Investment Banking professionals concentrate their efforts on identifying alternative sources of capital and on developing innovative techniques to match the interest of users and providers of capital. The term investment bank is broadly used to describe any financial institution that provides services in the areas of securities issuance and brokerage, financial advisory or asset management. Some firms may engage in all of these functions whereas other firms specialize in one or more areas. As the securities markets become more volatile and complicated, it has become increasingly difficult and time-consuming for investors to monitor all financial news. For large institutional and individual accounts, asset management groups and bank trust and cash management departments handle separate portfolios or aggregate portfolios, depending on the client preference or portfolio size.
Firms also manage mutual funds with small minimum investment levels.
The number of mutual funds in the past few years has ballooned. Some, such as Fidelity, have as many as 100 individual funds. Many of these management groups are division of larger financial institutions, including banks and insurance companies. A rapidly growing trend today is that some institutions also offer financial planning services to help individuals cope with the growing complexity and diversity of financial products. Financial planners include IDS Financial Services, Integrated Resources, MONY and New England Insurance.