A career in the securities industry can offer exciting work if you enjoy working in a competitive and demanding atmosphere. Investment bankers, stock brokers, and stock traders all make up the securities industry providing services to each other, as well as the general public. All of people involved in this field deal with stocks, bonds, and other financial material in some way or another, but they all have their own specific objectives and duties. The primary differences between the three are the services they provide and who they provide these services to. Investment banking seems to be the most interesting of the three, as well as the most rewarding. This is due to the nature of the job an investment banker must perform. A career as an investment banker has its pros and cons just as any career does, but if you're looking for a high-demanding, high-risk career that at times is very rewarding financially, investment banking could be the career.
Investment banking has been around since stocks have been issued and bonds sold, but the field demanded little, if any new jobs before the 1980's. This was due to the low complexity of the financial markets. Since then, investment banking jobs have been significantly growing due to the availability of complex securities and high-yield bonds, also known as junk bonds.(Investment Banking,12) Now that the financial market has become more complex, companies that didn't require and investment bankers now need their advice to effectively help their company sell stocks and bonds, and to make financial plans for the future.
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