank client
Arrange large personal loans using assets such as planes or company stock as
collateral
Example
Citigroup Private Bank, UBS, Northern Trust, Julius Baer
Companies
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4. Retail Brokerage
Overall Provides banking and other services to clients with varying amounts of money to invest
Function
Handling client requests, e.g. investment advice, buying or selling a certain stock or
bond
Prospecting clients (usually through "cold calling")
Examples:
Call all the lawyers at a particular law firm to see whether any are interested in opening
Day-to-Day
up an account
Work
Buy 500 shares of Procter & Gamble on a client’s behalf
Distribute mutual fund information to a client and recommend the best investments for
a client’s objectives
Inform the client of new products (such as different types of insurance or annuities)
that the brokerage is offering that could be useful in attaining certain financial goals
Example
Smith Barney, Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley, Fidelity, Raymond James
Companies
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5. Equity Research
Overall Creates research reports recommending selling or buying certain company stocks;
Function often also produces other types of economic and financial reports
Build complex Excel spreadsheets that help predict the future financial performance of
companies
Publish reports involving financial projections as well as other types of data that help
predict the future performance of a company
Research on industries (such as restaurants or oil companies) and on economic trends
(such as the price of gold or the Japanese economy)
Day-to-Day
Examples:
Work
Publish a 10-page report predicting the stock performance of Coca-Cola including full
financial statements, using e.g. regulatory filings, conversations with executives at the
company, information on Coca-Cola’s market share in selected markets, etc.
Monitor news on specific companies
Speak with people inside the company, and sometimes investment managers within
the company, about the prospects of an investment
Example
Smith Barney, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse
Companies Equity research was traditionally a function of an investment bank so most investment
banks will have an affiliated research unit
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6. Investment Banking
Overall Provides financial advice and services to corporate clients
Function
Build complex Excel spreadsheets that help predict the future financial performance of
companies
Put together Powerpoint proposals for bank services that could be useful to a client (for
example, might include financial statistics or ideas for companies to buy)
Draft and proofread financial statements and regulatory documents
Day-to-Day Meet with and build relationships with client executives
Work Examples:
Help a company determine a fair price at which to sell itself to a competitor
Provide negotiation advice to a large company while it acquires a smaller one (or vice
versa)
Draft legal and regulatory documents for issuing stocks or bonds, then travel with client
executives to help sell the new stocks or bonds
Citigroup Investment Bank, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse
Example
Companies There is some overlap between all four “Banking and Capital Markets” functions so
companies will typically offer all of them, but specialize in one or two areas
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7. Corporate Banking
Overall Provides day-to-day financial advice and services to corporate clients; many are
Function similar to those offered by a consumer bank, but on a much larger scale
Build complex Excel spreadsheets that help predict the future financial performance of
companies
Put together Powerpoint proposals for bank services that could be useful to a client (for
example, might include financial statistics or ideas for companies to buy)
Draft and proofread financial statements and regulatory documents
Day-to-Day
Meet with and build relationships with client executives
Work Examples:
Arrange a regular multi-billion dollar loan to a corporation to help it expand its
operations
Arrange a special type of loan that allows a company to borrow money at a low interest
rate and that is collateralized with some of the company’s assets (such as planes or
construction equipment)
Arrange a mortgage on an industrial property such as a factory
Citigroup Investment Bank, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse
Example
There is some overlap between all four “Banking and Capital Markets” functions so
Companies
companies will typically offer all of them, but specialize in one or two areas
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8. Sales and Trading
Overall Buy and sell stocks and bonds for large investors such as companies and
Function governments
Sell company or government stocks and bonds to financial investment firms (such as
other banks, mutual fund companies, and hedge funds)
Fulfill orders to sell or buy large quantities of stocks and bonds at a predetermined
price
Day-to-Day
Check to see whether trades are executed correctly
Work Examples:
Buy 500,000 shares of Nike for a hedge fund that wants to invest in Nike stock
Call investment firms to persuade them to buy their stocks and bonds through you in
exchange for a commission
Put together a group of investors to buy a large amount of new stock that is coming to
market
Example
Citigroup Investment Bank, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse
Companies There is some overlap between all four “Banking and Capital Markets” functions so
companies will typically offer all of them, but specialize in one or two areas
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9. Transaction Services
Overall
Provides operational services for managing very large amounts of cash, stocks and
Function bonds including technology support
Especially broad variety of day-to-day job functions, depending on the specific area
Collect, analyze and report financial data for clients, including a client's day-to-day
financial status
Implement a technology solution for helping clients trade stocks more efficiently
Meet with and build relationships with client executives
Day-to-Day Examples:
Work Train a client in the use of a new financial reporting system
Supervise and check the transfer of a large amount of money or stock from an client's
account to another company
Design and develop database to store records relating to claims in a class-action suit
Compute interest due on a bond and inform the issuer of the bond, then coordinate
payment to all bondholders
Citigroup, JPMorgan, Northern Trust, Bank of New York, Wachovia
Example
Companies There is some overlap between all four “Banking and Capital Markets” functions so
companies will typically offer all of them, but specialize in one or two areas
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