Investment banks shore up graduates ahead of dealmaking rebound
Zac Fletcher, the co-head of investment banking at Goldman Sachs, said the bank focused on “talented people” who sought “opportunities in Australia and overseas”.
Unlike larger markets, Australia’s smaller teams offer junior hires networking opportunities with executives, founders and directors. Goldman, for example, structured its internship so graduates were exposed to live deals. The US bank believed this method best-illustrated the rigours of investment banking, and enabled graduates to decide if this was the career for them.
Reeny Paraskeva, a managing director who leads Jarden’s general industrials team, said the flatter organisational structure at Australian firms not only provided face time with clients, it enabled graduates more interaction with senior bankers than they would get at a larger investment bank in London or New York.
“Clients have changed. They are more diverse, younger, and it is important to have a team that can respond to that,” Ms Paraskeva said.
The Jarden banker remarked on the “unique bond” among graduates.
“There is a certain intensity at an investment bank that fuses you together… You are in the trenches quickly… Deals are time-sensitive, and you have those late nights together,” she said.
Mixing it up
Gender-based diversity remained integral to 2024 recruiting strategies, which have long been plagued with reputations as elite boys’ clubs.
Morgan Stanley offered a Women in Banking scholarship that fed into its own recruitment drive across wealth management, investment banking and capital markets teams. Of Citi’s 17 incoming first-year analysts, nine are women.
Nicki Ashton, a managing director in Citi’s markets team, said the US bank received about 4500 applications for its latest internship round, and pointed out Citi’s local Women in Banking and Markets program, which targeted students at an early stage.
“Yes, we offer people an opportunity to start their careers, but also – reflecting on their experiences as the younger generation – it helps us figure how we can continue to evolve our workplace,” Ms Ashton said.
“So, you know, we get as much out of our graduates as we give to them.”
UBS also promoted initiatives like the three-day UBS Finance Academy and its annual UBS HSC Economics Day. The Swiss bank’s Women’s Insight Program offered students in their penultimate year of study a two-day initiative to meet senior women bankers from its local business, and its Investment Banking Development Challenge gave students a look at a previous UBS deal.
All investment banks now yearn for talent beyond banking and finance degrees.
Banks typically run a 10-12 week internship program where students rotate within investment banking, markets, corporate finance and capital markets. Despite punishingly long hours, investment banking remains the most-desired department. Other interns are drawn to fast-talking sales and trading desks.
“It certainly is the largest intake we have … For many it is still very cool,” Ms Ashton said of graduates’ fascination with investment banking. Indeed, 10 of its 17 soon-to-be analysts are in Citi’s advisory and capital markets arms, while Jarden placed nine of its 10 latest graduates in investment banking and one in research.
