Hi everyone,
I’ve been working as an Associate in a Relationship Management team at a UK bank, and I’m curious whether my role aligns with what people here typically refer to as "IB Coverage."
Here’s an overview of what I do:
- I manage customer relationships, acting as the primary point of contact for clients.
- I work closely with various product teams, including Leveraged Finance, Debt Capital Markets (DCM), Advisory, and FX, to deliver tailored solutions.
- I support credit proposals and presentations, ensuring alignment with client needs and bank policy.
- My focus is on large corporate and sponsor-backed clients, and our transactions span multiple products and industries.
From what I’ve read on WSO, IB Coverage seems similar to my role. However, I notice frequent mentions of modeling being a core part of IB Coverage, and people switching to very credit focused roles such as Private Credit even with Coverage experience (which from my understanding is quite general and focused on 'soft skills'). While I do financial and credit analysis as part of credit proposals, I don’t do extensive modeling work—those tasks are generally handled by product or dedicated teams.
Am I effectively doing IB Coverage, or is there a gap in responsibilities (e.g., heavy modeling or deal structuring) compared to what people typically associate with this term?
I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Thanks in advance!
I'm not sure. I am pretty sure what you are describing is referred to as Commercial Banking / some kind of corporate treasury services team.
what would an IB coverage team do differently? (obviosuly conscious that the IB products are one of the different bits)
an IB coverage team will actually run the transaction (M&A, DCM, ECM) from front to end. producing IMs, pitch decks, valuation materials, offer materials, execution management. you're not in IB
Sounds like the RM side of corporate banking. Might be at a commercial level though but you say large corporate clients and sponsors which makes me think corporate banking. If you’re doing returns analyses, credit analysis, relationship management, pitching cash management solutions to corporate clients, and other work like that, then yes, you are a corporate banker.
Everything you do sounds to me like a typical RM position within corporate banking. Not sure if I need to explain to you what makes IB different from corporate banking or what exactly IB coverage is but you may describe it as „country experts“ within the IBD as opposed to industry or product experts. They are effectively doing the same job as all the other teams but with a slightly different POV. Sure, on average coverage teams are less involved in tasks that require industry expertise such as O&G modelling, but they are no RM.
You are RM.
And yes, in the UK you see plenty RM leave for private credit for some reason.
CB and IB coverage is miles apart, your role sounds more like commercial banking than corporate banking or investment banking coverage.
May I ask what’s the difference? Just curious as I’ve only worked in corporate banking
Tbf misread might be more akin to corp banking as looking at sponsor backed/ large corp names, in my bank IB coverage largely focuses on originating primarily m+a deals and occasionally other ib products eg ipo pitch within their coverage sector.
Cb vs comm banking is the later looks are more complex facilities and needs e.g. a single entity company with ebitda 10mm isn’t going to do a private placement but a blue chip name will hence one would be in comm banking portfolio and the other the corp bank portfolio
So I guess it’s quite a blurred line? Because there are some banks in which RMs cover corporate banking deals like le fin/dcm but also M&A opportunities?
Got to a final round for a role like this about a month ago (but it was industry specific) at a small commercial bank. If it wasn't for its geographic location being an issue with me, it sounded like a great job and the income potential with bonuses was quite significant (~150K entry level).
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