Job Description

 


Public Finance Investment Banking Analyst


An internship that I had that actually turned into a full time job offer is the role of an investment banking analyst. Specifically, it is in the public finance sector. This means instead of raising money for the usual corporations, I am instead funding school districts, local governments, and hospitals. Basically anything that is used by the public and that needs funding, they get from investment banks. This sector of investment banking is pretty niche, so since not many people really know about it I can separate it into an overview of the job and my duties.


Overview of Public Finance in Investment Banking


A basic explanation of public finance is that it concerns things that the public uses. I worked in a group that specializes in funding school districts, so to help understand the process, here is an example of how a typical deal is started and finalized. To begin, the school district has to request the money from the taxpayers in their district. You likely see these requests in November when they are voted on, and it explains on the ballot what the funds are going to. After they have been approved by the voters, the investment bank comes in to give them the money. The bank does this by buying bonds from the school. For example, if the school needs to raise ten million dollars, the bank will buy ten million dollars worth of bonds from the school. The bank then takes the bonds and sells them to investors. The bank can take fees from this transaction as well as any profit they make from selling the bonds in the market. The school can then use the money as they have outlined on the ballot, such as building new classrooms or paying out retirement pensions to teachers.


Duties


I started as an intern, so my duties began with little responsibility and lots of grunt work. The work I did was a lot of spreadsheets on Excel and formatting on Microsoft Word. Once I proved that I was able to handle the normal stress of an office, they began giving me more client facing work. This included making pitch books that would be used in meetings with clients. Eventually, I took over the role of a full time analyst. At the end of my time at the bank, my days would look something like this:

  • 6:30 wake up, check the markets and any new financial news
  • 8:00 arrive at the office (before my boss, always), check emails, figure out what deals are coming up and what to work on
  • 8:30-10:30 in and out of calls with other offices, higher ups, and east coast colleagues
  • 11:00-12:30 finish time sensitive work to be reviewed by my boss
  • 12:30-1:30 lunch
  • 1:30-5:30 grind through all edits and work before my boss leaves
  • 6:00-7:00 dinner
  • 7:00-9:00 try to finish the rest of my work so I can finally go home
  • Whenever I'm finished: rest, rinse, repeat
As you can see, 11-12 hour days are the norm as a full time analyst. I realize that this is a rough schedule but it definitely gets better once you finish your two years and either get promoted or get out. It is very much a, "put in your time until life gets better" type of culture, but the stable industry, high pay, and great exit opportunities make it worth it to me. I have learned a lot from this job, been able to test my stress levels, and prepare myself for a career in finance. 

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