Month: May 2016

7 Tips for Investment Banking Cover Letters

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Want to write a good investment banking cover letter in no time? Here are 7 tips for you.

First of all, consider the readers – bankers. They are short of time, short on attention and not in the mood to find out details of your life, as what they want to see are supposed to be listed on your resume…your school, your GPA, your internship. So what should be written on a cover letter and how?

1. Short Strategy. Short cover letters immediately command attention, because bankers can read them in seconds. If you want your investment banking cover letter read, make it readable…make it short.

2. Be Personal. Start with the recruiter’s name (if you have it). Absent that just write “[Bank Name] Recruiting”. Never write “to whom it may concern”.

3. 2-P Strategy (2 paragraphs only). Sounds crazy, but true! Paragraph 1 – “role you are applying” + “Why that bank”. Paragraph 2 is all “About you”. “Short Strategy” again, no lengthy paragraphs and no non-sense please. Finally a “Warm Regards” sign off with your name. And these are all you need.

4. A killer first paragraph. You want to cover who you are, what you’re studying (including school, year, and possibly major), any relevant experience (e.g. IB internship) and what you’re applying for specifically. Wrap up with a mention of a person you know from the bank and why they’ve convinced you this is the bank for you.

5. “Why You” Second (and final!) paragraph. Mention education achievements and any leadership position at college (e.g. IB club leader). Follow up with your major work achievement/experience. Relate both achievements to how they’ve readied you and increased your passion for banking.

6. Make No Mistakes. Bankers love mistakes on your investment banking cover letter, because it means they don’t need to bother scheduling you in for an interview…you’re out. They’ll simply move on to another cover letter, as they have too many letters to read. Make sure this doesn’t happen to you. A fresh set of eyes will always find new problems. You can get your friends, and ideally an actual banker to review your cover letter.

7. No-nonsense Strategy. Avoid “I can start…”, “I want to do IB to learn…” and “I’ll ring you on Thursday to discuss further” …

If you’ve been sending cover letters to investment banks without many responses, imply these 7 strategies and see the results.

Best Paid Young Bankers

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While there are a huge number of traders and financial professionals, only a few rise to stratospheric heights early in their careers.

this website is created for young people who want to do investment banking, I would like to share with you the profiles some outstanding banking youth. I’ve chosen those who did exceptionally well at bulge brackets.

Source: Forbes

(1) Moran Baldar, 27

Vice President, Goldman Sachs 

Baldar is a vice president at Goldman Sachs, after having been a trader at JPMorgan Chase.

Only 27, she runs the bank’s equity index derivatives desk for the developed markets, acting as a market maker in S&P 500 and similar options.

Baldar is a graduate of Columbia University, and grew up in New Jersey after moving to the US from Israel at a young age.

(2) Simon Drake, 29

Vice President, JPMorgan Chase 

Drake is yet another young vice president at JPMorgan Chase.

He’s a top market maker in the corporate bond market, which means that he’s responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars of trades every day in investment grade corporate bonds.

He’s been with the bank ever since he graduated with an economics degree from Harvard.

(3) Harry Greene, 29

Vice President, Goldman Sachs

Greene is also a vice president at Goldman Sachs, and at 29 is two years older than Baldar.

He is responsible for overseeing a major portfolio at the bank’s investment strategies unit, which acts as a hedge fund.

He specializes in investments that involve arbitrage of merger risks, as well as distressed debt.

(4) Joan Payson, 27

Vice President, Equity Research, Barclays

Interned at Bloomberg and Macquarie, Telecommunications, Media, Entertainment and Technology Investment & Merchant Banking. Joined Macquarie as full time analyst directly from graduation.

(5) Scott Travers, 29

Vice President, JPMorgan Chase

At the ripe old age of 29, Travers is a vice president at JPMorgan Chase.

He manages a $9 billion portfolio, providing private wealth management for other hedge managers and investment bankers. When financial professionals trust you with their money, then you know that you are a star.

(6) Xing Yuan, 28

Vice President, Morgan Stanley 

Vice President, Morgan Stanley, Heads investment bank’s commodities index trading. Born in Beijing, moved to the U.S. at age 10. Black belt in Taekwondo and member of U.S. junior national team for bridge. Graduated from the Massachusets Institute of Technology with a math & finance degree.