<p>I've been looking around the Business Major forum because I'm interested in pursuing business in college, and came across some unfamiliar terms such as I-Banking and the "Big Four". And I'm sorry if this is a dumb or common knowledge question...</p>
<p>I-Banking refers to Investment Banking. Investment Bankers are basically stock brokers. If you don’t already know, to be an investment banker you need to be very smart (most graduate from ivy leagues) and you work about 80-90 hours/week. But you make TONS of money.</p>
<p>The Big Four are the 4 largest accounting firms. These are (in order):</p>
<p>PricewaterhouseCooper
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Ernst & Young
KPMG</p>
<p>IBankers are not Brokers. Brokers are not Traders. There are some similarities and some major differences. There is a lot of misconception on this forum so you are better off just googling the terms.</p>
<p>I second commencement; Investment bankers are certainly not stock brokers. You can work at Merrill Lynch as a stock broker, but it does not mean you are an investment banker. In the true sense of the term, an investment banker is someone that is involved in trading/lending/investing/dealing in capital/debt/equity among many other various functions. Think Goldman or larger firms like that, however, there are many small boutique i-banking firms out there as well.</p>
<p>Oh, sorry…</p>
<p>I admit I do not know a lot about Investment Banking or stock brokers (even though apparently that’s a big misconception).</p>
<p>Its hard to define an investment banker unless you actually know the process and what division you are talking about. A very basic definition is, you have a company and you need to raise money (debt or equity). You go to an investment bank and ask them to help you raise that amount. If it is feasible, they will proceed and have investment bankers do the work to help you raise the money.</p>