What does an investment banking intern do on a daily basis?
An investment banking internship is an 8 to 10-week paid placement for graduates to start their career in investment banking. It is a crucial step to break into the industry and secure a full-time role. Investment banking programs are open for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Generally, investment banks consider candidates in their final year of study so that the candidate can join as a full-time investment banker after their graduation based on their performance.
Most top investment banks offer investment banking internships across a variety of divisions, with the most popular being the ‘summer internship program’. Global markets, M&A – mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, structured finance, and leveraged finance are some of the other divisions in which banks offer internship programs. Interns may also get an opportunity to work with analysts from specific sectors, such as FMCG/ Consumer goods, BFSI (Banking, Financials and Insurance), utilities, metals, etc.
What does an investment banking intern do?
An investment banking intern’s job is to work with analysts and associates and support them with industry and company research, putting together presentations, and collecting relevant information. The internship starts with a week of training, followed by the beginning of actual work to ensure technical proficiency. In the later stage of the internship, interns may get team projects that involve financial analysis and modelling, investment evaluation, etc, depending on the type of work assigned.
A Proactive Morning
Interns generally start their day at 09:00 am arriving at the office. They start by checking emails from analysts and associates for any updates or remarks. Mornings may include preparing a market update depending on the sector or team you are working with. Or you may be part of an internal meeting, where you would be listening to discussions on macroeconomic developments, potential pitches, proposals for upcoming client meetings, or reviewing new business opportunities.
Post meetings, analysts will assign you a project, which may include working on the Public Information Book (PIB), presentations or research.
Busy Afternoons
Post lunch, interns generally work on pitch books and presentations, creating the first draft of selected slides before other team members review and alter them. You may also be part of various team introduction events organised specially for interns to understand the various roles and functions of each department within the bank. For instance, the M&A department might discuss their day-to-day responsibilities, the skills they need, and how they collaborate with other teams. This will help you understand the operations of each department and make an informed decision for your career ahead.
Get your things in order
By evening, you would be required to send the first draft of the assignment that you have been working on since morning to the analysts. It’s really important that you are comfortable with Microsoft Office since you would be spending a lot of time on Excel and PowerPoint. After submitting your work, you can start working on the long-term intern project assigned to you at the beginning of your internship.
One for the road
Interns generally leave after finalising and making all the required changes in their assignments and pitchbooks. However, you may be asked to stay for formatting slides, or adding or removing parts of the pitchbook. After incorporating the latest comments, you send the latest draft back to the analyst for their review and suggestions. The presentation will be reviewed in the morning by senior colleagues as part of the next round of comments.
Conclusion
Top investment banks prefer candidates who have internship experience over fresh graduates. Thus, completing a summer internship can be vital in securing a full-time role within the industry. Additionally, if you get an internship for one of these coveted banks, that’s an added bonus. An internship will involve working for long hours in a dynamic environment, with high standards for accuracy and work ethic. You must be aware of the practical workings of the industry to cope with your work, where FMI newsletters can help you get the edge. By gaining insight into life as a junior analyst in a bank and networking, the internship maximises your chances of receiving a full-time offer.
60+ hours
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