Corporate Advisory

• The primary function most investment bankers are known for is corporate finance, which involves working closely with corporate clients to create strategies for funding their companies. The investment banker performs detailed due diligence on the client's financial and business condition, analyzes the information and makes suggestions on how best to structure and sell investment securities to bring vital funding into the company.
  
  

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Solutions an investment banker might recommend to a client company are to acquire another company, be acquired by a larger firm or merge with a company that can provide additional product lines or a geographical presence. An analyst then searches information on other companies and finds several that match the strategic goals set forth. The investment banker proposes his idea to the candidate companies and arranges a meeting between the client and those candidate companies that express an interest. The investment banker performs due diligence on the potential acquisition or merger, arranges for the legal paperwork and closes the transaction.
  
  

Venture Capital

• Sometimes all that is needed is an investor willing to put money into the client company. In this case, the investment banker and analyst identify potential investors and pitch the deal. Once an investor expresses an interest, the investment banker prepares the legal paperwork and closes the transaction.
  
  

Public Offerings

• When the client company needs substantial funding, the solution is a public offering of stock or bonds. Again, the investment banker performs due diligence, structures the issue of stock or bonds so it is most appealing within the current market situation, prepares the legal paperwork, and sends it to the new issue syndicate where the public offering is marketed and sold by the institutional brokers.