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geTTIng In


InvesTmenT bAnKIng


FInAnCIAl servICes


EMPLOYERS


career insight


www.efinancialcareers.com/students | Careers in Financial Markets 2014


“A good assessment of risk – knowing what kind of support a business needs and what kind of support can be offered – is highly important,” says Marcelino Castrillo, head of SME at Santander Corporate & Commercial. “Bankers must be able to make a realistic assessment of a business’s needs so that they are not raising expectations and, more importantly, not shutting doors which should be opened.”


Not only will you be required to keep up with developments in various industries and the implications of these for your clients’ risk appetite, but you’ll also need to be aware of the regulatory hurdles and the cultural sensitivities of doing business in several countries, as many roles cover a number of geographical locations.


“In my area of private equity financing and advisory, technical skills and deal experience are needed to gain credibility, but the ability to build trusting relationships with the right individuals is the most important requirement,” says Nick Heptinstall, senior banker, financial sponsor coverage, SG CIB. “Across most of the disciplines, successful candidates tend to have curious minds and are not afraid of speaking up when a key point is being missed.”


Corporate bankers will be given a lot of responsibility relatively quickly, so employers want to see evidence of maturity and client focus, even at graduate level. “Really work on how to simplify complex information in a way that’s easy to understand - communication is a key differentiator, as is the ability to manage complex issues and think commercially,” adds Lloyds’ Jackson.


49 pay and bonuses


Corporate banking pay 2013 ($k) role


Graduate/analyst


Senior analyst/executive Associate/manager VP/Associate director Director


Managing director


base salary range 55-85


70-100 85-115


100-140 140-230 215-380


bonus range 20-50% 20-50% 30-70% 30-100% 80-150% 100-250%


Source: Michael Page Financial Services Salary Survey 2013 (original figures in GBP)


goh soon Hong


MD, Institutional banking group, DBS Bank


Goh has a degree in business (banking) from Nanyang Technological University. He started his career at Overseas Union Bank in 1995 and joined DBS in 1997.


My job is largely about business development within the SME division, which means that there’s a lot of customer interaction and a need to constantly engage with my clients to help them grow their businesses.


One of the key challenges I have faced over the course of my career is how to turn down a customer’s request while maintaining the relationship. It comes down to mutual trust and respect, as well as open and transparent communication.


60% of my job involves meeting with customers. These meetings help me better understand their needs and enhance my relationship with them. This can involve travel around the region to places like Indonesia, Vietnam and China, where my clients have businesses. 20% is spent meeting with people in the business to discuss the strategy for the SME division, and the remainder of my time is spent with my team, which consists of around 100 people.


My key duties are to understand my clients’ businesses and to advise them on a range of issues, from microfinance and working capital solutions, to funding their capital expenditure and overseas expansion. I look after the portfolios of approximately 1,000


customers whose businesses tend to have a yearly turnover of less than $200m.


To make it as a relationship manager in corporate banking, you need deep financial knowledge, a keen understanding of the market, an ability to assess risk, and interpersonal skills to build relationships and network with clients. You also need to synthesise large amounts of information and come up with solutions to help your customers.


One of the key challenges I have faced over the course of my career is how to turn down a customer’s request while maintaining the relationship. It comes down to mutual trust and respect, as well as open and transparent communication – if the customer respects our judgement and is aware that we respect his as well, the process of reaching a solution when there are impasses is made much easier.


In order to be successful in corporate banking, one needs to be business-minded and have an eye for detail so you can be quick on the uptake when meeting customers, and be able to deliver timely and effective solutions to them. Learning how to present information in a cogent way and how to spot key growth opportunities is also a mark of a good banker.


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