General Questions for INVESTMENT BANKING

1. What is the mobility across industry groups and product groups within the firm?
For instance, can I after some time (say 1 or 2 years) move from an M&A role to a
corporate finance role or from the healthcare sector to the TMT sector?

2. In all investment banks there is a “china wall” between the investment banking side and
research and trading. What is the interaction of the Investment banking team with the
research and other departments and how does knowledge sharing take place between
them?

3. After a while in any investment bank, an employee gets assigned to an industry coverage
group. Industry groups are formed based on the market perception of “hot” areas. What
happens to an average employee if he/she:
• Gets assigned to an area in which there is relatively less business at the moment. For
example telecom in India became hot a couple of years back, before that there was
hardly any activity. In such a case does this person get an opportunity to get involved
with deals in some other industry group?
• TMT is one of the primary thrust areas of most Investment banks. What if I get
assigned to the TMT sector now, develop skills in this sector and the sector goes out of
the market’s favour after 3-4 years? How do I then move to another sector and develop
skills in a new industry from scratch?

4. Traders are known for having a typical life of 8-10 years before they move out. Is there any
such burn-out time for investment bankers too? If yes, what are the kind of exit options
that bankers typically have?

5. Are movements to banking from sales/research/trading possible and vice-versa? Why?

6. Investment banking is generally believed to be the most vulnerable to market ups and
downs. What has been your experience/observation regarding this?
Questions for J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

• For how long does a new recruit work in a generalist role before being assigned to an
industry team?

• How is the organization structured within Investment Banking? Specifically, are M&A and
Capital raising the two product groups, or are there separate teams for Syndicated
Finance, Debt Capital Markets and Equity Capital Markets within capital raising?

• What is the hierarchy within the Investment banking group? How do teams typically get
formed for a deal?
• Team size, no. of people from different levels, role of the senior analyst

• Could you tell me about the training program for new hires in Investment banking? It was
mentioned during the PPT that the program is spread over a period of time. How does this
work and what are the skill sets that one is trained to develop at each stage?

• What is the geographical mobility within the firm? How often does one get to work on a
deal which is being executed by another office?

• I believe that that there is a 360 degree evaluation program in the organization. Given the
strong team culture in the firm, how is individual performance evaluated? I think, based on
the PPT and some articles that I have read about the firm, that JPM has an entrepreneurial
culture. How does this culture permeate the investment banking business given the heavy
emphasis on team work, is the accountability also team specific rather than individual
specific?

• JPM has singled out TMT as the thrust area for the future. What will the thrust regions for
the Investment banking team going ahead? What is the commitment to Asia Pacific and
India?

• JPM has been voted No. 1 in Asian M&A ex. Japan by Thompson Financial Survey. What
steps are being taken/will be taken to accomplish similar a similar feat in capital raising
also? JP Morgan would be having unique strengths in this area given its balance sheet
strength, long-standing relationships, innovation and global distribution capabilities. What
is the extra effort required to become No. 1 or No. 2 in capital raising too both in equities
and debt?