Main Responsibilities of an Investment Banking Associate at RBC Capital Markets

I'll talk about my internship experience at RBC Capital Markets Investment Banking. As an associate, we learn to manage the day-to-day tasks of the analysts. We serve as intermediaries between the VPs and MDs, sometimes reporting directly to them for specific staffing needs.

As summer associates, our technical skills are comparable to the analysts. We're all new to the industry, so both summer analysts and associates work under the full-time analysts. We take instructions from them regarding assigned tasks.

Then, we plan and manage within our team how to proceed most efficiently to complete the task. These tasks can vary widely; anything can be assigned, including financial modeling, live deals, or pitch decks.

For example, during the summer, I worked on a pitch deck for a live deal. It involved case studies of previous mergers and acquisitions and how Wall Street reacted to them. We aimed to show positive reactions to persuade the client to proceed with the transaction.

Investment banking involves anything intermediary between selling a company, financing, or any aspect of the business. We can be assigned any task related to this at any time.

Regarding entrepreneurship, you need to know a little bit about everything. This makes you a generalist, which can be both good and bad. If you're too much of a generalist, you might struggle to compete in certain areas due to a lack of specialization.

For me, finance was a significant bottleneck. I didn't understand how to raise or allocate capital within a company. Everything is rooted in finance, from calculating profitability and EBITDA to determining investment strategies.

Entrepreneurship involves creating something, and you learn from real projects you set for yourself. You set a goal, like developing a product, and then figure out what you need to learn to achieve it. It's a proactive approach.

For instance, if I want to create a video, I would learn video editing. Everything serves a purpose, and you learn along the way. The drawback is limited time and energy. I can only do so much for filmmaking before needing a marketing agency because I'm not specialized enough to dedicate that much time or possess the talent for creating a really good film.

Entrepreneurship is about constantly figuring out what tasks need doing and putting out fires. There's always something going wrong, which is the beauty and challenge of it. It's very time-constraining.

You have to focus on the big goals. If you're always absorbed in daily tasks, you become diverted and distracted. The day passes, and you might feel the company hasn't progressed in months. Time flies, and you can get stuck operationally.

Therefore, you must push yourself to learn and, in essence, drive your company forward.