Financial Institutions Group (FIG) Investment Banking - Associate

Citi describes this as an intermediate level position responsible for assisting clients in the FIG space in raising funds in the capital markets, and in providing strategic advisory services for mergers, acquisitions and other financial transactions, in coordination with the Institutional Banking team. The job family fields on the advert put it under Institutional Banking, job family Investment Banking, full time, in London. Source

Financial Institutions Group is the coverage group for banks, insurers, reinsurers, asset and wealth managers, private equity and alternatives, exchanges and market infrastructure, payments and fintech, specialty finance and mortgage lenders. It runs a different analytical frame from corporate coverage: capital ratios, leverage, MREL and Solvency II bind what a bank can do, price to earnings multiples are close to useless, and the work runs on net interest income, return on tangible equity and justified price to tangible book value instead. Source

Associate here is the rung after analyst, not a graduate title. The advert asks for ideally a minimum of three years of investment banking or M&A advisory experience in financial institutions and expects you to manage and mentor analysts, so this is a lateral hire from another bank's FIG or M&A desk. A student reading it is looking at the seat two or three years past the one they can apply for.

The seat is in Citi's Financial Institutions Group, working in coordination with the Institutional Banking team, and the advert says the associate also serves as an intermediary in trading for clients. Experience in the insurance space is singled out as a plus, alongside FIG experience across sub-industries. Source

About 119 people have held London roles in Citi's IBD since 2018, against 12 in the bank's M&A unit and 7 in Coverage. The sector coverage groups, not the standalone product teams, are where the bulk of Citi's London bankers have sat.

FIG splits by sub-industry, and the advert tells you where the gap is: insurance M&A experience is the one specialism called out as a plus. If you have covered life or property and casualty insurers, lead with that rather than with generic bank coverage, because it is the line that separates you from the rest of the pile.

Citi lists the role as full time in London, in the Institutional Banking job family group and the Investment Banking job family, and says the associate is expected to contribute to building the franchise and to assess risk with particular regard for the firm's reputation. Source

About 318 people have held London roles at Citigroup as a whole since 2018, across the investment bank, the trading floor and the rest of the London business.

The work named is execution: leveraging past investment banking experience on M&A execution and capital raising, evaluating corporate transactions and structures, building financial analyses, assisting with client development, and tracking business development by collecting research and analysing industry trends. Managing and mentoring analysts, including managing information flow to them, is written into the role. Source

Posted on 4 September 2026 with no start date, no class year and no deadline, this is one seat being filled, not an intake. It opened in the same week as the campus milk round and has nothing to do with it.

No deadline is stated, and a single lateral seat closes when someone is hired rather than on a date. Apply in days, not weeks, and expect the process to move at the speed of one hiring manager.

Citi asks for a bachelor's degree in finance or a closely related area of business administration and a master's in business administration or equivalent experience, ideally with a minimum of three years of investment banking or M&A advisory experience in the financial institutions space across sub-industries. Insurance M&A experience and additional European languages are listed as pluses, along with experience evaluating corporate transactions and structures, creating financial analyses and assisting with client development. Source

This is a Certified Role under the Certification Regime, so an offer depends on being assessed fit and proper on honesty, integrity and reputation, financial soundness, and competence and capability. The advert says that assessment runs through extensive interviews, self-disclosures, permitted criminal record checks, reference checks, credit checks and other background checks, and that you would repeat an annual declaration once hired. Source

The three years of FIG deal experience is the gate, not the MBA: the advert offers 'or equivalent experience' against the master's but words the experience line as a minimum. Strong deal experience without the MBA is worth an application here, a finance master's with no transaction record is not.