In today’s ultra-competitive and crowded market, investment bankers must work harder to show their value to clients and to stay top-of-mind in the eyes of financial sponsors. As a result, many high-performing firms have invested time and resources into technology systems that help transform the way they do business.
Technology implementations and rollouts, however, cannot be done in a vacuum. The day-to-day workflows of every team member – from the most senior banker to the greenest analysts – need to be considered before deploying a new technology platform.
In this article, we discuss the key goals investment banking firms should have for their team, based on the seniority level of the banker. We’ll also provide insights into how our clients are making those goals a reality by leveraging purpose-built technology.
Analysts and Associates
Vice presidents (VPs) and directors are similar to MDs in that they are often key relationship managers, but they are staffed on active deals more regularly. They’re responsible for driving more profitable business from the client list and need to communicate key information across product specialists, managers, and client teams. Because of that, they require unique capabilities that help them execute day-to-day, such as:
- Easy access to client communications: Whether at the office or on the go, VPs and directors need to quickly pull up details for every deal, interaction, or document across their coverage universe.
- Cross-product communication and collaboration: VPs and directors need proactive notifications for specific activities that spur further collaboration across industry verticals or products.
- Staffing and resource management: For VPs and directors that manage teams, real-time views into junior bankers’ workload and capacity are required in order to efficiently manage resources.
- Create and track deal workflow and deal checklist: VPs and directors are typically the ones ultimately responsible for making sure all due diligence items are checked, so it’s important they have a workflow engine that helps them automate, assign, and monitor all deal-related tasks from initiation to deal close.
Managing Directors
Managing directors (MDs) within an investment bank are key relationship managers that need to have quick access to key accounts and top opportunities – and they need it readily available no matter where they are. At this level, bankers look to technology to help them not only keep a pulse on industry trends and market movements, but on the year-over-year successes and shortcomings of the firm:
- Real time view of current pipeline: MDs need to know where every deal stands in the pipeline to help them address certain questions and challenges without confusion or delay.
- 360⁰ view of the client relationship: MDs who manage key relationships need client-centric dashboards that highlight proprietary touch points.
- Benchmark performance and drive resource allocation: It’s important for MDs to track revenue by business unit or industry specialization. They also need to track banker productivity to make more informed staffing and hiring decisions.
- Optimize and track firm strategy: MDs also need to keep their eyes on long-term goals, so they should seek out tools that allow them to pull automated reports weekly, monthly, and quarterly.
Align Your Technology With Your Firm’s Needs
Having an investment banking technology system that shows you what’s falling behind and what’s in danger of falling off is no longer a thing of the past. Today’s most effective investment banking firms use smart CRM systems to increase visibility into any given deal cycle, to shorten deal cycle times, and to ensure the best outcome for their clients.
Don’t set arbitrary goals for your firm. Make sure that you’re aligning your technology to the real goals for your organization. Be sure to gather input from all parties, and you’ll find greater success when it’s time for implementation and adoption. Get in touch with our team and learn more by clicking here.
