From conventional analyst VP route to new varied domains.

An Investment banking profile ensures the upward movement of your learning curve. The work can range from structuring of a deal to assisting a company in its IPO. This career path gives immense amount of opportunities and personal development.

There are various paths that an investment bankers career may take, it is not linear anymore. Today you may decide to forgo the traditional path of Analyst- Associate-VP-Director-Managing Director.

If youve prepared a pitch book, you must be knowing that it gives you great amount of knowledge about corporate finance, trading, competitive analysis, technical analysis, financial modelling etc. You can actually see through stocks and companies and this learning opens a wide range of options for an Investment banker.

Trading and Equity Research are the major options that an Investment Banker can explore on his career path. The lucrative options that each field have to offer and how your knowledge of investment banking will be best suited for the skills required in these fields have been explained below:

Equity research

Buy side research from sell side, your job in Investment banking will make switching to equity research easy. Your edge in this field is your knowledge of financial modelling, valuation and financial statement analysis.

Equity Research is about analysing small group of stocks in order to provide insightful investment ideas to traders, institutional investors etc. Communication is done through research reports that place Buy, sell, Hold ratings on the Companies they cover From Investment banking you may choose to switch profile of buy-side research. The job description includes creating trade ideas for fund managers, report writing, marketing etc.

Technical analysis, risk management, knowledge of financial instruments, understanding the market sentiments are the skills that investment banking teaches you, which are a must for becoming a successful trader.

Some options for an investment banker in this field are:

Risk management Jobs- Risk management is an essential perquisite in the dynamic domain of trading. Investment bankers opting for jobs in middle office jobs of risk management is the new trend that is catching up.

Investing your own Money. Investing his own money and trade is an attractive, highly rewarding but a more risky proposition for an Investment banker. You can also choose to be an interdealer broker (act as a market intermediary across a range of asset classes like fixed income, commodities, foreign exchange etc).

A switch from Investment banking to one of these new domains will be simple once you have acquired the technical knowledge and mastered the skills!