Category: Investment

Most asset class’s brokers and bankers invest your funds in like stocks, bonds; mutual funds are getting crushed with no immediate end in sight. The government is bailing out banks, broking houses, insurers and mutual funds with handfuls of cash to stop an even worse scenario happening. So what’s the answer? You basically have two choices, do nothing and hope for the best, or take some positive action and look for better returns from other asset class investments.

1. Roll your traditional Roth IRA to a self directed Roth IRA

Why bother doing this? Simply, because you can invest in more asset classes and have more control over investment opportunities. An employee wants to earn as big a wage as possible doing a decent days work, he is not an investment guru, and hasn’t time to be running around looking after investments, so why would he take this action? Again the answer is simple, because he can use specialized people in organizations structured to look after all the issues using a turnkey approach.

2. Get a better interest rate and ROI

Under normal circumstances investors could expect to receive 7 to 8% return on their IRA retirement plan. However, things aren’t normal at the moment and probably won’t be for a long time to come. Getting these kinds of returns is highly unlikely at the moment; in fact many are turning to cash for safety with even lower interest rate returns. There are real estate investment opportunities at the moment offering a far superior return on investment. We all know real estate hasn’t been immune from worldwide financial problems. However, there are some great turn key investments available where you can invest self directed Roth IRA money to get a better ROI.

3. Use Roth IRA tax incentive to gain greater ROI on capital to compound profits

Working a normal 9 to 5 job doesn’t offer regular employees much opportunity to create wealth. Retirement saving plans are great incentives to encourage people to be self financed retirees and not rely on government pensions. But, if you want to be financially independent in retirement you may have to broaden your investment scope. One successful way to create wealth faster is to grow your original capital with better profits from greater ROI. Then use this money to reinvest and try to do the same thing again, each time you do this the capital grows. The self directed Roth IRA tax incentives enable you to speed up increasing your wealth in the account by not having to pay tax on the profits when the funds are withdrawn provided you abide by the IRS rules.

In conclusion, the financial environment is difficult today compared to even twelve months ago; just about every asset class is giving poor results. A Roth IRA investment in real estate may be a viable option worth considering to help grow your retirement income. Seek advice from a trusted financial advisor, and then find a company that specializes in proven turnkey real estate solutions that can give you a better return on your money invested.

The decision was relatively straight forward for me. The negatives of investment banking – long hours, repetitive work, lack of non-finance exit options – mattered more to me than the money.
I considered sales & trading (in fact, I spent a summer at CSFB in NY), and was tempted to continue in that line of work after graduation.
Instead of defining the characteristics of each industry (there are plenty of resources out there for that, including my Management Consulted blog), I will address a short list of differences between the two career paths.
Let me caveat by saying THESE ARE NOT YOUR ONLY OPTIONS. People get carried away into thinking thats all there is.
#1 SALARY
This is the primary superficial distinction. Thats not to imply that salaries aren’t important. Banking salaries average 50-100% higher than consulting salaries, with the gap increasing as your seniority increases. Consulting attempts to compensates with small perks – from better travel allowances to more generous retirement packages.
Consultants always like to say this:
I know investment bankers make more money. But from a cashflow perspective, its exactly the same!
This means that consultants and bankers make similar base salaries, but at the end of the year, bankers are awarded a significant bonus which can be more than half of their total annual compensation.
Cashflow or not, the extra money is substantial and a defining driver of why many people do investment banking over business consulting. This is also a difficult issue for consulting firms with respect to employee retention. In my years as a McKinsey management consultant, easily half the people who left the firm went into the financial world (from hedge funds to PE), and salary was undoubtedly a major factor in the decision.
My advice is – after considering the 5 factors Ive listed here, you still think the pay difference (for analysts, averaging between $30-60K per year) would mean a significant difference in your professional job satisfaction, choose investment banking over consulting.
#2 LIFESTYLE ISSUES
The big differences here are:
-Hours. Bankers work brutal hours, no surprise. They can average 14-16 hours/day but it can get FAR WORSE.
My roommates in New York (both investment bankers at Goldman Sachs) would sometimes go several weeks before wed even exchange a word. Which meant not only were they getting in after I went to sleep (around 2am), but going back to the office before I woke up (around 7am).
Your second year as an investment banker gets easier – often in the 10-12 hours/day range but with occasional tough periods.
Management consultants average 12 hours/day, with the typical variations depending on client, team goals, etc
-Travel. Bankers do a little travel for roadshows, due diligence, etc but spend 90% of their time in one office until youre partner-level (you can expect more travel in private equity and asset management). Depending on firm – management consultants travel a lot. At the Big 3 (Bain, Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey), you can expect travel 50-75% of the time
-Relationship with firm employees and coworkers. This is an important but oft overlooked issue. Consulting firms have a very collegial atmosphere, where the focus is on getting work done and ensuring your professional success. This attitude permeates all interactions. Managers never yell, coworkers are supportive whenever possible, and companies are organized to provide consultants support with training, expertise, etc. Finally, networking is critical at consulting firms, and social events are focused on helping business consultants build contacts and relationships throughout the company.
Investment banks, on the other hand, have a more competitive and tense work environment. You can expect more stressful relationships with your bosses, youll probably be yelled at occasionally for mistakes, and coworkers are much less willing to help out colleagues (your success means theres more competition for the biggest bonuses).
In addition, youll have limited exposure across the company to other groups, departments, etc – less ability to network across the company.
Part 2 of this series on consulting versus banking continues tomorrow!

With more and more people gaining trust over independent healthcare units, the healthcare centers like ambulatory care and urgent care centers are very lucrative businesses. More and more investors are investing in the healthcare sector like urgent and ambulatory care centers. While it is very easy to get buyers and investors from the market, the deals you may be getting yourself may not be the best. Other than that, you may not be able to prepare the right price estimate for your property all by yourself. All these tricky situations van be easily dealt with by hiring an investment banker. While many people may not see the need to hire a healthcare investment banker, the fact is that investment bankers can actually help you grab the best deals in the market.

Get advice

You as an owner of your urgent care or ambulatory care center may not be able to evaluate the proper price of your property. Hence, if you are really serious about selling off your property and want to get the right estimate for your property, make sure that you hire a healthcare investment banker for the purpose. Investment bankers specialized in the field of healthcare are well acquainted with the market trends and property rates. You as an owner may over or even underestimate the price of your property and its assets. This is the reason why it is best to hire an investment banker for the purpose.

Save time

Selling an urgent care or ambulatory care center may be as difficult as buying one. It is a long and time consuming process which may make you end up losing a lot of your precious time and energy in the pursuit of searching for potential buyers and dealing with them. However, if you hand over the task to an investment banker, you will be able to save a lot of time you would have otherwise spent for the task. A healthcare investment banker will not only bring you the best deals but will also negotiate and deal with the investors on your part.

Secure the best deals

Once every due diligence and pricing matters are dealt with, investment bankers will put up your property for auction and the will therefore bring to you a list of top three or five best deals. You will then be able to select the best one and secure maximum benefit for your property.

What exactly are Treasury Bills?

Treasury bills are promissory notes issued by the central government for a fixed period extending upto one year as a tool for raising short term funds from the equity trading market. They are usually issued for a discount for a maturity period of 91/182/364 days. TBs are an ideal form of short term investment for banks and financial institutions as they are eligible as securities for SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) purpose. They can be purchased by any person resident in India including individuals, firms, companies, corporate bodies, banks and financial institutions.

These Bills usually do not carry any interest rate and are issued by the government at discounted value. This means that a ‘500 bill may be issued at a discount to investors for a price of ‘410. After the maturity date is over, the government will pay ‘500 to the holder of the bill. The difference between the par value at which the bills are redeemed and the face value at which the T-Bill was procured is the net gain to the investor.

Role in the Money Market:

1) A fiscal role as an instrument for raising funds for governments short term needs.

2) A monetary role as an instrument with RBI to influence liquidity in the equity trading market.

These T-Bills are issued by RBI at regular intervals and issued at a discount to face value. They very effectively serve as effective short-term borrowing instruments for the Government. Even investors benefit from the same as they can park their surplus funds in these instruments and considerably reduce their market risk.

FEATURES:

1) One can purchase these shares for a minimum face value of ‘1 lac and there is no fixed ceiling on the maximum amount of treasury bills that can be purchased from the money market. The rate of interest is determined by market, based on demand for and supply of funds in the money market. Moreover these treasury bills are highly liquid instruments giving offering attractive yields to investors

2) Treasury Bills as an asset class have been approved for SLR (Statutory Liquidity Ratio) purposes and DFHI (Discount and Finance House of India) is the stock market leader in such instruments. The bills are the only security in which the repurchase option (Repo) or ready forward transaction are permitted. This is the most important instrument for hedging against volatility in call loan market.

So after analyzing these points, you can yourself see that TBs are all time favorite for those who want to play big in stock market. Since the minimum investment amount is ‘ 1 Lac therefore, it becomes a niche investment option too. But even big players sometimes loose in stock market, therefore its the perfect investment option for them too.

Investment banking is the most financially lucrative position for any university graduate. There are many people vying for the few openings each year in this industry. Graduates who are able to land one of the prime positions have mastered their investment banking interview. Successful candidates are the ones who prepare for their interview and anticipate the questions they might be asked and how to best answer them.

Questions that you will be asked will be either fit questions or technical questions. Technical questions are either right or wrong just like two plus two will always equal four. Investment banking companies ask technical questions to see how well you know the formulas and whether or not you are paying attention in class.

The fit questions are what separates the potential hires form those that are rejected. Companies ask fit questions to make sure you will be a good addition to their company. Fit questions are sometimes referred to as “the airport test.” This tells whether or not an investment banker would feel comfortable spending several hours in the departure lounge of an airport with you.

The fit questions give you an opportunity to be charming and personable and appeal to the interviewer so they will select you for an open position. How you answer a fit question is the ultimate key as to whether or not you will be hired by the company.

The answer to a fit question will show your motivation and desire to work in the investment banking industry which is well known for its 80+ hour work weeks. Companies want to hire employees who show they are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed in this highly competitive industry.

Fit questions give you an opportunity to accentuate your strengths and experiences that will be valuable to the company. Everyone has had many experiences in their lives and answering these questions is the chance to show how your life experiences would benefit the company.

The purpose of fit questions is to put you on the spot and see how well you can think on your feet. It also prevents you from being able to spout out memorized responses to potential questions. Some of the questions that you will be asked assumes that there is no possible way for you to know the answer. What the company is evaluating is how well you can think of a way to solve the question without already knowing the answer. In most cases the interviewer will not know the answer to the question either.

Now that you understand the fit questions will be the major decision factor during your interview, you should focus the majority of your preparation on these forms of questions.