What FIG Investment Bankers Actually Do

Introduction

The Financial Institutions Group is the single most important coverage group at most major investment banks, measured by fees generated. In 2024, the financial sector accounted for roughly 35% of the global investment banking fee pool, generating over $41 billion out of an estimated $117.4 billion total. The next closest sector, industrials, managed just 10.6%. No other coverage group comes close to FIG in terms of sustained revenue generation, and understanding why requires understanding what FIG bankers actually do every day.

This article covers the full scope of FIG work: the client universe, the types of deals, the day-to-day responsibilities at each level, and why FIG's economics make it one of the most strategically important groups for any investment bank. If you are considering FIG or preparing for FIG interviews, this is where to start.

FIG bankers advise companies across the entire financial services landscape. The client base is broader than most candidates realize, spanning six distinct sub-sectors with fundamentally different business models.

Commercial banks and depositories form the traditional core of FIG coverage. In the US, this includes universal banks (JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo), super-regional banks (U.S. Bancorp, PNC, Truist), regional banks (Fifth Third, Huntington, Cadence), community banks (thousands of institutions with under $10 billion in assets), and thrifts. The US alone has 4,336 FDIC-insured institutions as of Q4 2025, and virtually every one is a potential FIG client. At bulge brackets, FIG coverage extends globally: European universal banks (BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, UBS), Asian financial institutions, and cross-border mandates are all part of the client base. European banking M&A has accelerated sharply, with deal volumes in the first half of 2025 already surpassing all of 2024, driven by transactions like UniCredit's pursuit of Commerzbank, BBVA's €16.3 billion bid for Banco Sabadell, and Erste Group's €7 billion acquisition of a stake in Santander Bank Polska.

Financial Institutions Group (FIG)

A specialized industry coverage group within investment banking that advises financial services companies on mergers and acquisitions, capital raises, restructurings, and strategic alternatives. FIG covers banks, insurance companies, asset and wealth managers, specialty finance firms, fintech and payments companies, and exchanges and market infrastructure. FIG is the largest fee-generating coverage group at most bulge bracket banks, accounting for approximately 35% of global IB fees.

Insurance companies represent the second major client category: life insurers (MetLife, Prudential), P&C carriers (Allstate, Chubb, Travelers), reinsurers (Munich Re, Swiss Re), specialty and E&S writers, insurance brokers (Marsh, Aon, Gallagher), and managing general agents (MGAs). Insurance M&A has its own distinct dynamics, from reserve analysis and combined ratio assessment to embedded value calculations for life books.

Asset and wealth managers include traditional managers (Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Franklin Templeton), alternative managers (Blackstone, Apollo, KKR), RIA platforms (Focus Financial, Mercer Advisors), and fund administrators. The fee compression challenge and the private credit boom are driving significant consolidation here.

Specialty finance companies cover non-bank lenders, BDCs, mortgage REITs, consumer finance companies, auto lenders, and equipment lessors. Fintech and payments span payment processors (Fiserv, FIS, Global Payments), card networks (Visa, Mastercard), neobanks (Chime, SoFi), and BNPL providers (Klarna, Affirm). Exchanges and market infrastructure include stock and derivatives exchanges (CME, ICE, Nasdaq), clearing houses, custodians, and data providers (S&P Global, MSCI).

FIG deal flow is dominated by three categories, each with characteristics that set them apart from other coverage groups.

M&A Advisory

FIG M&A spans the full range of transaction types: bank-on-bank mergers, insurance carrier acquisitions, asset manager roll-ups, fintech acquisitions, exchange consolidation, and cross-sub-sector deals. What makes FIG M&A unique is the regulatory overlay. Every bank merger requires approval from multiple regulators (Fed, OCC, FDIC, state banking authorities), a process that adds 6-18 months to the deal timeline and creates deal risk that must be managed contractually through reverse termination fees and outside dates.

The analytical framework for FIG M&A is also distinct. Instead of standard accretion/dilution analysis on EPS alone, bank mergers require:

Recent landmark FIG M&A includes Capital One's $35.3 billion acquisition of Discover Financial (closed May 2025), Fifth Third's $10.9 billion acquisition of Comerica, and Global Payments' $24.25 billion acquisition of Worldpay. In Europe, cross-border bank M&A is reshaping the competitive landscape: UniCredit built a 20%+ stake in Commerzbank, BNP Paribas acquired AXA Investment Managers to build a European asset management champion, and Monte dei Paschi di Siena launched a takeover of Mediobanca. These deals generate significant advisory mandates for FIG teams at bulge brackets on both sides of the Atlantic.

Capital Markets: The Fee Engine

The single biggest reason FIG generates more fees than any other group is debt issuance volume. Financial institutions are the largest issuers of debt securities in the world, and it is not close. Banks issue senior unsecured notes, subordinated debt, AT1 and AT2 capital instruments, TLAC-eligible bonds, preferred stock, and securitized products. Insurance companies issue surplus notes and funding agreement-backed notes. The volume is staggering: a single large bank may issue $30-50 billion in debt per year across multiple tranches and currencies.

This creates a uniquely close relationship between FIG coverage bankers and the Debt Capital Markets (DCM) product group. In many banks, FIG and DCM work together so frequently that the boundary blurs. ECM activity (common stock offerings, preferred stock, rights offerings) is smaller by comparison but still significant, particularly during times of capital stress or for insurance company de-mutualizations.

Restructuring and Strategic Alternatives

FIG restructuring work emerges during periods of financial stress, as the 2023 banking crisis demonstrated. When Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic failed, FIG bankers at multiple firms were involved in the resolution processes, including the FDIC-assisted sales to JPMorgan (First Republic, $13 billion in assets) and New York Community Bancorp (Signature Bank).

Beyond crisis-driven work, FIG restructuring encompasses several ongoing deal categories. Insurance run-off transactions involve selling closed blocks of business to specialist acquirers who manage declining portfolios for profit. These deals require actuarial analysis, reserve adequacy assessment, and regulatory approval from state insurance departments. Mutual-to-stock conversions (de-mutualizations) transform mutual banks and insurance companies into publicly traded stock companies, creating significant advisory fees and follow-on capital markets work. Strategic alternatives reviews are common when community banks face succession planning challenges or when mid-size institutions conclude they lack the scale to compete effectively. With the average US community bank CEO approaching retirement age and new bank formation near historic lows, strategic alternatives engagements are a steady source of FIG deal flow.

The counter-cyclical nature of FIG restructuring is one of the group's most attractive characteristics. When other coverage groups see deal pipelines dry up during economic downturns, FIG restructuring work often accelerates, providing a natural hedge within the group's revenue mix. This is also true globally: the 2008 crisis generated restructuring mandates for European banks (Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis, Dexia) just as it did for US institutions, and FIG teams at bulge brackets staffed cross-border restructuring engagements for years afterward.

The daily workflow in FIG shares the general structure of any coverage group (pitchbooks, models, client calls, deal execution) but the content and analytical tools are distinct.

Analyst Responsibilities

As a first or second-year FIG analyst, your core work includes:

Tangible Book Value (TBV) Per Share

A bank's total equity minus goodwill and other intangible assets, divided by diluted shares outstanding. TBV represents the hard equity backing each share after stripping out intangible assets created by prior acquisitions. It is the most commonly used book value metric in FIG because it removes the distortion of goodwill, making it a cleaner measure of the capital a bank actually has available. TBV per share dilution and earn-back analysis is one of the most important metrics in bank M&A.

Associate and VP Responsibilities

Associates in FIG manage deal teams, refine models, and take ownership of client communication on active deals. They lead the analytical work on fairness opinions, which are particularly common in FIG because bank boards face heightened fiduciary scrutiny on M&A decisions given the regulatory dimension. Associates also coordinate regulatory filing preparation and manage the relationship with external counsel on deal documentation. A strong FIG associate develops sub-sector expertise (banking, insurance, or asset management) that becomes the foundation of their coverage career.

VPs are the primary day-to-day client contacts, responsible for managing relationships with CFOs, treasurers, and corporate development teams at financial institutions. They drive deal origination through regular client outreach, industry conference attendance, and market intelligence updates. In FIG, VP-level client relationships tend to be deeper and more technical than in generalist groups because financial institution executives are themselves sophisticated financial professionals who expect bankers to speak their language. A VP covering regional banks, for instance, needs to discuss NIM trajectories, CRE concentration risk, and DFAST stress test implications as fluently as any bank CFO.

Directors and Managing Directors focus on senior relationship management and strategic advisory at the C-suite and board level. They are the ones presenting to boards of directors on transformational M&A decisions, advising insurance company CEOs on strategic alternatives during market dislocations, and leading client conversations during periods of regulatory change. At the MD level, FIG specialists often develop reputations as the go-to advisors for specific transaction types (community bank M&A, insurance brokerage roll-ups, fintech capital raises), and their client relationships can span decades.

What Makes FIG Different from Other Groups Day-to-Day

Three things distinguish the daily experience in FIG from other coverage groups.

First, the regulatory dimension. Every deal, every capital raise, and many strategic decisions require regulatory analysis. You will spend more time thinking about capital ratios, regulatory approvals, and supervisory expectations than analysts in any other group. This adds complexity but also intellectual depth.

Second, the balance sheet focus. In most coverage groups, the income statement drives the analysis. In FIG, the balance sheet drives the income statement. You project asset growth and funding costs first, then derive NII. You model loan loss provisions based on credit quality assumptions. You calculate regulatory capital to determine payout capacity. This inversion of the standard analytical framework is the core technical difference.

Third, the volume of capital markets work. Because financial institutions issue so much debt, FIG analysts gain exposure to DCM execution that analysts in other groups rarely see. You will work on bond offerings, preferred stock issuances, and structured capital instruments alongside traditional M&A.

Understanding FIG's fee dominance helps you articulate why the group matters in interviews and demonstrates commercial awareness that interviewers value.

In 2024, global investment banking fees totaled an estimated $117.4 billion (up 14% year-over-year). The financial sector generated $41 billion of that total, more than triple the second-place industrials sector. North America accounted for over half the global fee pool at $61.7 billion, with debt underwriting leading at $39.3 billion in fees, M&A advisory at $33.4 billion, and syndicated lending at $29 billion.

FIG sits within the industry coverage structure of an investment bank, alongside groups like TMT, Healthcare, Industrials, Energy, and Real Estate. What distinguishes FIG organizationally is its unusually deep integration with product groups, particularly DCM.

At bulge bracket banks (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America), FIG teams are typically large (30-60+ professionals) and cover all sub-sectors. At elite boutiques (Evercore, Lazard, Centerview), FIG teams are smaller and more M&A focused. At FIG specialist firms (Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Piper Sandler, Hovde Group), the entire firm is essentially a FIG platform, with deep mid-market relationships and specialized knowledge that large banks cannot easily replicate.

The choice between these platforms matters for your career. Bulge bracket FIG groups offer the broadest deal exposure and the strongest brand for general exit opportunities. FIG specialists offer deeper sector expertise and stronger mid-market relationships. Elite boutiques offer the most M&A-focused experience. Understanding these tradeoffs is essential for choosing where to apply.

Every element of FIG work has interview implications. Interviewers will test whether you understand the foundational differences that make FIG unique:

The rest of this guide builds the knowledge you need to answer these questions and dozens more. Start with Why Debt Is Raw Material, Not Financing for the foundational paradigm shift, then move through the accounting, sub-sector, and valuation sections to build the technical depth FIG interviewers expect.