Top Investment Banks

Mammoth operations which need substantial capital for projects and operations, tend to seek the counsel and services of investment banks. Investment banks as the name connotes are financial institutes which deal in investments, that is they sell securities on the behalf of their clients. Such organizations have become substantially important post the negative economic cycles that have been experienced in the past two decades. Here, a brief description of these banks and some top rung banks has been encompassed.

What does an Investment Bank Do?

The field of investment banking is chiefly involved in providing financial resources, consultancy and financial infrastructure. The chief or primary job of such a bank is to raise reliable capital for the client through underwriting and sale of securities such as stocks, bonds and loans. There are several other loans, credits and borrowings which are facilitated by the investment banks. Once the capital is raised, investment banks, start with generation of financial securities, to secure and stabilize the clients business. The tertiary and ancillary function of such banks consists of helping their clients in trade of equity, derivatives, currency, fixed income investments, etc. Overall, to sum up, it can be said that investment banks provide their clients with capital raising services, financial infrastructure and financial stability. From the operations point of view, the execution of duties is divided into two parts, the buy side and sell side. These two branches play equally important roles in all the three presses that constitute the triad of investment bank's services, that is underwriting and capital issuance, market making and instrument provision for financial stability, and finally ancillary services.

In nations such as the United States, investment banks have been differentiated from commercial and retail bank, though several nations do not maintain such a separation. The big difference in investment banking function is the clientage, the clients of investment banks need infrastructure to execute their business. Other banks however maintain bank accounts for personal security. In common practice you will find that some of the top investment banks are both consumer banks and also investment banks.

Top Investment Banks

When it comes to investment banking, factors such as the age of the bank, it's market capitalization and other such details do not make a bank the best banking company. The reputation of the bank/company, employees and services and most important of all the return on investment that is benefited, tend to become the deciding factors upon which strength and stability of the bank is connoted. Here are some examples of the top investment banks in the world.

• Bank of America: Not just one of the biggest investment banks, this organization is the 2nd largest banking organization to be existence in United States. The reason that the Bank of America is a major player in the investment banking sector is that in 2008, it acquired Merrill Lynch, an investment banking giant. Today, Bank of America Merrill Lynch acts as the executional branch for the group. In 1997 Bank of America had already acquired Robertson Stephens, a reputed investment bank. Now about the reputation, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, has financial relations with a majority of Fortune 500 companies, which happen to be some of the biggest companies in the world. The bank also has established business presence in Asia, Europe and United States in the investment banking sector. The organization also aims at investment banking for the 'green' cause.
• CitiGroup: 'CEO's don't run a popularity contest, they make tough calls'. Vikram Pandit's war room made a tough call against the recession. The policies of the Citi executives, not just pulled the CitiGroup out of the recession, but also revitalized the positive streak of profit for the CitiGroup and also for several of its clients. The current executional branch of CitiGroup in the investment banking sector is Citi Smith Barney, which is planned to be reorganized to become Citicorp. A successful presence in 140 nations with a gigantic employee base of 16,000, with a mammoth projection of business, CitiGroup is all set to become the most stable bank with nostalgic policies, infused with progressive though. In fact a positive work culture makes it among the top investment banks to work for.
• JP Morgan Chase: Up close, JP Morgan is not just a really good investment bank, it is the godfather of investment banking sector. The bank provides a triad of global financial services to its clients, that include, securities, core investment banking and retail banking. On the whole, it's not exactly a giant but is provides a set of ballistic-capable investment banking services. This bank's investment banking execution is an evolution of Chemical Banking Corporation and J.P. Morgan & Company. JP Morgan Chase has a solid system for investment banking, with its investment banking arm solely specializing in investment banking functions.
• Wells Fargo: The execution of investment banking functions of this bank takes place through Wells Fargo securities Barington Associates. The bank's investment banking strategy is highly versatile and incorporates, several spectrum's of financial instruments and provisions ranging from treasury management, wealth generating funds, asset based corporate loans, and securities sales and underwriting. Overall, the investment banking arm of Wells Fargo provides a stable and quite well-developed and war hardened service to investment banks.

In the field of investment banking, it is notion-ed that every investment bank tends to have a separate specialty, hence is always becomes difficult to judge, which ones are better.

Banks like Credit Suisse, are great at asset management, private banking, business advisory and mergers and acquisitions. BNP Paribas CIB on the other hand, provides really good global investment banking, capital market services, derivatives, asset based instruments and also structured financing. Barclay's Capital on the other hand provides financing and risk management services. The reputation also differs from service to service and case to case. The future of investment banking is however, very bright as more and more people have started relying on its services. I hope that the elaboration on top investment banks is resourceful. Good luck.