Is Investment Banker right for you?

An Investment Banker executes mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, follow-on equity offerings, debt issuances, and strategic-advisory mandates for corporate clients. The job is part deal-quarterback, part financial modeller, part marathon runner. India's investment-banking market splits across three tiers: bulge brackets (JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Bank of America Merrill Lynch — operating from BKC and Lower Parel in Mumbai); domestic powerhouses (Kotak Investment Banking, ICICI Securities, Avendus, Axis Capital, IIFL, JM Financial, Edelweiss); and boutiques (o3, Spark Capital, Veda Corporate, MAPE). Junior bankers spend the first 2-4 years building DCFs, LBOs, comparable-company analyses, pitchbooks, IM (Information Memorandum) drafts, and management presentations — frequently working 80-100 hour weeks, weekends included, on live deals. Post-MBA Associates and Vice Presidents start running deal execution: managing data rooms, coordinating diligence, negotiating term sheets, and pitching new clients. Managing Directors own client relationships and bring in the mandates. SEBI-regulated under the Merchant Banker Regulations 1992; large IPO mandates also require BRLM (Book Running Lead Manager) registration. The work is intense, financially well-rewarded, and one of the most reliable feeders into PE, hedge funds, growth-equity, and CFO roles at PE-backed portfolio companies.