Investment banking has the highest ceiling in Indian finance and it’s the one everybody has heard of. Bankers advise companies on mergers, fundraising and other big transactions and a large part of the pay arrives as bonus. The honest bit for Bangalore readers is that most front-office seats are in Mumbai. In this city you’ll more often find banking analytics and support roles inside GCCs. Most people get there through a top MBA, a CA or a CFA and the hours are brutal.
Private equity and venture capital sit next door. Bangalore’s startups pull in a lot of money, and the funds behind them need people to find the good bets and keep watch afterwards. Senior people can earn carry too, which is a cut of the profit when an investment works out. It’s hard to enter and most people arrive from investment banking, consulting or a top MBA, not straight from college.
Then there’s the research ladder. An equity research analyst studies companies, builds models and writes down whether a stock looks worth buying. It’s a steady job by itself and for many people it’s also the first step toward portfolio manager, the person who decides what a fund buys and sells. That second job pays more, partly through fees tied to how the fund performs and the CFA is the credential people mention most for it. Nobody starts as a portfolio manager. You earn the seat after years of research.