Ahmed Kolsawala | BAML

Ahmed currently works at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) since April 2019 as an Investment Banking Analyst. Prior to joining BAML, Ahmed was at B S R & Co LLP (KPMG) from September 2016 to January 2019, based in Mumbai. Ahmed is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Mumbai University. Ahmed will be sharing his experience from his stint at BAML focusing on sharing insights about the investment banking in India.

Interview

How did you recruit for this role? What would your advice be for potential candidates aspiring to get here? (recruiting strategy, cycle, process etc.)

BAML has a CA internship program for freshly qualified CAs. There aren’t too many opportunities for CAs in bulge-bracket banking in the pre-MBA route, this is one of them.

I applied but didn’t think I’d get the role as I wasn’t a rankholder. I did wind up getting a call for the interview. I connected with former CA intern who briefed me about the role and how to prepare for the interview. 

Should you not get selected for the internship, your chances of getting into a bulge-bracket IB role are pretty slim to be honest. If you are serious about IB, particularly bulge-bracket IB, I would recommend going the MBA (read IIM A/B/C) route. That being said, I don’t have an MBA and I still managed to get here so it’s not entirely impossible.

If you choose not to go through the MBA route, Another way would be to network your way into a domestic IB (where the hiring practices are generally more liberal), work there for a year or so and keep trading up till you get to a bulge bracket (probably would take 2-3 years as a reasonable estimate in this case). 

What are the key skills that are required for this role? 

Patience, diligence and some more patience. Also the ability to punch numbers correctly is very important (you’d be surprised, but it’s often these simple mistakes where people make the quickest judgments). Basic excel wouldn’t hurt either. Everything else, you will learn on the job. 

What is the typical feeder profile (typical previous work experience) for this industry in general and for your firm in particular?

The CA interns who have applied generally come from a Big 4 background (but not always). I came from a Big 4 audit background which helped because I had a basic hold on numbers and excel. That being said, if you think you can handle IB just because you come from the Big 4, you may be mistaken.

For direct campus hires, the profile varies – engineers / CAs / economics graduates etc.

Is there an education path that is preferred for getting a role in this industry?

As mentioned above, MBA route would be the most preferred to get into IB, particularly bulge-bracket IB. Unlike the US, where analysts are generally pre-MBA graduates, in India there is a significant demand / supply mismatch due to which bulge-bracket banks prefer to hire straight out of campuses. Domestic IBs / boutiques are much more flexible in this aspect. 

What is your total team size and what is the typical team staffing on a case/deal?

Across most bulge brackets – the total people on the floor is ~20 including the MDs. Due to headcount constraints, bulge-brackets operate on a lean staffing structure where people are staffed on multiple deals simultaneously and a deal would include around 3-4 people (an analyst / intern, an associate, VP, and an MD). 

That being said, you will be expected to multitask and will be staffed on multiple projects at the same time. I have generally seen domestic IBs / boutiques don’t face this issue to this extent, given the higher headcount.

What is a typical day at work for you?

In one word – long. IB is notorious for its long hours (a 16 hour day is a normal day). Given the dynamic nature of the job, it is very to put down a typical day into words. 

One thing I can say is that like most, I always begin my day by checking my emails and framing my to-do list accordingly. 

What are your key responsibilities and deliverable on a case/deal?

An intern / analysts role will be to follow the instructions of the associate / VP and execute accordingly. If in doubt – please ask. Please understand, IB is a high-pressure and tight-deadline job and no one has the time to go back and rectify your work so you have to make sure you get it right the first time around. Don’t shy away from making mistakes, (in my case it was one of the benefits of being an intern), but always learn from it. 

Initially, it will take time to gain the team’s trust and the work will be less than desirable. Hang in there and don’t give up. Your responsibilities will increase as you keep working and so will the quality of work. 

What is the typical exit that people get from this role?

PE is probably the most commonly heard exit option across banks. Few have even gotten into VC roles. You could even explore the option of a global MBA should you so desire (a domestic MBA maybe a moot point now in my opinion, especially if you are in a bulge-bracket IB). 

What are the pros and cons about this role?

Pros

1. Money – if you’re in IB, you can make things happen for yourself
2. Brand – the bulge-bracket branding helps open doors which were otherwise shut
3. This place can either make you / break you 

Cons 

1. Extremely high-pressure and long hours
2. Steep learning curve
3. Bankers aren’t always the friendliest people to work with and there will be low phases initially

What are your typical work hours in a week (including weekends)?

Again this is really hard to answer – Normal weeks are around 80 hours and went it gets intense it can go upto 100+ hours (including weekends). In banking, you are never really sure how the day / week is going to go. 

How do the responsibilities evolve as one grows in this industry into senior roles?

Like I mentioned above, as intern / analyst your job will be to follow instructions correctly and help out on the deal / pitch as much as you can. Try and be a sponge – absorb as much you can. 

As you move up the ladder, the role of an associate is more like an evolved version of the analyst’s role. Only when you reach the role of a VP, you do see a shift in responsibilities where the expectation will be to deliver on the transaction. As you move further up into a director / MD role, the focus is on deal origination and maintaining client relationships – basically, making it rain.

What would be your advice for people aspiring for a similar role?

Before getting into the question of “how to break into IB, or rather, bulge-bracket IB”, take a step back and ask yourself “Why IB?” You probably know this already, but this job is not for everybody. You don’t choose banking, banking chooses you. High-risk / High-reward is part of the game, and I have seen many people fail to ask themselves this question and get captured in the glamour of the job. I’ll be honest, I fell for it as well. As a freshly qualified CA, who didn’t want to the “traditional CA jobs”, IB was it for me. I chose to take the risk and it paid off. 

The point I am trying to make is not to dissuade you from IB, but please make sure you choose IB for the right reasons.