IBD Finance What is the Investment Banking Division (IBD)?

IBD stands for Investment Banking Division in general investment banking. IBD is responsible for working with corporations, institutions, and governments on raising capital (underwriting in the equity, debt, and hybrid markets), as well as conducting mergers and acquisitions and various types of advisory engagements.

Other Areas of an Investment Bank

Within an investment bank, there is a clear boundary between the Investment Banking (IBD) division and other areas of banking, such as:

inventory analysis

sales and trading

commercial bank

wealth management

retail banking and other fields

All of the above jobs are considered front office (think: customer-facing) careers. In addition to front-office careers in an investment bank, there are also "middle-office" careers such as operations, technology, and human resources. Finally, there are also “back office” jobs such as accounting, payroll, technical support, etc.

Only some people who work in an investment bank are investment bankers.

When someone says they "work in investment banking" they should be referring to the IBD within an investment bank, although people often claim to work in investment banking then that they do not have a job in this department.

Therefore, real investment bankers know they are working in EII.

Only some people who work in an investment bank are investment bankers.

To learn more about the skills required in investment banking, start our investment banking courses!

Industrial groups with IBD

The EII is further divided into industry groups. The most common groups are:

Media and Telecommunications Technology (TMT)

Financial Institutions Group (FIG)

energy

Mining

health care

Industrial

property

Investment Banking Division (IBD) Job Titles.

Within the IBD there is a standard hierarchy that is almost the same in most banks. Titles and career paths at most banks are as follows:

Analyst – Focuses solely on financial modeling, valuation work, and cover book support.

Partner: manages analysts, also makes models and writes presentation books

Vice President: Manages employees, designs presentation books, attends client meetings

Director: meets with clients, structures deals, leads the team

CEO: Focuses almost exclusively on acquiring new business/customers

To learn more about compensation at each level, read our investment banking salary guide.

additional resources

This was the IFC's guide to structuring investment banks and we hope it sheds some light on what it means to be at the IBD. To continue learning and advance your career, we recommend these additional resources:

What do investment bankers do?

Investment Banking Interview Questions

Equity vs. Investment Banking Analysis

Guide to financial models

FMVA Certification Program

Advance your career in investment banking, private equity, FP&A, treasury, corporate development, and other areas of corporate finance.