Thriving in Investment Banking: Rumbi Munyaradzi's Personal Journey

Rumbi Munyaradzi enjoyed an investment banking career operating across Sub-Saharan Africa, and is well-travelled, believing that a global perspective alongside local innovation can create unique solutions. Her career vision is to help build a brighter and more inclusive future for Africa. Rumbi is currently on sabbatical, during which she has completed a Masters in Digital Transformation and Innovation, and has been writing about her experiences on her personal blog. She’s also passionate about youth mentorship, and has written an e-book for teenage girls. These are her reflections on aspects of the investment banking industry and nature of work she particularly enjoyed, and her tips for success:

“In my 12-year investment banking career, I benefited from a wealth of experiences that have shaped my worldview. For most of that time, I focused on covering Sub-Saharan Africa Debt Capital Markets for J.P. Morgan in Johannesburg, South Africa. My role included originating, executing and conducting liability management on hard currency bonds for sovereigns, corporates and banks across the region. As I was promoted along sequential ranks from Analyst to Executive Director within the same team, there was a lot to learn about the evolution of my role and how to be an effective team player. In sharing my personal journey in the investment banking world, I’ll touch on what I enjoyed and what I learnt about succeeding in this environment. For fellow banking professionals, or others considering this career path, I hope it yields some helpful insights.

What I enjoyed most
Investment banking is a curious combination of complex financial systems, structured processes, microscopic details alongside macroscopic strategising all while using creativity and technology to generate competitive advantages. With so many functions and teams in this type of environment, I chose to work in African Debt Capital Markets to combine my passion for finance with a desire to work on impactful transactions across the continent.

This exposure helped me to identify and flex certain personal strengths that are well-suited to the banking environment. Once I had mastered the technical skills, I shifted focus to gain what I now refer to as power skills rather than soft skills (more on that in this Forbes article). This was the hardest part for me, but also the most rewarding. Four main areas stood out for me:  

> Execution and Dynamic Project Management
Part of thriving in a product team requires an appetite to drive a process, communicate proactively, understand what it takes to succeed and to get it done collaboratively and effectively. Although at times it was overwhelming to be in the weeds of several live transactions simultaneously, the variety of sectors and geographies I dealt with stretched me in a positive way.

> Relationship Building
Transaction origination and execution is a team sport where relationships matter. Internally, I had to coordinate multidisciplinary deal teams that were split across 2-3 continents. Externally, client relationships were essential to win and retain business in highly competitive markets. I also interacted with international investors and industry peers: maintaining good relationships was key to being effective in the job as well as keeping options open for future mobility. This taught me how to identify the key messages relevant to different stakeholders and how to approach dialogue with a mindset of creating mutual value. As an extroverted introvert, the requirement for thoughtful written and verbal communication to build relationships was a great fit.

> Strategic Thinking
Articulating a compelling investment thesis to raise multi-million-dollar financing requires a deep understanding of what drives each economy or institution. I had to develop a pan-African perspective across the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities the continent has to offer. As a result, I realised I enjoy operating in an environment that requires large scale thinking and drawing insights from several sources of data

> Global Outlook
The interconnectivity of economies and capital markets has reached epic global proportions. Thinking through how a currency crisis in Argentina or geopolitical challenge in Turkey affects capital issuances for African governments and corporates kept me on my toes! Given how volatile financial markets have been over the past decade, interdependencies caused a lot of difficulty in deciding how to proceed with a deal. I learnt a lot about thinking globally, but also dealing with pressure and quick decision-making.

Many fond memories, and many not-so-enjoyable late nights at my desk, are attached to the growth curve I experienced. Overall, I appreciate the process that led me to these outcomes especially as the workload intensity required me to be intentional about my career strategy early on.

What I learnt about succeeding in investment banking
Here’s what I would say to a junior to middle-level investment banking professional:

1. Regularly assess whether your personal brand and learning outcomes will benefit from you being ‘a small fish in a big pond’, or ‘a big fish in a small pond’. I gained extensive technical and power skills from an early age by working in a small team, and staying there was advantageous for visibility and promotion momentum.
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2. Office politics are unavoidable even in work environments that are regarded as meritocracies. Regardless of your personal preference, ignoring this is detrimental to your career in terms of promotion and pay prospects. Understanding the right political currency that suits your cultural and industry context is something everyone needs to invest in.
   
   
3. Ask yourself, what does your manager think they are paying you for? This is what they will value most when they rate your performance. 
   
   The main attributes that are valued in investment banking are technical market and product knowledge, project management, communication, origination, relationship management and people management. Whilst they are all important at every level, the Pareto (“80/20”) Rule comes into play. As an Analyst and Associate, technical and communication skills matter most. As a Vice President, you would focus on project management. As an Executive Director, origination and relationship management become the priority. Then finally as a Managing Director and beyond, leading teams well is critical. 
   
   These are the standard expectations but even as you operate within these levels, be sure to highlight your unique strengths. For example, a Vice President who is excellent at originating deals but is mediocre on project management can still thrive and be promoted if they manage the dynamics well. Be diligent about documenting your accomplishments so you can present them during performance reviews or in bilateral conversations with your network.
   
   Make sure you are aware of your manager’s expectations, and proactively discuss any roadblocks to meeting them that could be resolved with their support. 
   
   
4. ​Do not assume your manager will be your sponsor. A sponsor is a senior ally who is interested in your progress and will clear obstacles or create opportunities so you can thrive. Even if your manager is good at being your sponsor, always network broadly so that you aren’t ‘orphaned’ if that person leaves the organisation. You should also align yourself with the appropriate sponsor for a particular opportunity. For example, if you are interested in a secondment then the manager of the new team would likely be more active in facilitating the move than your incumbent manager.
   
   
5. Involve your manager in your success. Ask them for advice ahead of an important meeting, or to put in a call to a relevant decision-maker as part of sealing the deal. A good boss won’t steal the limelight - you’ll have to decide if you can trust them on that front. Since people like being associated with success, creating that opportunity for your boss gives them more reasons to esteem your contributions and engage with you.
   
   
6. Network effectively in line with your personality type: you can build a narrow set of contacts with whom you have deep relationships, or have a broad set of contacts with whom you have ‘surface’ relationships. That determines how you spend your networking energy. Take note of who has power, influence or power and influence so that each contact can likely offer you some value. This is relevant to how you network within your organisation, with your clients and even with your competitors.
   
   Find easy or convenient ways to network that feel natural to you. For example, if you are attending the same meeting as the senior people you want to connect with, you could travel together. This allows great opportunities to talk about other things besides work. The stronger your networks, the more empowered you will feel to “demand what you deserve even if you’re grateful for what you have”.
   
   
7. Being liked is crucial to get ahead. For me, in order to avoid imposter syndrome, I found it important to build strong technical skills first then work on being known and liked by my network afterwards.
   
   
8. Humbly brag about your accomplishments so that you build up credibility within your organisation, and develop a good reputation outside it too. Your personal brand should be a priority item you work on consistently via selected social media channels like Twitter or LinkedIn.
   
   
9. Regularly assess if you are taking on the right challenges to enhance your career. Playing safe tends to guarantee a job in the short term but it doesn’t build a career in the long term. Taking a secondment to a different team or country is usually the most actionable way to gain exposure. I spent one year in London on the fixed income syndicate desk for European corporates and found that hugely beneficial for expanding my capital markets knowledge and internal networks. You could also volunteer to join cross-functional teams that are assembled to work on unique ad-hoc projects or participate in internal innovation competitions. Finally, you could also position yourself for management responsibilities such as a Staffer role. This is typically a Vice President who manages the Analyst and Associate cohort. When taken seriously and done well, successfully managing people greatly enhances your profile. However, it carries equal downside if you underperform. Along the way, be sure to upgrade your personal development plans to match the higher level of exposure you are aiming for. 
   
   
10. Conventional qualifications such as an MBA or CFA can be advantageous for non-finance professionals seeking to get into investment banking. However, if you’re already an industry insider, I’ve experienced and observed that these qualifications are not essential to your progress. Instead, the power skills you demonstrate will be a much more effective career catalyst. Having said that, if you do decide to pursue further education for professional and personal growth purposes, I’d encourage you to colour outside the lines. Topics like Design Thinking, Behavioural Science, Digital Business and many others will distinguish and equip you to generate ideas that will shape the future of banking.

In closing
There are many ways to build and manage an investment banking career depending on your objectives and opportunities. I’ve been fortunate to work in a stimulating environment where the art of the possible was as broad as can be. I gained strong technical and power skills that cross over into different industries. Like everyone else living through these times of digital transformation, it’s important to gauge how best to leverage that going forward. I’m currently on a career break and you can read more of my detailed thoughts about that on my personal website www.rumbimunyaradzi.com.”