Investment Banking (1 Viewer)

[Raginsheep]

Just wondering, what would be the correct way to get into Investment Banking in terms of degrees?

 

[Minai]

Anything really, but you'd be advised to do some sort of quantitative degree, such as a Finance or Actuarial Studies degree, or double with a Maths specialisation. Either that or a Finance/Law degree would be helpful but not essential

 

[011]

Would you say a commerce (acct/fin)/law degree would be better than a commerce (fin)/law for this specific area? it seems to me that the extra knowledge picked up in accounting may aid more than some finance subjects.

 

[Grizzly]

Would you say a commerce (acct/fin)/law degree would be better than a commerce (fin)/law for this specific area? it seems to me that the extra knowledge picked up in accounting may aid more than some finance subjects.

Not sure about other uni's, but at MQ and UNSW
you can only have 1 commerce major if doing a double degree with Law.

 

[011]

I'm talking Usyd, and I can do a double major with law there.

Perhaps I should rephrase the Q to 'what do you think is more ideal for this area, comm(acct/fin) or just plain comm(fin)' - ie would the accounting area actually offer an edge when combined with finance, as opposed to finance alone (though with the double you would cover less finance)?

 

[Eagles]

Not sure about other uni's, but at MQ and UNSW
you can only have 1 commerce major if doing a double degree with Law.

sucks doesn't it..

I woulda done a double degree if not for that stupid rule.

 

[Soma]

Why do people who obviously have little idea about the profession always ask for some type of formula to become investment bankers. They just hear how it is highly paid and thus want to become one. Hardly a recipe for success.

There's many different ways to becoming one, even engineers with little knowledge of finance often become IB's.

If you're just some drab nerd with no charisma its unlikely you'll become one. Perhaps stick to Actuarial studies or something.

 

[Raginsheep]

Why do people who obviously have little idea about the profession always ask for some type of formula to become investment bankers. They just hear how it is highly paid and thus want to become one. Hardly a recipe for success.

There's many different ways to becoming one, even engineers with little knowledge of finance often become IB's.

If you're just some drab nerd with no charisma its unlikely you'll become one. Perhaps stick to Actuarial studies or something.

Im asking so maybe I can get an idea of what the profession involves and how to get into it. Im not even sure about whether the profession is for me, just trying to get an idea of my options.

 

[Shuter]

Yeah IB's acutally involve alot of B2B deals and such, "winning the contracts", it's not just sitting at a desk plugging some numbers.

 

[Beaky]

Actually the financial planner in our building has a "B Arts" and Diploma in Finance...

It seems like he earns a lot...

 

[Raginsheep]

I probably won't end up in it anywayz. Im just asking what I need to get into it IF I wanted to go into it.

 

[CrashOveride]

If you're just some drab nerd with no charisma its unlikely you'll become one. Perhaps stick to Actuarial studies or something.

No real formula, but IB is a pretty broad ranging field. How come all the IB people that mbl chooses to showcase on its site are com/law ?

 

[sikeveo]

haha, nice sig, do actuaries even get that much money anyway?

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:...005.pdf+actuary+starting+salary+average&hl=en

http://www.careersthatgo.com.au/Careers/Matthew+Kippen.htm

Hmm i thought actuaries had decent starting salaries.......

 

[RIZAL]

From the careersthatgo site:

"Matthew Kippen is an actuary at an insurance company. space space
space space space space space
space space Age:
26

Job title:
Actuarial Analyst, AXA

Job description:
Evaluates the risk of the company's financial activities; reports to senior management; assists in the development of new software

Subjects I studied:
English, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics (2 units)

Further training:
Applied Science degree at La Trobe University, Bendigo (3 years); Honours degree in Mathematics at the University of Melbourne (1 year)

Salary:
Starting salary of $35,000 a year"



This source is very questionable.

According to the QED Salary Survey (QED is a major Australian actuarial recruiter) (http://www.qedactuarial.com.au/):

Actuarial uni students can expect 43 - 47k
Graduates (Part 1 exams only) - 44 - 50k
Graduates (Part 2 exams) - 49 - 55k
Upon qualification of Part 3 ~ avg 100k. (up to 130k in general insurance).

These numbers seem more realistic. Most of the people I know are beating the averages so these numbers could still be a bit low. And this ignores students who go overseas and potentially make a lot more.

 

[flyin']

It may be the case that Kippen has no exams, and so is well below the 43k bracket (and in which case, he can't be called an "actuary"). If someone can call themselves an "actuary" in Australia (this means FIAA), they earn much more, as Issac posted above. Coz just about anyone with practically no qualification can call themselves an actuarial analyst.

 

[sikeveo]

what hours do they work for that money?

 

[CrashOveride]

Actuaries work totally normal 40hrs, and maybe a bit more if it's consulting.

 

[seremify007]

My tutor studies Act/Fin at Macq and said it's pretty good but then... she hasn't gone out to work yet. Some of my sister's friends from Goldman Sachs, DB, Mac Bank, etc.. they studied Finance at UNSW I believe- not sure what else they studied though.

I'd imagine finance would be more useful than actuary, but then, apparently people who do actuary and finance have the best combination- or so I've heard.

 

[Raginsheep]

So whats with all the ppl who do act/pure maths at UNSW? Is maths that helpful or is it more of a personal interest?

 

[Raginsheep]

So Act/finance would be more "focused" on a specific finance industry where as act/maths offers broader problem solving skills?