what's the difference between investment bankers and private equity group?

Answer 1

There are actually many differences between the two. P/E and IB are similar in that the main focus is valuation. But they value companies for different reasons. Private Equity firms try to find poorly managed companies that are "cheap." They then buy these companies, restructure them and eventually cash out through an IPO. Investment Bankers have more of an advisory relationship with their clients, providing valuations for mergers and acquisitions and IPOs.

P.S. I-bankers do work with very large institutional investors. Be careful where you get your information on this site.

Answer 2

Investment bankers usually deal with Fund groups comprising of small investors while private equity groups deal with large (read having a lot of money) clients

Answer 3

Not much