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. Of all the investment banks, few are as well known — and even as infamous — as Goldman Sachs. The firm’s long history in investment banking and its seeming omnipresence in markets around the world cement its recognized role as a premier investment bank. When a company is young, financing can get pretty dicey. It’s not unheard of for very early investors to pay for equipment and salaries of employees with any money they can get their hands on. Charging up credit cards, hitting up family members for loans, and tapping retirement savings are all ways that an entrepreneur with the burning passion to start a company gets the process started. Starting a company takes a tremendous amount of money. But despite the huge possible risks of buying companies, it’s still attractive for a variety of reasons, including the following: Author Michel Fleuriet, a professor at the Wharton School, explains how the investment banking industry works by offering an insider’s perspective on the operational aspects of the most successful investment banks.

The book coversallthe crucial topics required to understand the fundamentals of the industry, including: But these important documents can’t do you any good if you can’t find them. That’s what you find out how to do in Chapter 6. There you discover tools that make it easy for an expert investment banker to retrieve and find all the relevant data from the financial statements, even information the companies may not realized is as valuable as it is. Understanding the importance of financial statements and ratios The celebrated authors of Investment Banking For Dummies, 2nd Edition have updated and modernized their best-selling book to bring readers an invaluable and accessible volume about the investment banking industry.

14. Middle Market M&A: Handbook for Investment Banking and Business Consulting

Remember 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 current lay of the investment banking land

Enter investment banking. Investment banking has been mankind’s solution to pairing up the people with money and the people with ideas. The combination of money, or capital, and entrepreneurship is a dynamic marriage that’s behind some of mankind’s greatest accomplishments. Investment banking has financed ’round-the-world trade expeditions and built railroads and bridges. 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? Buy a mutual fund. Instead of lamenting the fact that IPOs usually go only to mutual funds, profit from that knowledge! You can find out which mutual funds typically get shares of IPOs or invest in them using the research tools at Morningstar. If you own a mutual fund that gets shares of hot IPOs, you win!

Companies are constantly scanning the corporate landscape for other firms that may be for sale, or may own assets that are worth buying. Buying companies can be a risky proposition. After all, the only way to buy a healthy company is to offer a price higher than the current market price, called a premium. By paying up for the company, the buying company had better make the right moves to get the deal to work. Investment banks help companies on the prowl find buyout targets, make the deal, and sometimes even finance it. Paul Pignataro is an acclaimed author, banker, and M&A consultant who has written several books on these topics. This text is a practical guide to understanding and performing fundamental analysis. Remember: It’s important to note that Goldman, too, found itself in a world of hurt during the financial crisis, and it had to turn to famed investor Warren Buffett to invest billions to help the company avoid a liquidity crisis. Goldman also borrowed billions from taxpayers, too. Nonetheless, those hoping to learn about investment banking, what it is, and how it works, are well served to look at the way Goldman Sachs structures its business and the size of those pieces, including the following: