Explore: Accountancy and financial services
Associate, Mergers & Acquisitions
Bank of America
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| Natasha
Investment Banking |
|
| 00:02 | My name’s Natasha and I am an associate in the Mergers and Acquisitions team at Bank of America. |
| 00:08 | So an investment bank is comprised of a public side and a private side. The public side is what you might think of as traditional investment banking so trading, sales and research. The private side is where I work and includes mergers and acquisitions and capital markets which includes debt capital markets and equity capital markets. |
| 00:27 | When we advise a company of a merger or acquisition one of the key components of that would be on valuation so how much is that company worth and as a junior banker that would mean doing Excel based analysis, valuation methodologies to try and find out how much a company is worth. |
| 00:46 | I studied the International Baccalaureate which is an alternative to A Levels and I did 6 subjects so Latin, Economics, Philosophy, English, Maths and Physics. |
| 00:56 | Your subjects that you study at school is really about playing to your strengths and doing what interests you. I enjoyed studying a range of very different subjects. |
| 01:04 | At university I studied Classics, so not related to finance at all. Â I just found that that made me another diverse mix of of people applying to the internship. |
| 01:16 | When I was at university in my first year I applied to do a spring week which is an insight programme you can do in the Easter holidays of your first year. It’s really good for getting a sense of the different divisions in the bank so it wasn’t just focused on investment banking. |
| 01:30 | In my second year I applied to do an internship and then I applied to a number of different banks and luckily I got into Bank of America. |
| 01:39 | So I’ve worn hearing aids um since I was young, it’s a genetic thing that runs in my family, it’s quite difficult for me particularly on the phone at work so I think that’s, I would say that’s a challenge that I deal with every day and the bank does a great job in helping me with that. I’ve been given some extra technology that makes it easier for me to listen to the phone and I can do so   wirelessly, like having AirPods but you know more personal for your ears. |
| 02:08 | From any project to the next I can be working on a completely different industry, the client is always different. I’ve travelled to countries I’ve never been to before for my job, I’ve been to Serbia, to Sweden, the Netherlands, all places I’d never been before so I find that hugely exciting. |
| 02:24 | I think to do this job you need to be hard working and enthusiastic and I think you also, for me you need to be quite organised. Because the job that I do is quite project based you have lots of different projects going on at the same time so you need to be able to organise those and work to make sure that you’re keeping everybody happy. |
| 02:44 | I think the advice I would give to people who are thinking about what career they want to take is to explore as many different options as possible. The main thing that I found when I was at university was that the more networking events that I went to the more I could rule out different options or find new options that I hadn’t previously thought about was really helpful. |
| 03:02 | I really love the team and the people that I come in and sit next to every day and I find that we really motivate each other. I think I’m very motivated by how interesting I find my job. I have been lucky enough to work on transactions that have been on the front page of the Financial Times and I know that might be quite nerdy but I find that quite exciting. |
| 03:22 | END OF TRANSCRIPTION |
“When I was at university, the more networking events that I went to, the more I could rule out different options or find new options that I hadn’t previously thought about which was really helpful.” Natasha studied classics at university. During her first year, she applied for a Spring Insights Pprogramme which takes place during the Easter holidays. At the end of her second year, she applied for an internship and secured a placement with Bank of America.
More information about Financial institution managers and directors
Data powered by LMI For All
£73,320
average salary
The UK average salary is £29,813
33
average weekly hoursThere are 37.5 hours in the average working week
62%
male
38%
female
The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male
Future employment
Future employment
Description
Financial institution managers and directors plan, organise, direct and co-ordinate the activities and resources of banks, building societies, insurance companies and post offices.
Qualifications
Entry is possible with A levels/H grades, S/NVQ levels 4 and 5, a degree or equivalent qualification. Those with higher qualifications obtain accelerated training. Internal promotion to management is also possible. On-the-job training is provided. Professional qualifications are available and often mandatory.
Tasks
- Plans, organises, directs and co-ordinates the activities of financial institutions;
- Verifies that accounting, recording and information storage and retrieval procedures are adhered to;
- Authorises loans and mortgages in accordance with bank or building society policy;
- Promotes financial services, establishes contact with the local business community and professional firms;
- Preparing general reports and briefs on more complex cases for senior management;
- Ensures compliance with the statutory regulatory framework.
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Financial services
57903
Auxiliary services
26222
Head offices, etc
6087
Insurance & pensions
5717
Legal & accounting
5450
Postal, etc
5022
Information services
2300
Office admin.
2067
Public admin. & defence
1342
Employment status
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