Structuring complex and innovative investment banking transactions require creativity, imagination and quick thinking. In the industry, we call these "sexy" deals. The sexier a deal one can successfully pull off, the more respect an investment banker gets from his peers. This joke from Markjoshi.com, which I edited slightly, exaggerates of course the nature of this creativity I'm talking about:
A researcher (ex-mathematician), a risk manager and an INVESTMENT BANKER each bring a dog to a competition.
The first one to display is the researcher's dog. The researcher brought a bottle of milk a bowl and placed it all on the floor. Then he commanded the dog to take the bottle and pour the milk into the bowl until the maximum amount it could hold. And that is exactly what his dog did.
The second one to display is the risk manager's dog. The risk manager's brought bottle of milk a bowl and placed it all on the floor. Then he commanded the dog to take the bottle and pour the milk into the bowl until two thirds of the maximum it could hold and without spilling any milk during the whole process. And that is exactly what his dog did.
The third one to display is the INVESTMENT BANKER's dog. The investment banker did not bring anything other than the dog. Then he commanded the dog to do what he taught. The dog stands up and walks in the direction of each one of the bowls and drinks all the milk.
(Clipart credit: Barrysclipart.com)
