Most people think investment bankers manage money for rich clients. They do not. What does an investment banker do is a far more specific thing: they help companies raise money, buy other companies, go public and structure deals worth crores or billions. It is one of the highest-paying and most demanding careers in finance.
If you have ever wondered what an investment banker does on a typical day, what skills the job actually needs, or how to become an IB, this guide covers all of it practically.
Comprehensive Summary
- What does an investment banker do: They help companies raise capital, execute mergers, run IPOs and advise on large financial transactions, not manage personal savings accounts.
- Investment banker salary: Entry-level roles in India pay INR 6 to 12 LPA and senior investment bankers at top firms earn INR 25 LPA and beyond.
- Key responsibilities of an investment banker: Financial modelling, business valuation, pitch book preparation and M&A deal structuring form the core of the day-to-day job.
- Skills needed to become an IB: Advanced Excel, financial modelling and clear communication matter far more than a perfect academic record.
- Who hires investment bankers: Investment banks, private equity firms, Big 4 advisory arms, AMCs and corporate finance teams all actively recruit.
- How to become an investment banker: You should prioritise structured training with real deal exposure and relevant certifications like Amquest Education’s over just a finance degree.
Key Takeaways
- What does an investment banker do day-to-day is mostly building financial models, preparing pitch books and executing deals, not managing individual client wealth.
- Investment banking salaries in India start at INR 6 LPA and reach INR 35 LPA or more at senior levels, with bonuses that can match the base pay.
- Getting into investment banking without structured technical training is very hard in 2026, because firms expect you to arrive with financial modelling skills already in place.
Curious about investment banking as a career?
Talk to a career advisor and get your questions answered
Who is an Investment Banker?
An investment banker is a finance professional who works between companies and capital markets. Their job is to help businesses make big financial decisions, raise money from investors, or execute transactions like mergers and acquisitions.
They are not stock traders. They are not personal financial advisors. They work on deals that can run into hundreds of crores and they are paid well precisely because the stakes are that high.
What Do Investment Bankers Do?
Investment bankers do advisory thing and then executing it. A company wants to go public? The investment banker structures the IPO, prices the shares and manages the process with regulators and investors. A company wants to acquire a competitor? The investment banker builds the financial model, finds the right price and runs the deal from start to close.
What an investment bank does as an institution is to sit between businesses that need capital and the investors or markets that supply it. The banker is the person making that happen on both sides.
Key Responsibilities of an Investment Banker
The actual work varies by deal type and seniority, but these are the core responsibilities you will carry from day one.
Financial Modelling
You build models in Excel that project revenues, costs and valuations under different scenarios. Every deal decision runs through a model first.
Business Valuation
You determine what a company is worth using methods like DCF (Discounted Cash Flow), comparable company analysis and precedent transactions. Getting this wrong costs clients crores.
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)
So an investment banker does what in M&A? Structures deals, runs due diligence, calculates synergies, negotiates terms and gets the transaction across the line. M&A is where most senior bankers spend their time.
Capital Raising
Helping companies raise debt or equity from institutional investors. This could be a bond issuance, a private placement, or a rights issue.
Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)
Managing the entire process of taking a company public, from regulatory filings to investor roadshows to final pricing on listing day.
Financial Statement Analysis
Reading and interpreting income statements, balance sheets and cash flows to assess a company’s financial health before any deal moves forward.
Preparing Pitch Books
A pitch book is the presentation you take to clients to win mandates. It includes deal rationale, comparable analysis, valuation and your firm’s track record. Analysts spend a lot of time building these.
Client Advisory Services
At the senior level, a big part of the role is advising clients on strategy: whether to sell, acquire, restructure, or go to market. This is where relationship skills matter as much as technical ability.
Want to know what the IB syllabus looks like?
A Typical Day in the Life of an Investment Banker
No two days are the same, but there is a pattern. Mornings usually start with checking market updates and any overnight client emails. Then it is largely desk work: updating models, running numbers on a live deal, or preparing sections of a pitch book for a senior review.
A Typical Day for a Junior Investment Banker Looks Like:
- Morning: Read market news, check deal status, respond to emails from the night before
- Mid-morning: Work on Excel models or update valuation assumptions based on new data
- Afternoon: Attend internal deal team meetings or client calls
- Evening: Prepare presentation slides, pitch book sections, or research reports
- Night: Review and send materials for the next day’s client meeting (long hours are real in this role)
Skills Every Investment Banker Needs
Being good at finance theory is not enough, so, here are the investment banking skills that actually get you placed and evolve as the time demands:
Analytical Thinking
You need to look at a 200-page financial filing and spot what matters in ten minutes. Pattern recognition and the ability to think in numbers is non-negotiable.
Excel and Financial Modelling
This is the core technical skill. Bankers build three-statement models, valuation models and scenario analyses in Excel every single day. Speed and accuracy both matter.
Communication and Presentation Skills
What an investment banker does in client-facing roles is mostly communicate. You explain complex financial structures to business owners who are not finance experts. If you cannot do that clearly, the deal does not close.
Attention to Detail
One wrong number in a pitch book sent to a client can cost your firm the mandate. Checking everything twice before it leaves your desk is a professional habit that takes time to build.
Not sure if you have the right background for IB?
Book a free one-on-one session with an expert
Industries That Hire Investment Bankers
Investment banking skills travel well. The same financial modelling and deal knowledge that gets you hired at a bank also makes you valuable across private equity, corporate finance and asset management.
Investment Banks
The obvious one. Bulge bracket firms like JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as well as domestic names like ICICI Securities, Edelweiss and Kotak all hire analysts and associates at different levels.
Private Equity Firms
PE firms hire former investment bankers to evaluate acquisition targets and build LBO models. The pay is higher and the hours are slightly more manageable than IB.
Corporate Finance Teams
Reliance, Tata, Infosys, these conglomerates run their own in-house deal teams for M&A and capital decisions and they actively prefer candidates who have worked in or trained for banking roles.
Asset Management Companies
AMCs hire bankers for equity research and fund management roles. The work is more research-focused than deal-focused, but the financial skills overlap significantly.
Career Path in Investment Banking
Investment banking has a clear progression ladder. Most people enter as analysts straight after graduation or after completing a structured programme.
The Typical IB Path Looks Like:
- Analyst (0 to 3 years): Builds models, prepares pitch books, does research, runs numbers
- Associate (3 to 5 years): Manages analysts, leads sections of deals, more client exposure
- Vice President (5 to 8 years): Owns client relationships, drives deals end to end
- Director / MD (8+ years): Brings in mandates, leads the firm’s deal pipeline
Salary of an Investment Banker
What investment bankers earn varies by firm, city and experience. Here is a realistic view for India in 2026:
| Level | Salary Range (India) |
| Analyst (0-2 years) | INR 6 to 12 LPA |
| Associate (3-5 years) | INR 12 to 20 LPA |
| Vice President | INR 20 to 35 LPA |
| Director / MD | INR 35 LPA and above |
What investment bankers make at the top is significantly higher than these base numbers once you add performance bonuses, which at senior levels can match or exceed the base salary.
Challenges of Working in Investment Banking
Investment banking is genuinely hard and going in without knowing what to expect is a mistake.
The Real Challenges for Investment Bankers are:
- Hours: 80 to 100 hour weeks are common, especially at the analyst level in bulge bracket banks
- Pressure: Deals have deadlines that do not move and mistakes are visible immediately
- Competition: Getting the first role is difficult and staying competitive once inside takes consistent effort
- Work-life balance: Early in your career, personal time takes a back seat to deal timelines
- Perfectionism demands: Pitch books and models go to clients and senior bankers. Errors reflect directly on you
Want to see how the course prepares you for IB roles?
How to Become an Investment Banker
Breaking into investment banking takes more than a finance degree. You need the right technical skills, a portfolio of real work and ideally some form of structured training that hiring managers can actually verify.
Educational Qualifications
A bachelor’s degree in commerce, finance, economics, or even engineering works as a starting point. An MBA or CFA adds weight at the associate level, but neither is mandatory to begin.
Technical Skills
You need Advanced Excel, financial modelling, valuation techniques and a working knowledge of financial statements before you walk into your first interview. These are not learnable on the job at the speed most banks expect.
Certifications
A structured investment banking certification that covers financial modelling, M&A, equity research and deal execution gives you a portfolio of real work to show in interviews. Programmes like the one offered by Amquest Education cover 15 modules including DCF, LBO, IPO modelling and AI in finance tools and carry placement assistance to help you convert that training into an actual role.
Internships and Networking
Getting an internship at a financial firm while training gives you a real line on your resume. If you enrol with Amquest, you get internship support as part of the programme, which means you are not chasing that piece on your own.
How Can Amquest Education Help You Build the Skills Needed for a Successful Investment Banking Career?
Amquest’s investment banking programme runs over 16 weeks on weekends, covering financial modelling, M&A, equity research, LBO and AI tools used by working analysts. The faculty includes active CFOs, Big 4 partners and IB professionals with 7 to 23 years of real deal experience. Students work on 20+ live projects, get resume and interview support and walk out with a structured portfolio that shows employers exactly what they can do.
Ready to build investment banking skills from scratch?
Conclusion
Investment banking is not for everyone and that is not a bad thing. The hours are long, the learning curve is steep and the standards are unforgiving. But for people who want to work on deals that actually move markets, who want to understand how large companies raise money and make acquisitions and who want a career that pays exceptionally well, there are very few options that come close.
The fastest way to get there is structured, practical training that mirrors what the job actually demands from day one. If you want to build financial modelling, valuation and deal skills that hold up in an interview room, explore the investment banking programme and talk to a counsellor to see if it is the right fit for where you want to go.
FAQs on What Investment Bankers Do
What does an investment banker do on a daily basis?
They build financial models, update pitch books, attend deal meetings and analyse company financials. Long working hours are part of the routine, especially at the analyst level.
What skills are required to become an investment banker?
Advanced Excel, financial modelling, valuation and clear communication. Attention to detail matters as much as technical ability.
Is investment banking a good career?
For people who want high earnings and deal-level exposure to corporate finance, yes. The trade-off is long hours, especially in the early years.
How much do investment bankers earn?
Entry-level roles in India pay INR 6 to 12 LPA. Senior bankers at top firms earn INR 35 LPA and above, excluding bonuses.
Which course is best for becoming an investment banker?
A programme that covers financial modelling, M&A, equity research and live deal projects and also supports placement. That combination is what firms actually look for when they hire.
