What finance job titles mean
A finance job title is a short code. "Off-cycle analyst, leveraged finance, EMEA" tells you the programme, the level, the team and the region, once you can read it. This guide goes through the parts.
The level
Titles in banking follow a ladder. The names are the same at most banks, though the years at each level differ.
- Analyst. The first level, the one a graduate joins at. In most of finance it is a junior title, not a description of the work.
- Associate. The next level up. People reach it by promotion from analyst, or join at it after a master's in business or some years elsewhere.
- Vice president. A middle level, despite the name. A bank has many.
- Director, also called executive director. Senior.
- Managing director. The top of the ladder in a team.
Investment firms such as private equity funds use their own ladders, often analyst, associate, principal and partner.
The programme
These words say what kind of job it is and who it is for.
- Spring week, spring insight, insight programme. A short look inside, for students early in their degree.
- Summer analyst, summer intern. An internship of eight to ten weeks in the summer. "Summer analyst" is an intern at analyst level, not a permanent job.
- Off-cycle. An internship at any other time of year, often three to six months.
- Placement, industrial placement. A year in work during a degree.
- Graduate, full-time analyst. The permanent job.
See the open spring weeks, summer internships, off-cycle internships and placement years, and graduate jobs.
The division
- IBD. The bank's advisory arm. It advises companies on mergers and helps them raise money.
- Markets, global markets, sales and trading. Buying and selling securities for clients.
- Research. Written analysis for the bank's clients.
- Asset management. Investing money for pension funds, insurers and other institutions, in funds the firm runs.
- Wealth management. Looking after the money of wealthy people and families, from investing it to planning what happens to it.
The team
Inside a division, teams are named by what they do or by who they serve.
- M&A. Mergers and acquisitions. Advising a company that is buying, selling or merging.
- ECM. Equity capital markets. Helping companies raise money by selling shares.
- DCM. Debt capital markets. Helping companies and governments raise money by selling bonds.
- Leveraged finance, also LevFin. Arranging loans and bonds for companies with a lot of debt, often ones being bought by private equity firms.
- Coverage. A team that looks after the bank's relationship with clients in one sector or one country.
- Sponsors, financial sponsors. The coverage team whose clients are private equity firms.
- FIG. Financial institutions group. The team whose clients are banks and insurers.
- TMT. Technology, media and telecoms.
- Restructuring. Advising companies that cannot pay their debts, or their lenders.
The region and the year
- EMEA. Europe, the Middle East and Africa. For a London job it names the region the team covers.
- A year in the title. The year the programme starts, which is usually the year after you apply.
Two warnings
The same word can mean different things at different firms. "Analyst" at a bank is a level. At an asset manager it can be a job, the person who analyses investments, at any level. Read what the advert says the person does.
A title can also leave the team out. "Summer analyst, investment banking" may place you in any team in the division, decided after you join. Where the advert names a team, the briefing here names it.