Ian Spellfield asked:


One topic everyone asks me about is how to answer technical questions in investment banking interviews. What should you expect, how do you keep your calm, and what do you do to prepare beforehand?

I actually think people tend to focus too much on technical questions when preparing for interviews. Your fit and enthusiasm for the job are much more important.

That said, if you have some previous finance experience or have studied economics or finance in school, it is important to get these questions right.

There are 3 types of technical questions you may be asked: 1) Valuation/Modeling Questions 2) Accounting Questions and 3) Brain Teasers.

Valuation

You should know the three main valuation methodologies and be able to explain them to your interviewers.

First is comparable company analysis - looking at publicly traded companies and the multiples they trade at, then applying those to the company in question. This depends very much on “market data” to value companies, and the main downside is that sometimes there are no true comparable companies to use.

Second is precedent transaction analysis - looking at what buyers paid for sellers in similar industries and with similar financial profiles and applying the multiples to your own company. Again, there are often no true comparable transactions. Precedent transaction analysis also tends to produce the the highest valuations because of the control premium required to acquire companies.

Finally, there is the Discounted Cash Flow Analysis - using a company’s projected cash flows, discounting them for the time-value of money and cost of capital and summing those to find the company’s present value. This is the “purest” way of valuing a company since it depends solely on its financial performance, but the drawback is that it depends heavily on future projections, which tend to be unreliable.

Know these methodologies and the various advantages and disadvantages of each.

Modeling Questions

The most likely financial modeling questions you’ll get will concern merger models (when a company acquires another company) and Leveraged Buyout, or LBO models - when a private equity firm buys a company using equity and debt.

The most important part of a merger model is the accretion/dilution - will a company have a higher or lower earnings per share (EPS) after acquiring another company? A merger model is an analysis of the trade-offs between using cash, stock, or debt to finance an acquisition. Any of these methods, or any combinations, will result in a different EPS. Beyond just the EPS impact, you also have to consider how much debt the buyer can afford, how much cash they have, and how much stock they can issue.

In an LBO model, you’re trying to solve for the private equity firm’s return on investment - the IRR. It’s very similar to buying a house with a mortgage - there is a down payment (the equity part of an LBO) and the mortgage (the debt used to finance an LBO). The model measures how much the company’s value grows and how much debt is paid off over 3 to 5 years. The most important drivers are purchase price, exit price, amount of debt used, and the company’s growth rate and profitability.

Accounting Questions

Make sure you know the three financial statements - the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement - link together and be able to walk through how changes to one of them will affect the others.

One common question here is how an increase of $10 in depreciation will affect all the statements.

On the income statement, depreciation is an expense so operating income would decline by $10. With a tax rate of 40%, net income would drop by $6.

On the cash flow statement, net income is down by $6 but depreciation - one of the “addbacks” - increases by $10, so cash flow from operations would increase by $4.

On the balance sheet, Net PP&E would decrease by $10 because of the depreciation, while cash would be up by $4 from the tax savings. The $6 decrease in net income would also cause retained earnings to decrease by $6, so that the balance sheet balances - both assets and liabilities / shareholders’ equity are now lower by $6.

Brain Teasers

It’s hard to give a detailed overview of brain teasers because questions are usually completely different. In general, though, you want to keep your calm and focus on your thought process rather than getting the answer exactly right. Brain teasers are really just stress tests, so keep that in mind as you go through interviews.

Chris Cooper asked:


Lenders generally require you to purchase PMI - Private Mortgage Insurance , if you can’t come up with at a least 20% down payment. PMI is a rather expensive insurance policy that insures the lender against default if you walk away from your home.

Not everyone has to pay this insurance. There are federal and state plans for low income earners to help them buy a home with little or no down payment and without mortgage insurance, If you think you qualify, contact the FHA. Local bank and mortgages brokers can also hook you up with these programs.

Also lenders have come up with schemes to help homeowners avoid paying PMI. These are generally known as 20-80 or 10-10-80 loans or some variation thereof.

Basically the lender arranges for 100% financing through multiple mortgages, using whatever down payment you have. These only make sense if the costs of the loans are less than the cost of the mortgage and PMI combined.

In this article we will only consider borrowers who don’t have the 20% and don’t want to or can’t qualify for 100% financing.

The main purpose of PMI is to allow you to buy a home without having to wait years to save up the down payment. Lenders are more comfortable if you put down 20% or more since you are less likely to walk away from the house if problems arise.

Private mortgage insurance covers the down payment if you default and makes lenders much more eager to grant a mortgage.

Also you can buy a larger house if you use PMI because your down payment can be as low as 5%.

However PMI costs at least $40 a month on a $100,000 loan with 10% down. This is $480 a year until your equity is at least 20% of the value of the house.

The borrower almost always pays for this insurance which can be billed:

Annually. You pay the first-year premium at closing; an annual renewal premium is collected monthly as part of the total monthly house payment.

Monthly. The cost is slightly more than with the annual plan, but dramatically lowers mortgage insurance closing costs.

You pay your private mortgage insurance preminum monthly as part of your total mortgage payment, but you only need to pay one month’s mortgage insurance premium at closing, rather than one year’s.

Single. You pay a one-time single premium. Since single premiums are typically financed as part of the mortgage loan amount, no out-of-pocket cash is used for mortgage insurance at closing.

However, since you are financing the insurance, you are also paying points and interest on the premium, which increases its total cost.

Also make sure the single premium only covers you until you build up sufficient equity in your home. Otherwise make sure excess premiums are refundable.

In 1998, Congress passed the Homeowners Protection Act which went into effect the next year.

This law establishes rules for automatic termination and borrower cancellation of PMI on home mortgages. These protections apply to mortgages signed on or after July 29, 1999 for the purchase, construction, or refinance of a single-family home.

The law does not apply to government-insured FHA or VA loans or to loans with lender-paid PMI.

For mortgages signed on or after July 29, 1999, your Private Mortgage Insurance must be terminated automatically when you reach 22% equity in your home based on the original property value, if your mortgage payments are current. PMI also can be canceled at your request when you reach 20 percent equity in your home based on the original property value, if your mortgage payments are current.

Exceptions are if your loan is considered high-risk: if you have not been current on your payments within the year prior to the time for termination or cancellation: or if you have other liens on your property.

For these loans, your PMI will probably continue. Ask your bank for more information about these exceptions.

If you signed your mortgage before July 29, 1999, you can ask to have the PMI canceled once you exceed 20 percent equity in your home, but federal law does not require your lender to comply.

The law also requires that:

New borrowers covered by the law must be told - at closing and once a year - about PMI termination and cancellation.

Mortgage service agents must provide a telephone number for all borrowers to call for information about termination and cancellation of PMI.

Even though the law’s termination and cancellation rights do not cover loans that were signed before July 29, 1999, or loans with lender-paid PMI signed on any date, lenders or mortgage service agents must tell borrowers about any termination or cancellation rights they may otherwise have - rights established by contract or state law.

Some states have laws that apply to early termination or cancellation of PMI - even if you signed your mortgage before July 29, 1999. Call your state consumer protection agency for more information about your state’s laws.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy home mortgages from lenders, also may have guidelines affecting termination or cancellation of PMI on home mortgages signed before July 29, 1999.

Check with your lender or mortgage service agent or call Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac for more information.

It pays to keep track of the equity in your home when paying PMI and asking for its cancellation once you have reached 20%.

Jónas Sigurgeirsson asked:


Kaupthing Bank is a northern European bank offering integrated financial services to companies, institutional investors and individuals. These services include corporate banking, investment banking, capital markets services, asset management and comprehensive wealth management for private banking clients.

Kaupthing Bank was formed by the merger of Kaupthing and Búnaðarbanki Íslands in 2003 and is the largest bank in Iceland. The bank operates in ten countries, including all the Nordic countries (Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Norway and Sweden), Luxembourg, Switzerland, the UK and the US. The bank is the eighth largest bank in the Nordic countries in terms of market capitalization and it employs over 2,500 people and maintains 36 retail branches in Iceland.

In recent years, Kaupthing Bank has been one of the fastest growing financial groups in Europe. The Bank’s expansion has been achieved through sound organic growth and a number of strategic acquisitions. The most recent acquisitions are those of FIH Erhvervsbank in Denmark in 2004 and in 2005 the UK bank Singer & Friedlander, now Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander. The aim of this growth is to further enhance the Bank’s ability to provide comprehensive services to its client base in the UK, Scandinavia and elsewhere in northern Europe.

As of December 31st 2006, the bank had total assets of €42.9 billion. In 2006, it ranked number 1,006 on Forbes Global 2000, which is an annual ranking of top 2000 corporations in the world by Forbes magazine. The same year, it ranked number 177 (up by 34 seats from 2005) on the list of the world’s largest banks composed annually by the international finance magazine The Banker.

In 2006, Kaupthing Bank had net earnings of €971 million, compared with €659 million in 2005. About 70% of the operating profit originated outside of Iceland (30% in Iceland, 34% in the UK, 26% in Scandinavia, 8% in Luxembourg and 2% in other countries).

The Name

The bank is known as Kaupthing Bank outside of Iceland. In Iceland, its official name is Kaupþing Banki hf. formerly, its official name was Kaupþing Búnaðarbanki hf., but the name was changed as the former name was considered too unwieldy for most people. From 2003 to 2006 the company used the name KB banki for its retail operations in Iceland. In December 2006 however, the bank started using the old name of Kaupþing for its network of high-street bank. It was announced that the change was part of the bank’s plan to operate under the same name everywhere. [4]

History

Founded in 1930 Búnaðarbanki Íslands was publicly owned from its inception and was privatized by the government in stages between 1998 and 2003. Kaupþing Bank was founded in 1982. Four years later, it was one of the founding members of the Iceland Stock Exchange. Half of the bank was sold to the Icelandic savings banks in 1986. The other half was sold to Búnaðarbanki Íslands in 1990, which sold its shares to the savings banks in 1996. The savings banks began selling its shares to the public on the stock market in 2000.

Acquisitions, mergers, subsidiaries

- 1982 Kaupthing hf. founded in Iceland

- 1998 Kaupthing Luxembourg, S.A. opened

- 2000 Kaupthing Faroe Islands opened, Kaupthing New York opened, Kaupthing Stockholm opened

- 2001 Kaupthing Bank Copenhagen opened, Kaupthing Lausanne opened, Sofi acquired in Finland

- 2002 Aragon acquired in Sweden, JP Nordiska acquired in Sweden, Auðlind acquired in Iceland

- 2003 Kaupthing merges with Búnaðarbanki Íslands to form Kaupthing Bank, Tyren acquired in Norway, Norvestia acquired in Finland, Kaupthing Limited opened in the UK

- 2004 A. Sundvall acquired in Norway, FIH acquired in Denmark

- 2005 Singer & Friedlander acquired in the UK

- 2006 Kaupthing Limited merges with Singer & Friedlander to form Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander in the UK

Jose Roncal asked:


The current economic meltdown has changed the face of Wall Street, possibly forever. For decades the energy in the market had been fueled by high-rolling investment bankers, but look what’s happened in the last eight months. Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. Bear Stearns was snapped up by JPMorgan Chase, Merrill Lynch got bought out by Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley had to convert to bank holding companies just to stay in business.  Five major investment banks . . .and then there were none. 

At the beginning of this year, those five firms had a combined market value of around $250 billion with the top firm, Goldman Sachs, valued at nearly $90 billion. Now the top banks, which are comparatively small boutique firms—Raymond James, Jefferies & Co, Greenhill & Co, Keefe Bruyette & Woods and Piper Jaffray—have a combined market value of $12 billion, a number that has shrunk by a factor of 20.

Essentially, the global economic crisis has ushered in the era of universal banking where massive financial firms offer every conceivable kind of investment product and service. Even smaller brokerage firms face being herded under the umbrellas of big banks, or else risk becoming irrelevant.

Historic Realignment of the Industry

When Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley opted to become bank holding companies it marked an historic realignment of the financial services industry and the end of a securities firm model that had prevailed on Wall Street since the Great Depression.  But why did they make the change? Partly because it’s given both firms access to the Federal Reserve’s discount window — the same line of credit that is open to other depository institutions at a lower interest rate.

As bank holding companies, they can also tap into deposits from retail customers. The two firms had already received a temporary financial lifeline from the Fed—the Primary Dealer Credit Facility—the special reserves established to bail out Wall Street broker-dealers like the Bear Stearns deal in March 2008.

Even though Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are now classified as bank holding companies and are part of the universal banking model, they’ll still be able to engage in investment banking activities. But after years of loose oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission, they’re now faced with tighter regulations imposed by the Federal Reserve and they are subjected to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation oversight.[1]

The Golden Years of Investment Banking

A quick historical review of investment banks will serve as a backdrop to the events that led to their downfall.

Independent investment banks have been around for a long time, but originally they were small private partnerships that earned most of their money from offering corporate finance and investment advice, as well as some broking and other services.  If you had walked into one of their offices and looked around, you might have mistaken it for a large law firm.

The success of their business model depended on the trust built through long-term relationships. There wasn’t much money at risk in the early days because the firms operated primarily with the partners’ own money.  That meant there weren’t vast sums available to gamble on risky ventures with excessive leverage. But the lack of working capital and a desire to orchestrate splashier deals, motivated the firms to go public in the late 90s.

The Downfall Begins

With more capital in the coffers and a growing access to low cost, short-term debt, managers started to make larger, riskier capital bets—most recently those troubling and toxic mortgage-backed securities.

The regulations that had once separated investment banks from traditional banks were no longer in place. That opened the way for big global banks like Citigroup and JP Morgan to start competing with Wall Street for what had traditionally been the domain of the investment banking business. This forced Wall Street firms to expand their services, to use more leverage and to take even bigger risks.

When those risks led to profits, the dealmakers were rewarded with outlandish bonuses and the wheels were set in motion for bigger risk-taking. Throw patchy government regulation into the mix and you have, as the saying goes, a recipe for disaster.

Before long, major Wall Street firms were leveraged three or four times more than conventional banks, yet they still operated under far less stringent regulations than the banks.

It wasn’t until the financial crisis reared its ugly head in mid-2008 that the U.S. Fed stepped in and for the first time, allowed investment banks access to their discounted funds. Then when the credit crisis hit, highly leveraged Wall Street firms like Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs found themselves in even deeper trouble. They’d already suffered huge losses with their hedge funds and high-risk ventures, but their excessive leverage compounded their problems as the credit crisis stripped them of the ability to raise the additional capital they needed to survive.

The Outlook for Wall Street

What’s the outlook for those working on Wall Street now? No doubt there will be less excitement and no more of the huge bonuses that dealmakers had grown accustomed to. But there are bigger concerns about whether the U.S. will lose its competitive edge and the ability to maintain its power status in the global financial system.

Some of the best and brightest might pull up stakes and head for better opportunities in the burgeoning Asian Markets, or they could flip over to the unregulated Hedge Fund market—at least for as long as those funds manage to survive. Thousands of Hedge Funds are going out of business, bringing serious grief to investors like the huge public pension funds, foundations and endowments that have poured billions of dollars into these private partnerships.

If there is any good news in this economic fiasco, it’s this: Main Street stands to eventually benefit from a better regulated Wall Street.  With a more transparent financial system, a firmer foundation and a stronger business model, there might be a promising outlook for more stable and consistent growth.

Ken Golden asked:


There is a distinction between private student loans and federal student loans in the sense that federal loans are guaranteed by the Federal Government. They present numerous striking stipulations like very affordable interest rates, postponed repayment, subsidized interest payment including extended repayment stipulations.

However, private student loans can be obtained from banks, credit unions including other financial institutions, and are based not on fiscal need, but on credit history including ability to pay off of the borrower.

The private student loan may well work as an additional source to federal loan programs and may well be meant for lots of diverse educational purposes for example education, books, living expenses including computers. Interest rates as well as payment stipulations will vary from lender to lender as well as being based on the credit rating of the borrower.

Now and then, it is additionally possible for a co-signer to be given a private loan, though it is not necessary, mainly if the student has a satisfactory creditworthiness, is employed full time and is a citizen of the USA or permanent resident. In case the student fails to comply with minimum eligibility requirements they may well request a private student loan with a co-signer who does meet those requirements.

The interest rate percentages for a private student loan can differ in keeping with the special goal of the loan, and for private loans for undergraduates; the percentage of interest would be 4.65 percent above LIBOR.

With college expenditure steadily escalating and the number of people ahead of you for federal loans similarly rising, it is not surprising that private Student loans are fast becoming the most rapid increasing source of funds for U.S. college education.

Many families find in the private student loan, a suitable including simple means of getting the capital necessary to cover off college education costs. Submitting and application for a private student loan is very efficient and the entire process can be completed in as little as 15 minutes.

Alternative or private student loans generally obtain their funding from private financial institutions and are not subject to Federal instructions.

The cash obtained in this manner can be used to pay for education expenses as well as many other costs related to education.

Private student loans can often be used to complement the federal student loans, especially when federal student loan funds fail in meeting the final cost of education.

Koz Huseyin asked:


For many years, if you wanted a mortgage to get a home, the kind of mortgage lender you would visit was a bank. Today thanks to competition, the benefits of getting a mortgage from other mortgage financing companies can really benefit you.

Banks are in the main, pretty stable financial institutions. Banks deal with money, and they profit from activities such as offering mortgages to private individuals, and offering banking for corporations. As such as most banks offer free private banking to customers, there needs a way for the bank to make money. With mortgages the bank makes on average 4 times the amount they put in! As you can imagine, mortgages are profitable ventures for the bank. However, like all things that can earn money, there is an element of risk.

The risk that banks put up is always based on calculated risks, so banks may not be the best way to get a mortgage, especially if you have bad credit. To vent this problem and allow more people to get a mortgage, the bank charges a very high rate of interest. This is to the detriment of most people, as you are paying high fees, and any kind of negative on your credit record, could mean a bank will reject your application. The rejection is a bad aspect as it gets added to your credit score, and a few of these could stop you from getting a mortgage.

In came mortgage financing companies. These companies offering mortgages to private and business clients enabled more people to get a home mortgage. Unfortunately, these financing companies which dealt mainly with private clients that had existing debt problems and bad credit, would give a mortgage to these individuals, but it would cost more than a bank would charge in interest! As you can imagine, this does not get people out of debt, it gets them into bigger debt.

There had to be another way, especially for all the people that have mainly good credit scores. So the mortgage financing companies started adding more packages which benefited most of the people. For anyone performing the go ahead of giving you a mortgage, they want safe customers. The mortgage financing companies want customers who will pay back the mortgage, and earn them a profit. In most cases this is what happens.

The mortgage companies started offering mortgage packages which benefited people with good credit ratings. They started offering mortgage packages which had much lower interest rates than banks could offer. This started to get the interest of people looking for a mortgage, who were willing to put in the effort to research the various mortgage companies.

Going with a bank to get a mortgage can be an easy process. If you have been banking with the bank since you was a child, and have been in good standing with the bank, a mortgage with the bank is often streamlined and easy to do. However, being this kind of person could see you paying 10s of thousands of dollars extra in interest. Imagine working an entire 12 months or even a few years extra, in all that time, just to pay what you could have saved with an extra week of research.

There needs to be some caution however with both mortgage lenders, either bank or a dedicated mortgage lender. They both can have clauses which could either be to your detriment or to your benefit. As always select a few packages and look more deeply into them before committing, and always use the aid of financial professionals, who have had experience of mortgages and the process of buying a home, and are there to help you get your dream home.

Apurva Shree asked:


This new medical promise of treating diseases through stem cell cord blood banking has drawn the attention of a large mass. However, there are mixed opinions regarding umbilical stem cell cord blood. There are certain issues like ethics, racial groups, family history of genetic disorders, and others that dominate the decision for cord blood storage.

Factors To Be Considered For Cord Blood Donation

Recipient’s compatibility – due to the immaturity of the stem cells present in cord blood, the recipient has a reduced risk of graft vs. host disease, which is a potentially serious immune response.

Convenience – it is easier to regain cord blood than bone marrow. This is because it is stored cryogenically and is readily available for transplant. It is hard to find bone marrow donor and its retrieval process is intricate.

Ethnic or racial groups - Race and ethics come in the way of bone marrow donation. Cord blood banking, in which cord blood is stored during childbirth, comes to the rescue at the time of need.

Free services – for families who are unable to afford the cost of cord blood registry, there are certain private banking companies that have come forward to provide free services.

PROS

The major advantage of saving cord blood is that it is readily available at the time of saving the life of someone. The stem cells are already stored at the cord blood bank, hence, can be readily available in case the need arises for transplant.

There is no pain or other harm involved in cord blood collection to either the mother or baby. It is a very simple process carried out immediately after delivery.

Cord blood cells have the potential to help in the treatment of more than 50 diseases including leukemia, critical sickle cell anemia, aplastic anemia, and others.

Stem cell cord blood has higher probability of becoming the perfect match for family members and relatives and has no risk of rejection by the recipient’s body.

CONS

There are no exact estimates to confirm that an average child without any risk factor will utilize her own saved cord blood.

The commercial cord-blood bank demands about $1,500 for cord blood registry, not mentioning the $100 maintenance fee every year.

Besides this, you may have to shell out a few hundred dollars to obtain the cord blood collection kit, for courier charges, and for initial steps of cord blood banking.

Most of the stem cell transplants are done only on kids or adolescents. Moreover, cord blood stem cells are not sufficient for an adult transplant. A large-sized person needs a larger amount of blood forming stem cells for a successful transplant.

There is no concrete evidence that states that stem cells of a relative provide a greater success rate than those drawn from a stranger. Both the donors have equal success rate because the cord blood stem cells are immature, therefore, it doesn’t matter if there is no perfect match for getting an unbeaten bone marrow transplant.

Doctors have little experience in cord blood stem cell transplantation.

Some medical experts are of the view that an ill child receiving her own cord blood stem cells may become prone to get the same disease again. However, there is no medical evidence proving it true.

Cord blood storage might become a new trend very soon. However, the decision to go for cord blood banking is entirely yours. In addition, you have to decide well in advance of the due date because once you lose the precious blood, you cannot regain it. Anyways, it’s good to have something to fall back upon at times of emergencies, isn’t it?

Anil Thakur asked:


In today’s capitalist world where security is one of the utmost concerns, the typical problem facing an individual is financial security. Money-related questions typically asked are: “Where can I keep my money? What is the best way to invest it and make it grow? Who can I borrow money from?” And the answer: a bank – a financial institution dealing with financial concerns.

Banks are known to provide financial services, from storing assets (liquid or otherwise) to extending credit. From a bank customer’s point of view, this translates to services ranging from making deposits to asking for a loan. People are now even capable of paying their bills and most of their purchases thru different banking methods.

Historically, banks have been seen as heartless and opportunistic. They were seen as vicious businesses victimizing the innocent and honest. Of course, eventually, through time, this view has drastically changed. Banks today are one of the highly-respected and successful business establishments in the country. Now that people are more educated about the banking operations, they have learned to trust these businesses with not only their savings and assets, but with other transactions as well.

It is said that the word bank came from the Italian word banca, which came from Germany and means bench. Money lenders (now popularly known as “loan sharks”) from Northern Italy used to conduct their business in open areas, each working from his own bench. Similarly, the term bankrupt (which means broke) was derived from the term banca rotta, or a broken bench.

Now, I’m sure you’ve heard of central banks, savings banks, commercial banks, private banks, etc. What differentiates one from the other? There are many types of banks.

In a nutshell, here are some of the more popular ones and what commonly distinguishes each from the others:

Central banks are usually charged with controlling the monetary policies, including the money supply. They are also tasked with the printing of paper money. Savings banks traditionally offer services like savings and mortgages. But at present, they have expanded to offer other forms of financial assistance. Commercial banks usually offer financial services to large corporations or businesses. Private banks manage the assets of the ultra-rich. They are usually located in jurisdictions with low taxation and regulation (Yes, those infamous Swiss banks and Swiss accounts…).

There are also merchant banks, which provide capital to firms in the form of shares rather than loans; investment banks, which deal with selling of stocks and bonds and with advising on mergers; retail banks, where the primary customers are individuals and; universal banks, which offer diversified financial services and engage in several different banking activities.

How does such a business earn its money? Traditionally, a bank’s main sources of income come from transaction fees from its range of financial services and from the interests it charges for its loans. But in the past years, banks have evolved to ensure their continued profitability despite the changing market conditions. Banking, investment and insurance functions were merged to cater to the consumer’s “one-stop shopping” mentality.

Indeed, banks have come a long way from the time they conducted their business on benches. They are changing because people are changing. And it all started on the day when man felt that his valuables were no longer safe in his own home. After all, anyone can sleep more peacefully at night knowing that his assets are tucked away in a secure place.

Peter Kenny asked:


Finding the right bank for your needs can be a tough decision, but it is important that you choose the right establishment to handle your money. Choosing the wrong bank can cost you time and money, and although choosing your nearest bank might seem convenient, you could be missing out on the best deals.

Different types of banks

Although there might seem like there is a limited choice, if you are looking for a simple bank account then there are a large number of institutions that you can look at. As well as traditional banks there commercial banks, credit unions, private banks and online banks but to name a few. You should look at all these options to make sure that you get the best deal to suit your needs.

Service features

The first thing you need to consider when choosing a bank is what sort of service features you are looking for. You need to determine your needs and then compare these with the list of products that a particular bank offers. If you are in the market for a simple checking or savings account then there are likely to be a lot of potential candidates. However, if you are looking for something more specific then there might only be a few likely sources. You need to look at the level of service the organisation can provide and whether this meets your needs.

Convenience

Although automatically choosing your nearest bank isn’t always the best option, convenience is a factor to take into consideration. If you need to use branch services then you need to consider how close the nearest branch is to your home or place or work. You also need to look at whether they offer online or telephone services, and what their hours of work are. You may find a bank with great services, but if the branch is 20 miles away and they are rarely open then you won’t benefit from these services.

Size

Banks and financial institutions greatly vary in size, so you need to consider what sort of bank you want to use. If you want to use a small banking corporation that offers more personal service, then you might have to sacrifice cheaper rates. You should compare the costs and levels of service in the small and large banks in your area to determine the best balance for you.

Fees and rates

Perhaps the most important aspect when looking for a bank is how high their fees and rates are. Many banks are similar in terms of products offered and service levels, and most of the major chains will have a branch near you. However, the thing that might separate the winner from the loser is the rates and fees they can offer you. If you are looking for a particular account or product, look at the costs for each bank. If everything else is equal, then go for the bank with the lowest fees and rates. Banking is all about saving yourself time and money, so the bank with the best rates and a good service level is usually the best choice.

Audry Grant asked:


When Jesse James and his Wild Bunch had finally robbed one bank too many, Allan Pinkerton and his son William stepped up to exert a very terrifying pressure upon the outlaws.  Intelligent, incredibly tenacious, physically powerful, fearless, and with an almost fanatical devotion for the laws of their land, they were without a doubt two of America’s greatest detectives.

Allan Pinkerton founded his private investigation agency in 1850 and can be described as the nation’s first civilian FBI-like agency.  The Pinkertons were pioneers in the field of criminology and pursued Jesse James and his fellow outlaws under the most primitive of conditions. 

There was no central fingerprint filing system in Washington, no rogues gallery, no most wanted descriptions being sent to each of the police stations in the fifty states at the touch of a button, no ballistics or modern techniques from which a criminal could be made by his patterns, his left-over fingerprints, or his DNA.  Nothing that like existed for the Pinkertons.  All they had was a deep desire to uphold the law and an even deeper desire to catch those running loose breaking it. 

They also had a great desire to keep pristine records of every account, and as a result, the Pinkerton agency files are legendary themselves.  They started the first rogues gallery that included pictures and physical descriptions, as well as laying the foundations for tracking a criminal’s habits.

And the job of a private investigator was not an easy one.  For months they were riding horseback, following dead leads (literally), and endlessly questioning bystanders, before finally picking up the trail that led them into hostile territories infested with murderous outlaws and their henchmen. 

When the first four bank robberies led by Jesse James and his gang rocked the nation, Allan Pinkerton and his agency were called in to hunt down the bandits once and for all.  Pinkerton’s prestige was well-known by this time, but more than that, it was understood that he and his agency were incorruptible to the core.  No bribes, liquor, or *********** could sway them, and men had tried. 

And, in a humorous twist, while the bandits feared and hated the Pinkertons, they grew to respect them for their fair dealings.  The Pinkertons would pursue any bandit until captured, but once the criminal was given a chance to repay his debt to society, he was a free man in their eyes.