Seven figure bonuses, generous expense accounts and adrenaline-filled trading sessions. All of these come to mind when one thinks about investment banking. I have no doubt that these alone attract thousands of bright graduates into the competitive industry each year. No matter your career or specialization, it is paramount to constantly read books and learn from your industry’s top leaders and practitioners. Written in the straightforward and approachable tone the For Dummies series is known for the world over, authors Matthew Krantz and Robert Johnson have created an indispensable resource for students and professionals new to investment banking. Investment banking operations are rarely identical between firms. Some banks and investment banks are engaged in some front-office areas, while others steer clear of them completely. There are also some peripheral areas of business some banks and investment banks include as part of their services that don’t fall in one of the traditional “offices.” One example of a service that is often grouped in investment banking is investment management. In an investment management unit, investment professionals are paid to invest money on behalf of individual clients or institutions.

The book coversallthe crucial topics required to understand the fundamentals of the industry, including:As you can imagine, although investment banking plays an important role in funding economic progress, there’s also lots of money to be made. Investment bankers can’t afford those fancy suits if they’re not getting paid. This book by Michael Lewis is a semi-autobiographical book describing the author’s experience as a bond salesman during the late 1980s.

Now that you see that the chief role of investment banks is selling securities, the next question is: What types of securities do they sell? The primary forms of financial instruments sold by investment banks include the following: This book is a great resource to learn about RJR Nabisco’s corporate finance strategy, the history of leveraged buyouts (LBOs), and the role of junk bonds in LBOs, among other exciting topics. In addition, the book gives insight into negotiations, valuations, and the personalities that inevitably make their way into decision-making, even at a high level. It’s also a warning of the dangers of too much leverage. Investment banking: This part of Goldman is the one most interesting to readers of this book. Here, Goldman guides companies embarking on M&A, provides assistance in bringing companies public, and conducts financial restructurings. Job interview guides - shorter titles aiming to inform and train undergraduates for a grilling at one of the major investment banking groups. Due to the high starting salaries in investment banking, the interview process needs to be tough to allow the interviewers to eliminate the vast majority of the candidates. During my search for the best investment banking books, I discovered that the publishing industry has divided the genre into several distinct sub-genres, which I'll set out here:It is an outline of Investment Banking for Dummies. Simply put, an Investment bank is an institution that helps other corporations and businesses with various business-related activities. It acts as a financial intermediary, performing multiple functions like underwriting, mergers, acquisitions, fundraising, Initial Public Offering, corporate reorganizations, restructuring, a financial adviser for institutional clients, etc. Who is an Investment Banker? This book by Kellogg Professor David Stowell explains the intricate web of how these players cut through the financial system and their impact on corporations, governments, and investors. Remember Investment bankers raise money from investors, by selling securities, and then transferring that money to people who need cash to start businesses, build buildings, run cities, or bring other costly projects to reality. First published in 2011, Liaw goes over how the investment banking industry changed after the 2008-2009 financial crisis, especially after 3 of the top 5 investment banks disappeared. In addition, it discusses options for professionals looking to enter the field or advance their careers in the post-2008 era.

Reading this book will show you how these interconnected high-finance organizations create value, manage risk, and influence the financial headlines. As with other books on this list, this text includes case studies and spreadsheet models to allow readers to apply the book’s lessons to real-world- investing and advisory activities.Investment bankers often find themselves playing the role of a corporate matchmaker. A big part of the job description is finding new ways to raise money and help companies restructure themselves in a way that makes them more profitable for their owners. Because you have this book in your hands, we assume that you have a greater-than-average amount of curiosity about the way our financial system works. You probably read the financial press and know what the big financial players are doing in general, but you don’t really understand how and why they’re doing it.

The same goes for the gray boxes of text known as sidebars. In the sidebars, you’ll find interesting but slightly tangential material that you can skip if you want. We found the information interesting enough to put it in the book, but it’s not essential to your understanding of the topic at hand. Charles D. Ellis chronicles the fascinating rise of Goldman Sachs by telling the personal stories of the people behind the firm that has gone through a tumultuous history in its 140-year existence. Warren Buffett calls it “By far the best book on investing ever written.” Frankly, if you are only going to read one book on investing, this is it. We recommend you read one of the most recent editions that include modern commentary. Without a careful study of Warren Buffet, the “Oracle of Omaha” and self-made investing billionaire, no investment banking education would be complete. Some say this book is a better telling of Buffett’s life and work than his autobiography. However, this is not a fairytale of a man’s life. Instead, it’s a gritty account of his business and work. Investment bankers raise money from investors, by selling securities, and then transfer that money to people who need cash to start businesses, build buildings, run cities, or bring other costly projects to reality.If the company proves to be successful, the options for raising money, or financing, grows. Prior to going public with an IPO, a growing company may consider a few options to raise money, including the following: Equity Research – The research department of an investment bank comes up with various research reports on the industries or other companies and helps its clients with investment decisions. But in many ways, the idea of an IPO is a bit of a misnomer, because they’re not entirely public. Investment bankers typically follow a process that can make it difficult for regular investors to get a piece of an IPO. Investments: Investment banks typically serve the role of a middleman, sitting between the entities that need money and those that have it. But periodically, units of investment banking operations may invest their own money in promising companies or projects. This type of investment, often made in companies that don’t have investments that the public can buy, is called private equity. Insiders in the investment banking business use all sorts of terms, some decidedly derogatory, to classify the players in the business. Some classifications that investment banks fall into include the following: