Investment Banking Job-Speak

A GRADUATE’S GUIDE TO BANKING AND INVESTMENT JOB-SPEAK

Bulls, hedging, stagflation...did you just wander into a farmers’ convention? Here are some common key banking and investment terms that you can use to sound informed at job interviews.

A

Analyst

A person who studies a market or industry sector and makes recommendations to either “buy”, “hold”, or “sell”. Less glamorously, it also refers to entry-level career positions in many firms in the banking and investment industry.

B

Bear

An investor who sells with the belief that the prices of the financial product they’re selling will fall.

Bid price

The price which a buyer is willing to pay for a financial product.

Bonds

Governments or companies can raise capital by issuing and selling bonds. Bondholders investments’ will be repaid with interest, also known as a “coupon”, once the bond reaches maturity.

The difference between bonds and loans is that bonds can be further traded between investors, while loans cannot.

Broker

An intermediary between a buyer and a seller. Brokers will receive a commission if the trade closes successfully.

Brokerage

The payment a client makes to a broker.

Bull

The opposite of a bear. A bull is an investor who buys, believing prices of the financial product they’re acquiring will rise.

C

Capital markets

A financial marketplace for buying and selling medium- or long-term funding instruments such as bonds, debt and equity.

Chinese walls

A term referring to information barriers within investment banks. Such barriers exist to minimise potential compliance or conflict of interest issues.

For instance, merger and acquisitions teams and analysts are forbidden from communicating to ensure that potential takeovers will not be affected by analysts advising their clients to buy or sell shares in the acquired company.

Clearing

The process for making transactions happen – matching the buyer with the seller, and making sure the buyer actually has the cash, and that the seller actually holds the securities.

Commodities

Physical goods that are traded on a global scale, much like oil, petrol, rare metals, or grain.

Credit crunch

The term commonly used to refer to a severe shortage of money or credit within a market. The start of the “Global Credit Crunch” can be dated to August 2007, when default rates on sub-prime loans in the United States’ housing market rose to record levels.

Credit default swap

An insurance-like contract for transferring credit risk. The buyer of the swap makes payment to the seller in exchange for protection in the event of a default. Banks and other financial institutions typically use credit default swaps to cover the risk of mortgage holders defaulting.

D

Debt capital markets (DCM)

An investment bank division responsible for refinancing or restructuring a client’s existing debt, or raising a client’s debt for acquisitions. The benefit of debt is that it grants a company a greater diversity of funding options, as opposed to relying solely on equity.

Derivatives

The general term for financial contracts between buyers and sellers of commodities or securities including futures, options, forwards and swaps. The value of a derivative is determined by fluctuations in the value of an underlying asset like a commodity or security.

Since they allow profit from the asset despite its rise or fall, derivatives are typically used as instruments for hedging risk.

E

Equity

Otherwise referred to as shares. Shareholders own a percentage of the company, and have a share in its profits. They also have control of company management decisions via voting rights.

Equity capital markets (ECM)

An investment bank division responsible for structuring and pricing the issuance of companies’ equities, such as at an IPO.

F

Futures

A contract between two parties to trade a commodity or a security at a fixed price, on a fixed future date.

H

Hard market

A situation where a product or service is scarce for purchase within a market. The opposite is a soft market, in which the product or service is readily available.

Hedge

A strategy where an investor acquires a collection of different financial instruments with contrary positions, in order to offset the possibility of loss.

Hedge fund

A private investment fund that uses a range of strategies to maximise returns while minimising the risk of loss.

I

Initial Public Offering (IPO)

The date when a company’s shares are released – or “floated” – for trading on the stock exchange.

Insider dealing and trading

The act of trading using knowledge of nonpublic – “insider” – information in order to gain an advantage over other traders or investors. This is a criminal offence.

Interest rates

Lenders demand interest on loans, and the rate hinges on future inflation projections as well as the “real interest rate”, derived by removing the cost of inflation from the interest rate in order to discern its actual value.

Borrowers might pay an additional percentage in order to compensate lenders for the credit risk.

Investment bank

A bank providing financial services for governments, companies, or very wealthy individuals. They’re usually more exclusive than commercial banks, which provide loans and savings accounts to the general public.

Investment trust

A collective investment structure where investors pool their money and then commission a fund manager to invest in a variety of stocks and shares on their behalf. A trust can also trade shares on the stock market, though the share price may not always equal the price of its underlying assets.

An investment trust’s value will fluctuate with demand for shares on the stock market.

L

Leveraged buyout (LBO)

A corporate takeover funded mostly by high-risk bonds or loans. Though risky, this move allows the acquiring company to purchase a significant amount of assets in a short time while contributing only a small amount of real capital.

Leveraging

The act of using debt to supplement investments. An institution that has borrowed heavily in addition to putting forward its own funds or equity to finance growth is called “highly leveraged”.

Libor

Short for the “London Inter-Bank Offered Rate”, Libor is the rate at which banks may offer money to other banks. As of 2021, Libor is no longer published.

Liquidity

The ability of an asset to be traded quickly and without changing its market price.

M

Market maker

The bank or firm that’s obliged to quote “buy” and “sell” prices for a financial instrument, and stands ready to trade in said instrument on a regular and continuous basis throughout the trading day.

Money market

A marketplace for short-term funding, such as certificates of deposit and treasury bills. Money market securities typically have a brief maturity period – less than one year.

O

Options

These are similar to futures, but provide the buyer with the right to choose whether or not to complete the contract before the fixed date, as opposed to a binding obligation.

The buyer must pay a premium on the seller’s futures for this ability.

P

Portfolio

A collection of securities, financial instruments, and investment options held by an investor. It’s also known as a “fund”.

Principal (person)

A term referring either to an investor who trades on his or her own account and risk, or the owner of a private company.

Private equity

Equity that’s not publically listed on a stock exchange. Trading in private equity is considered a high-risk yet potentially high-return investment – the investor can hold large stakes in an organisation, but the investment will be largely in liquid.

Proprietary trading

Trading carried out on a firm’s own behalf, using its own capital.

Pure risk

A class of risk where the only outcome is the possibility of loss. Speculative risk, by contrast, offers the possibility of either loss or gain.

R

Risk management

The act of managing the pure risks a company might be exposed to. This involves analysing all possible risks and determining how best to handle them, either through trading them out, or hedging risk with derivatives.

S

Secondary market

The trading of a company’s bonds and equities among investors. The “primary market” refers to the initial launching – issuing – and direct sale of the company’s securities.

Securities

A generic term for bonds and equities.

Securitisation

The act of turning something into a security, such as combining the collective debt from a number of mortgages to create a financial product that can be traded. Banks that own securities, which include mortgage debt, earn income when homeowners make mortgage payments.

Settlement

The stage once a deal has been made and clearing has taken place, and where stock and cash are transferred between the seller and the buyer.

Short selling

The investment strategy of borrowing an asset, much like shares, from another investor and proceeding to sell it on the relevant market, hoping the price will fall. The aim is to buy back the asset at a lower price and then return it to its owner, allowing the borrower to pocket the difference.

Spread

The difference between the bid and offer price of a security. Pocketing this difference after a sale is one way in which banks make profits.

Stag

A speculator who buys shares upon issue to sell them as soon as they begin trading on the market. They’re also called “flippers”.

Stagflation

A combination of stagnation and inflation, where economic growth slows even as prices continue to rise.

Sub-prime loans

High-risk loans to clients with poor or no credit histories.

Swap rates

Borrowing rates between financial institutions. The “lender” bank charges this to the “borrower” bank in order to offset risk.

T

Toxic debt

Shorthand for debt that will very likely incur losses on an investor. This is typically debt that has a very low chance of being repaid with interest, has a phenomenally high default rate, or has grown too large to even be repaid.

U

Unit trust

Also known as a “mutual fund”, the trust issues units which represent holdings of the underlying shares. The fund can then pass profits directly to the individual shareholders, proportionate to the amount of units they hold.

This is in contrast to an investment trust, where profits must be re-invested back into the fund.

Universal bank

An all-in-one bank that offers both investment and commercial banking services to consumers and small businesses, as well as corporate clients.

Y

Yield

The total return on investment for a security. This is usually expressed as a percentage of the security’s price.