What is the difference between buy side and sell side?

There is considerable confusion around these two terms. However, we'll break down "Buy-Side" and "Sell-Side."

A sell-side engagement for an Investment Bank means they were hired to help sell a company or division.

Oftentimes, ALL of investment banking, in general, is referred to as "Sell-Side" work. The rationale is that even if an Investment Bank is hired for a buy-side engagement, they still are selling their advisory services to that specific company.

The opposite is true for the buy-side.

Industries like private equity, mutual funds, hedge funds, etc. are referred to as "Buy-Side" industries.

On the other hand, a private equity fund (for example) is putting their own capital at risk (or their own investors) in a given transaction by actually going out and buying a company.