• Best of luck to the class of 2024 for their HSC exams. You got this!
    Let us know your thoughts on the HSC exams here
  • YOU can help the next generation of students in the community!
    Share your trial papers and notes on our Notes & Resources page
MedVision ad

Merchant banking (1 Viewer)

Left-ism

Member
Joined
May 28, 2003
Messages
188
Gender
Male
HSC
1998
what majors/subjects to get into merchant banking.
Im doin B.Commerce
 

Minai

Alumni
Joined
Jul 7, 2002
Messages
7,458
Location
Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
2002
Uni Grad
2006
Originally posted by Left-ism
what majors/subjects to get into merchant banking.
Im doin B.Commerce
Most likely a major sequence in Finance at most uni's
 

Raiks

Enigma Unlimited
Joined
Sep 10, 2003
Messages
2,109
Gender
Male
HSC
2002
Try either majoring or double majoring in Economics, Finance or Accounting plus theres plenty of Post Grad work you can do such as Master of Applied Finance (Banking) and the like.

Most of it comes down to is working the graduation scheme circuit and hopefully picking up work for a major bank or financial insitution.
 

gm

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2003
Messages
55
Gender
Male
HSC
2004
Okay... I know a hell of alot about this...

I think you really refering to investment banking, merchant banking is an offspring of this.

To work at a bulge bracket bank, which is something like Goldman Sachs, Macquarie Bank, UBS etc... you really would want combined Commerce/Law from USYD or UNSW, majoring in Finance and/or Accounting... You'll want atleast a D average as well...

If you're stuck in Macquarie, UOW or one of the lesser prestigous unis, you can always do postgrad work at the Securities Insititute of Australia www.securities.edu.au, the Master of Applied Finance and Investment is THE most respected degree in Australia's finance industry.

You can get work at non bulge-bracket banks, like the Corporate Finance team at a broker, but this is less money, less presteige and is still reasonably hard to get into.

I'm an SIA student and i love the style of teaching....

If anyone has any questions, i know alot about finance, and the finance industry, feel free to ask some questions......
 

fitz33

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2003
Messages
127
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2003
Originally posted by gm

the Master of Applied Finance and Investment is THE most respected degree in Australia's finance industry.
and you need bloody good marks and good work experience to get into it in the first place
 

gm

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2003
Messages
55
Gender
Male
HSC
2004
yeah,

you can get into the graduate diploma, which is a seriously good course... and it's half of the masters.....
 

Left-ism

Member
Joined
May 28, 2003
Messages
188
Gender
Male
HSC
1998
how much money do u get?- in the industry, working for Macquarie bank etc.
 

fitz33

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2003
Messages
127
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
2003
if you were an evp or above at macquarie you'd probably be earning 500k+ pre-tax

EDIT: you'd also have no life
 

Minai

Alumni
Joined
Jul 7, 2002
Messages
7,458
Location
Sydney
Gender
Male
HSC
2002
Uni Grad
2006
Originally posted by fitz33
if you were an evp or above at macquarie you'd probably be earning 500k+ pre-tax

EDIT: you'd also have no life
wouldnt that take years and years of hard work and promotions to get to that status>
 

gm

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2003
Messages
55
Gender
Male
HSC
2004
no. not decades...

you start out as an Analyst. Work for two years doing the shitty work such as financial models, pitch books etc. After that, you can be offered a 3rd year position (with view to promotion to associate), or you can go and get an MBA.

After the MBA, you come in as an associate, you get a bit more responsobility and quite a nice rise in your pay packet each year... This lasts about three years, until the rise to vice president, this is the start of the good stuff...

A nice pay to begin with, alot of responsiblility, and it increases each year... up from here is generally MD of a division....

Most bankers are young, they retire at about 40...

I should also add, as an analyst you have to work alot of 80-100 hour weeks....

To do well in the business you have to be dedicated to your work, have a substantial interest in finance... and know how to network.... Alot of the banks are "oldboys" clubs, so networking's very important...
 

santaslayer

Active Member
Joined
May 29, 2003
Messages
7,816
Location
La La Land
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
Hey......
arnt there laws to prevent this sorta 80-100 hour weeks from happening in australia?
 

gm

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2003
Messages
55
Gender
Male
HSC
2004
There are... but as i said its an "oldboys" club...

So if you wanna be a big guy in the finance industry, with connections everywhere, 500k salary plus bonus, really good investment oppourtunities... then you "Fight in the trenches" ie be an analyst....

Weird thing is, you'd think alot of asian 99+ uai guys would be right for it, but you hardly see any asian people in an IB role....

I think this points out the need to be a well rounded person.... networking, negotiaon, quant analysis, creativity etc....
 

t & co.

New Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2004
Messages
20
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
gm,

Just wondering why you'd need commerce/law?

Wouldn't finance or economics be more relevant, instead of law?

I know a few people at UBS and they've got degrees in either finance or economics. Also, with the "prestigious" unis thing, one of their HR people told me that they were looking more at UTS and places like that for ppl because of the more practical teaching or something.

But, I reckon how far you go depends on what you do when you work for them. I know someone who is in a senior position at a major bank and his degree is completely unrelated to finance.

I totally agree with what you say about the "old boys club".

Last question: what's a bulge-bracket bank?
 

alman

Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2003
Messages
217
Location
sydney
ah, the old boys club - its a very true thing but many people try and deny it..

its also true about the asian 99+ thing..i am asian myself but i talk with the finance people a lot and theyre pretty much all white (except for lucinda chan at macquarie, shes in the news all the time)....

law is a useful thing as background knowledge, the world is getting highly litigous these days, especially in the business world..im not sure about the uni thing - i just tend to read a lot of things and get knowledge to use in my investment activities

the best thing is just plain common sense...it cant get much easier than that! go and ask my banker that! :p
 
Last edited:

gm

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2003
Messages
55
Gender
Male
HSC
2004
Originally posted by alman
its also true about the asian 99+ thing..i am asian myself but i talk with the finance people a lot and theyre pretty much all white (except for lucinda chan at macquarie, shes in the news all the time)....

Hey Alman, I see your a Buffet fan, same as me, i've read all the buffetology books, the intelligent investor, common stocks and i atleast own Security Analysis... Although I don't particularly follow his style of investing, i'm more on speculating with CFDs, and any type of arbitrage i see.... I'm more a George Soros fan now a days... I find that Buffet type of investing on the ASX is difficult... different market place, not as many high-calibre companies...

Where do you talk to the finance people (from your post)?

t & Co,

For advising in mergers, and working on bond issue, IPOs etc you need a good understanding of the law, especially the Corporations Act. For a commerce major, you should probably do economics, finance or accounting... But people with Arts degrees have been known to get in, its' mainly showing that you're a well rounded person... But Comm/Law just gives you a MUCH higher probability of getting the job.

As for degrees, the majority of people who get through the selection process are people from UNSW and USyd.

But where there's a will, there's a way...

You can work in credit rating, and move to Corporate Finance, or maybe even get into a SalesTrading job...

I hope this explains it... Anymore questions, feel free to ask...

gm
 

alman

Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2003
Messages
217
Location
sydney
gm, indeed i am a buffett fan..his value investing strategies do work on the ASX - thats from my weeny experience of 3 years..theres not a lot of value at the moment so im not sure when you started investing, reading books, etc...ive got a lot in cash cos the market is simply overvalued....but there are quite a few high calibre companies in the ASX, just find them

where do i talk to these finance people? im their clients...their mainly stockbrokers and a few statisticians..i do my own research and analysis

personally, ive read soros on soros but i dont really like his strategies - i prefer common sense and it seems to work marvellously
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top