Investment Banking

• Investment banking is a form of banking that enables businesses and charities to raise capital. Government agencies also may reach out to investment banking professionals to seek funding. Customers usually pay fees to investment bankers, who in turn help them select the best time, facility and strategies for fundraising.
  
  

Mergers and Acquisitions

• Investment bankers help companies arrange mergers and acquisition transactions, also called M&As. A merger is the combination of two or more companies, usually resulting in a single legal entity. An important financial investment strategy, an acquisition enables a buyer -- or acquirer -- to purchase a company by paying cash, stocks or both.
  
  

Private Financing

• Private financing helps businesses find financial investment sources through non-public channels. This strategy may suit funding announcements that do not elicit frenzied investor interest. Companies can raise private cash by applying for loans or signing overdraft arrangements.
  
  

Financial Markets

• These markets, often called securities exchanges or stock markets, help businesses and individuals buy, sell and hold investment products. Stock markets include: the New York Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange and National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation, or NASDAQ.
  
  

Venture Capital

• Venture capital is wealth available for investment in new or speculative enterprises. It's a type of equity capital provided for early-stage, high-potential growth companies. Venture capitalists bring financial acumen and strategic vision to a start up. By doing so, they make sure entrepreneurs do not fall so deeply in love with their original business ideas that they're blind to making changes necessary to spurring sales growth and profits.
  
  

Financial Products

• Financial investment products, or investment instruments, run the gamut from common stocks and bonds to preferred equity and convertible fixed-income products. These assets also include "exotic" products, such as options and swaps.
  
  

Role of Underwriters

• Underwriters are financial professionals who help businesses issue securities on financial markets. During the underwriting process, large financial services companies -- such as insurance firms and investment banks -- gauge the eligibility of a corporate customer before receiving its products for subsequent distribution.
  
  

Regulators

• Government agencies regulate the activities of investment professionals, making sure to catch and fine securities exchange participants who do not resist the lure of illegal trading. The major regulators include the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.