Break Into Finance

Global dealmaking is up by a third this year, setting 2025 up to be the best 12-month stretch since 2021

OpenAI has signed about $1tn in deals this year for computing power to run its artificial intelligence models

Price has rocketed 50% this year, its best performance since 1979, as institutional investors pile in

Private equity (PE) refers to investments made directly into private companies or buying out public companies to make them private, rather than investing in publicly traded stocks. These investments are typically made by private equity firms, which pool capital from institutional investors (like pension funds, insurance companies, endowments) and high-net-worth individuals. The goal is usually to increase the value of the company over a few years and then sell it for a profit.

Breaking into Global Markets as a graduate can feel overwhelming because the term covers many very different jobs—each with its own mix of skills, hours, and career paths. Here’s a overview of main departments and roles within GM, their day-to-day, and how to choose a role that fits you.

Excel serves as the primary platform for virtually all investment banking financial modeling, functioning as both the technical foundation and the analytical workspace where billion-dollar decisions are built, tested, and refined. Despite the availability of more sophisticated software platforms, Excel's combination of flexibility, transparency, and universal accessibility has made it the undisputed standard in the investment banking industry.

Financial modeling in investment banking is a sophisticated analytical discipline that forms the backbone of virtually every major corporate transaction and strategic decision in the capital markets.

The financial services industry is split into two types of companies: the sell-side and the buy-side. While both are essential to capital markets and deal-making, they operate very differently. Let’s break it down from the perspective of both trading/markets and investment banking/deal-making.

There are many different industries you can go into and it's important that you choose one that suits your unique background. For example, if you are a textbook example of prospective quantitative trader, there is not much point to consider investment banking, and vice versa. Every one of these roles require different skills and suit different personalities. They also offer different lifestyles, career paths and so-called "exit opportunities".

Attending a target versus a non-target university makes a huge difference when it comes to landing your first role. These categories are based on the relative attractiveness of universities reputation and more concretely, recruitment activity and networking opportunities available on campus.