Finance glossary

A final-round interview day with back-to-back meetings at a bank or buy-side firm.

A video platform where candidates record timed answers to preset interview questions.

Knowing what is happening in markets and deals, and explaining it clearly in interviews.

When companies merge or one buys another. Banks advise on price, structure, and process.

The team that helps companies raise equity through IPOs, follow-ons, or private placements.

The team that helps companies and governments raise money by issuing bonds and other debt.

When a bank sells securities to investors on behalf of a company or government.

A slide deck a bank uses to pitch its ideas and capabilities to a client.

Debt arranged for buyouts and deals, usually with higher risk and higher interest rates.

Custom financial products built from derivatives and other assets to meet set return goals.

Meetings where a company and its bankers present to investors before a deal or IPO.

Rankings of banks by deal count, deal value, or other performance measures.

Finding and pitching new deal ideas to potential clients.

A group of banks that work together to sell a new stock or bond issue.

A deep review of a target company’s finances, operations, and strategy before a deal closes.

Banks and brokers that sell, trade, and research securities for clients.

Analysis of a company’s results and outlook to support buy, hold, or sell views.

The desk that buys and sells securities for clients and the bank itself.

Quoting prices to buy and sell securities so other traders can trade more easily.

The area, physical or virtual, where traders execute orders in markets.

A person or firm that matches buyers and sellers and earns a commission.

Tradable assets such as stocks, bonds, and derivatives.

Estimating what a company or asset is worth using DCF, comps, or past deals.

A method that values an asset from its future cash flows, brought back to today’s value.

Valuing a company using trading multiples from similar listed peers.

Valuing a company using prices paid in similar past deals.

The total value of a business to all investors, not just equity holders.

Buying a company mostly with borrowed money, often repaid from the target’s cash flow.

Building a spreadsheet model to forecast a company’s results and test scenarios.

Today’s value of future cash inflows minus cash outflows.

The return rate that makes a project’s NPV equal to zero.

Weighted Average Cost of Capital. The blended cost of debt and equity, used to discount cash flows.

Cash left after running the business and paying for capital spending.

Profit from an investment compared with what you spent to make it.

Operating profit after subtracting the cost of the capital used in the business.

A snapshot of what a company owns, owes, and shareholders’ equity at one date.

A report of revenue, costs, and profit over a period.

A report of cash coming in and going out from operations, investing, and financing.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation. A common profit measure in deals.

Firms that invest money, such as asset managers, mutual funds, and hedge funds.

A period when prices are rising or expected to rise.

A period when prices are falling or expected to fall.

The total market value of a company’s listed shares.

Return above a benchmark index.

How much a stock moves relative to the wider market.

Buying and selling the same asset in two places to profit from a price gap.

Managing client money across stocks, bonds, and other assets to hit set goals.

Tools that track return, risk, and how money is split across holdings.

A pooled fund that invests in a basket of assets on behalf of many investors.

A fund that trades on an exchange like a stock and holds a set basket of assets.

Return earned per unit of risk taken in a portfolio.

The minimum return an investor or fund manager must beat.

Funds that buy companies, improve them, and sell later for a profit.

A fund that uses flexible strategies to try to earn returns for investors.

Early-stage funding for startups in exchange for equity.

Current assets minus current liabilities. A check on short-term financial health.

Total debt divided by shareholders’ equity. A simple leverage measure.

Money spent on long-term assets such as property, plant, and equipment.

How a company mixes debt and equity to fund itself.

Investments that pay regular interest, such as bonds.

The return an investor earns from a bond.

A chart of interest rates across bond maturities with similar credit quality.

Spotting, measuring, and reducing threats to a firm’s finances or operations.

Using one position to offset potential losses in another.

Contracts whose value comes from an underlying asset, index, or rate.

A contract that shifts credit risk from one party to another.

When a private company sells shares to the public for the first time.

How a central bank uses interest rates and money supply to steer the economy.

When a central bank buys assets to add money to the economy and lower long-term rates.