List of the best investment banking courses for beginners

Top 5 Investment Banking Courses For Beginners

November 2, 2024 Gnana Sujan M

Technological advancement has increased the demand for a large number of courses, opening opportunities for various jobs in recent trends. But there are few courses that are of evergreen value and have always been in high demand, Investment banking is one such course. The investment bankers deal with the organizations by helping them with initial public offers for stocks and also in merging and acquisitions. They also assist businesses to raise their capital through investing. They give their investing expertise to governments to reduce risks. This is why the investment banking courses for beginners are highly regarded.

Introduction to Investment Banking:

Investment banking offers advisory financial services for organizations, corporations, and governments. This type of banking differs from other types as it deals with larger complex transactions for big firms and governments. The investment market is highly unpredictable and dynamic, and these investment banking organizations or firms help their clients make the best investing and financial decisions and implement strategies.

Five Major Services Provided by the Investment Banking Are:

1. Underwriting:

Underwriting is the guarantee assured by a firm that the financial risk liability associated with the damage or financial loss in investment. Organizations use the underwriting service provided by investment bankers when they launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO). IPO is the introduction of new stocks into the public market that are issued by certain private organizations.

2. Mergers & Acquisitions Advisors:

The acquisition is the taking over of another company by a bigger company. Merging is the partnership or combination of two companies that turns into a single entity under a single name. For M&A there are two sides; the buy side and the sell side. Each side approaches investment banking for financial advice to maximize their share values.

3. Sales, Trading and Corporate Broking:

Usually, large institutional clients or high net-worth investors engage in buying or selling securities, and the investment bankers hired by them help them with profitable trading ideas and strategies using their investing expertise.

4. Asset Management Services:

The investment bankers manage the assets of the institutions by investing them in stocks, fixed-income securities or bonds, derivatives investments, and more. They create a methodical portfolio for the institutions in this process.

5. Research:

In order to maintain highly profitable investing assurances, investment bankers must do a lot of research on equities, securities, and other stocks. This research was conducted on both the sell side and the buy side. Some companies also demand investment bankers to research macroeconomics, market scenarios, political scenarios, and credit analysis to enhance their performance on the market. The companies that are interested in merging and acquisition also rely on investment bankers to conduct research on the companies they are going to merge or take over.

Recent Trends in Investment Banking:

Though investment banking has been a vital course for a long period of time, with recent advancements there are trends emerging with investment banking to make them more effective and advanced. Artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, big data, and robotic process automation are the modern financial technological terms that have become an integral part of the finance world.

A few trends that have emerged in the past few years are Generative AI, Increased regulatory scrutiny, Open banking, Fintech competition and integration, Digitalization

Attrition and talent shortage. Due to these, the demand for investment banking standards is raised. So in addition to the traditional degree courses related to finance and business, one must upskill oneself starting with investment banking courses for beginners and then to advanced level.

Top 5 Investment Banking Courses For Beginners:

Here is the list of the top 5 investment banking courses for beginners. One can enroll in any of these courses to acquire the basic knowledge and skills required for investment banking.

1. IIM SKILLS:

IIM SKILLS is one of the fastest-growing online education platforms that primarily concentrates on the skill development of candidates. Their main motive is to identify the skills that are in high demand in the global market and create a practical course with all the knowledge and skills needed for that course with proper industry training.

These courses have proven to be beneficial for students from various domains. Since investment banking is in high demand they also created an investment banking course and definitely will be in coherence with you, if you are looking for investment banking courses for beginners.

Investment Banking Course Outline:

This is a three-month instructor-led online investment banking course with a one-month internship. This course consists of super-interactive sessions with live trainers. The certification offered by them is highly recognized with industry standards and also approved by the MSME Government of India.

One important aspect of IIM SKILLS is they provide high support during the course and internship as you can clarify any queries with them whenever you want. Even after finishing the course, you can get access to the recordings and resource materials through LMS.

Module:

The course curriculum is designed in a progressive way to recent trends and the students will be able to adapt themselves to the industry standards after completion of this course.

The curriculum includes,

Deep understanding of MS Excel, its primal functions, formulas, and conditional formatting.
Fundamentals of the financial system and market.
Deep understanding of the stock exchange, financial centers, forex, quotes, and trades.
The technicalities of investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, equity, venture capital and a lot more
Knowledge and understanding about the buy-side, sell-side, due diligence, etc.
Proper understanding of marketing collaterals, such as NDAs, buyers/investors lists, pitchbooks, and financial models.
Business valuation, including DCF valuation.

Internship and Placements:

The internship includes a capstone project that will help to link your academic skills and practical experience. The IIM skills with their tie-ups with various organizations will help you to get industry-level training experience during the internship. After finishing the internship you will be industry-ready in the investment banking market.

At the same time, there will be preparation for your placements with portfolio and resume building alongside mock interviews and then you can approach the placement opportunities with confidence. More importantly, they offer 100% placement assistance.

2. Imarticus:

Imarticus is a future-based leading educational platform that provides powerful coaching on financial, analytical, technological, managemental, and marketing-related courses. Their motive is to empower the professionals of the upcoming generation. They provide a Certified investment banking operations professional course, considered one of the best investment banking courses for beginners.

Course Outline:

This course certification is highly recognized in industry standards and can enhance your profile. Classroom and live online training helps you to learn this course productively in an interactive manner. In addition to that, you can implement what you’ve learned with real-world projects, and solve business problems and case studies specially formulated by our industry partners. Specific skills that are acquired during this course are Understanding the fundamentals of financial markets, trade life cycle, risk management, and regulation and gaining practical knowledge.

Course Module:

They procured expert faculty to create a robust curriculum and convey it elegantly to the learners. The curriculum consists of:

Introduction to Financial Markets:

Introduction to investment banking.
Cost equities and Fixed Income.
Foreign exchange and money markets.
Derivative markets.

Trade life cycle:

Reference data management
Corporate actions.
Asset management.
Reconciliation
Introduction to ISDA.
Stock, Borrow, and Lending.
Collateral management.

Risk Management:

Risk management and regulatory environment.
Anti-money laundering and KYC.

Career Support:

After the training, they offer placement support to help you achieve your unique career goals through placement preparation, communication skills enhancement, resume-building, and mock interviews. There will be interview preparation in Domain and HR terms and then a final mock interview followed by a final certification exam.

They give you full assurance for placement. There will be 10 interviews from over 500 top-tier partner organizations hiring investment banking professionals.

You can become a Financial analyst, Investment banking associate, Risk Management Consultant, Money market analyst, Global finance Researcher, Anti-money laundering specialist, Capital market operations consultant, Executive director in clearing service, Corporate banking treasurer, Regulatory reporting analyst, Financial marketing advisor, and Investment banking operations lead.

3. EduBridge India:

Edubridge is an online education platform that provides a seamless learning experience. There are a number of courses for skill upgrades and dedicated placement cells ensuring job opportunities. One of their courses is the investment banking operations certification course which is one of the perfect investment banking courses for beginners.

Course outline:

This is a full-time online course with interactive and doubt-clearing sessions. There are live case studies and projects along with interviews and placement opportunities. Complete set of tools and techniques that will land them their dream job. The course has a structured curriculum with the latest trends and to know how Investment Banking Operations work. There is a dedicated group of highly qualified and experienced faculty members.

Course module:

To understand concepts of the Indian Financial System, Stock Markets, Derivatives etc.
To understand concepts like the Price of Equity, Types of Bonds, Bond Price Sensitivity measures and Bonds vs. Equity investment.
To decipher Financial Modeling concepts like Portfolio Theory, Time Value of Money and capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM).
To strengthen knowledge of Investment Banking Concepts, including Merchant Banking, over-the-counter products (OTC) vs. Exchange Traded Products, Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Due Diligence.
This module is specially designed to create awareness of the roles and responsibilities of an Investment Banker.

Projects and case studies:

This gives an opportunity for the learners to apply the skills that are gained in this course. The industry experts created 20+ live projects and case studies to make you industry-ready.

Here are the major Industry projects the learners will be working on:

Post Merger integration in M&A Transactions ( HDFC Bank ):

The interns will investigate and analyze the post-merger integration process in Merger and Acquisition deals in India. The analysis concentrates primarily on understanding the legal aspects, regulations, and practical challenges associated with integrating companies after a merger or acquisition. In this project, the intern will explore the complexities and intricacies of M&A transactions.

Investment banking strategies and operations ( Goldman Sachs ):

During this project, the interns will delve into the investment banking strategies and operations of Goldman Sachs, one of the world’s renowned financial institutions. Learners will observe and analyze how they deal with, manage risk, handle complex financial transactions, and adapt to financial industry changes. They will also explore the role of its investment banking division in the broader context of its overall business model that contributes to its long-term success.

Global expansion and investment banking operations ( Citigroup ):

The project revolves around examining Citigroup’s global expansion strategies and the execution of its investment banking operations in different regions worldwide. It also covers their market entry decisions, regulatory challenges, and client acquisition strategies. Learners will also interpret how Citigroup customizes their services to cater to diverse regional markets and navigate unique geopolitical and economic conditions.

Foreign exchange rate forecasting models ( Deutsche Bank ):

The learners will examine, develop, and compare various exchange rate forecasting models for making informed investment decisions during this study. Also, the learners will get an opportunity to use historical data from Deutsche Bank to build and validate models, evaluating their accuracy and practicality. They will also explore the role of its investment banking division in the context of its business model that contributes to long-term success.

Risk management and operations ( Morgan Stanley ):

This project centers around Morgan Stanley’s risk management practices within its investment banking division. The learners also assess how they identify, measure, and mitigate risks associated with their investment portfolio, market fluctuations, counterparty exposures, and regulatory compliance.

Career Building:

In this course, they offer a different strategy called career passports, which include skill passports, Interview passports and job passports The skill passport covers all learning and training parts we discussed earlier along with resume building.

The interview passport comprises;

Access to EduBridge Curated Job Portal will give access to a wide range of jobs.
LinkedIn Profile Review with an Expert
Mock Interviews with an Assessor
Placement Preparation with a specialized dedicated placement manager for each learner.
There is also a guarantee of a minimum of five interviews.

The Job passport comprises;

Course on “Communicate with ease in English” with AI-enabled assessments worth INR 7000 is included in this passport
One-on-One Mentorship: Choose a Mentor from 250+ mentors from diverse fields who will mentor you to achieve your career goals worth INR 5000 is included in this passport
Career Assessment and Counselling: A career session with a Certified Career Counsellor to give you a strong understanding of how to prosper in your career worth INR 5000 is included in this passport.
Placement assistance with lifetime access to the EduBridge Job Portal.
Job Guarantee: A dedicated Placement Manager to work with you till you get a job.

Check here the other best investment banking courses:

4. Mentor Me Careers:

Mentor Me Careers is the leading provider of core finance skills, designations, and technology solutions for finance candidates. This institution provides the core financing skills for the placements of their learners. They offer one of the potential investment banking courses for beginners, The investment banking operations course.

Course introduction:

The investment banking operations course offered by Mentor Me Careers is the highest-rated course. It contains more than 200 hours of training, NSE certification, and lifetime validity. They also give placement opportunities and prepare you for the interviews. It gives an understanding of the financial world and aligns your skills to make you perfect for your role in investment banking

Course Modules:

The course curriculum includes Investment Banking Foundation, Equity and markets Structure, Derivatives Instruments, Fixed Income Securities, Asset Management, Corporate Governance, Trade Execution, Trade Agreement, Custodian, Settlement Failure, SWIFT, Securities Lending and borrowing, Safe Custody, Corporate Actions, Reconciliation, Risk Management, Anti Money Laundering and Basic Excel.

Placement preparation:

This starts with profile-building and resume-building processes. Then there will be training for job applications and interviews. The mock interviews were also given to familiarize the environment. Speaking of placement assistance they assure 100% placement assistance and unlimited interviews for recognized corporations like Goldman Sachs, Jp Morgan, HSBC, and Axa business service. Overall this is the best course for graduates with a business background looking for the best investment banking courses for beginners.

5. Financial Edge Training:

Financial Edge Training is a self-paced online education platform specialized in financial courses with world-class financial instructors and their certifications are Wall Street recognized.

They are trusted by Wall Street’s best analysts for training because of their elite training team with instructors from J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and other highly valued institutions. Due to this high recognition, you can easily get placements. They offer an investment banking program with micro degrees and certification which will fulfil your search for investment banking courses for beginners.

Course information:

The course is divided into four micro degrees for upgrading skills in each department of investment banking. The micro degrees include accountant, modeler, valuer, and deal maker.

The accountant:

This micro degree helps you to instantly interpret financial data and statements with conviction, also to evaluate them, and use the calculated information to build high-quality reports. In order to make the learners industry-ready, real company data and the latest rules are covered.

The module includes,

Financial Accounting Review
Income Statements
Earnings Per Share
Working Capital
Non-Current Assets
Capital Structure
Accounting Ratios
Cash Flow Statements
Equity Method Investments
Intro To Full Consolidation

The modeler:

Financial modeling is one of the core skills in the world of finance, building models quickly and without error is needed for more investment banking firms. The module of this course includes:

Introduction To Modeling
Three Statement Modeling With Iterations
Three-Statement Model Editing
Three-Statement Model With Estimates
Building A Model With Cash Sweep
Checking A Model For Integrity And Errors

The Valuer:

This degree helps to utilize the key valuation methods and supporting calculations in the field of investment banking, The module for this degree is a vital element for the investment banking courses for beginners:

Equity To Enterprise Value Bridge
Trading Comparables
Transaction Comparables
WACC Analysis
Discounted Cash Flow Valuation
Pulling The Analysis Together

The dealmaker:

The dealmaker is an indispensable role for an investment banker in the areas of equities and security trading, mergers & acquisitions and more. So it is important to add to the curriculum of the investment banking courses for beginners. The module for the dealmaker includes:

Merger Analysis Cash Deal
Merger Model
Earnouts
Leveraged Buyouts
Acquisition Finance Debt Capacity

In addition to these degrees, there is training for usage of financial data tools like BamSec, FactSec, and Felix which boosts the problem-solving skills and efficiency of investment bankers. Upon completion of this course, the valid certification will help you get good placement opportunities just like the alumni of this institution.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Investment Banking Courses For Beginners

1. Who should pursue investment banking?

Investment banking suits individuals who are enthusiastic to work with numbers and data. It also suits a person with deep analytical skills. It is preferable to have some background through related courses like economics, mathematics, accounting, and finance. It is a plus If you are more flexible and communicative. The more important thing is you should have an interest in this field and should be ambitious to learn more.

2. What are the skills required for an investment banker?

The investment banker must possess a wide range of financial, analytical, communicative, and technical skills. Each department of investment banking requires a different skill set, the investment bankers must be ready to adapt themselves to their job profile. The investment banking courses for beginners help the learners equip themselves with these skill sets.

3. Why investment banking is always in demand?

Investment banking has an evergreen demand because of the enduring progress of the finance world. The organizations and corporations are increasing in number as well as the money circulation. Which was always been the case and also will be, so there will be an eternal demand for investment bankers and you can confidently enter into investment banking through one of these investment banking courses for beginners.

Conclusion:

This is the list of the top 5 investment banking courses for beginners. If you are interested in investment banking and have a basic background, you can pursue any of these courses to upskill yourself in investment banking gain proper knowledge and industry experience through their training get placement opportunities, and then build yourself as an investment banker.

Vaibhav Kakkar