Boris Executive Director/Vice President, Financial Institutions Investment Banking division, Frankfurt

Meeting and working together with senior decision takers at the client companies is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job.

My Work

I am an Executive Director in the Financial Institutions Group (FIG) within the Investment Banking Division based in Frankfurt. The German FIG team covers clients in the German-speaking region, mainly Germany and Austria. We advise such financial institutions as banks, insurers, asset managers and leasing companies in M&A as well as capital markets transactions such as IPOs, capital increases or debt issuances.

One interesting aspect of my job is the sector knowledge I gain when working exclusively for one sector. This knowledge, in my opinion, is of the utmost importance in effectively helping the client. In addition, it is great to get to know and work directly with key decision takers at the client companies.

The work is one hundred percent team based. Of course, there are certain pre-defined tasks for each team member, which are obviously linked to the seniority level. But every team member is encouraged and required to express her/his personal opinion on business topics and to generate business ideas, which are then discussed within the team.

My Day

As an Executive Director I am responsible for the day-to-day execution and coordination of client projects, which includes a lot of client interaction. In addition to working on live projects, I am deeply involved in ongoing client coverage through maintaining continuous strategic and financing dialogue with our clients.

One of the most interesting aspects of my job is that projects are often very different, e.g. in terms of client objectives or timelines. In addition, I have the possibility of working with different people at the client companies and within Goldman Sachs, requiring a certain level of flexibility and a varying skill set.

Meeting and working together with senior decision takers at the client companies is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job. The most challenging part of my job is to manage all the projects and related tasks at one time. And, of course, I am proud of being a member of a team and of a firm that executes the most important and largest strategic and financing transactions in the market.

My Path

In 2005, I came to Goldman Sachs through an internship, after which I was offered an analyst position. I knew that I wanted to do investment banking, and I was so impressed by the culture, people and overall quality at Goldman Sachs that there was no doubt I would accept the offer. I was also impressed by a very efficient organization, smart and honest people and a challenging environment.

Myself

Ten years ago, I did not even know what investment banking was. I decided to work in investment banking after my first banking internship back in 2002. From then on, I planned my studies and further internships with the objective of starting a career within investment banking.

My advice to someone who is considering a career in finance would be the following: Take advantage of internships in order to figure out your exact field of interest at an early stage in your academic career; and learn as much as possible in that field before starting a professional career by aligning your education with your professional career targets.