许多人认为投资银行的主要职能是进行投资。事实上，相反，投资银行不是投资机构，投资很难说是它的主业。投资银行更像是一家为投资提供多种服务的金融机构。其核心业务是融资和交易，但也提供咨询、研究、资产和财富管理等相关金融服务。从传统的金融市场买方和卖方的角度来看，投资银行是一种非常典型的卖方机构。投资银行业务主要涵盖资本市场，包括企业融资和金融资产交易。其主要收入来源来自各种承销和咨询费，以及做市和经纪佣金。投资银行(Investment Banks)是与商业银行相对应的一类金融机构。主要从事证券发行、承销、交易、企业重组、兼并与收购、投资分析、风险投资、项目融资等业务的非银行金融机构，是资本市场上的主要金融中介。投资银行是美国和欧洲大陆的称谓，英国称之为商人银行，在中国和日本则指证券公司。 投资银行的组织形态主要有四种:一是独立型的专业性投资银行，这种类型的机构比较多，遍布世界各地，他们有各自擅长的业务方向，比如中国的中信证券、中金公司，美国的高盛、摩根士丹利;二是商业银行拥有的投资银行，主要是商业银行通过兼并收购其他投资银行，参股或建立附属公司从事投资银行业务，这种形式在英德等国非常典型，比如汇丰集团、瑞银集团;三是全能型银行直接经营投资银行业务，这种形式主要出现在欧洲，银行在从事投资银行业务的同时也从事商业银行业务。投资银行主要有投资业务。四是跨国财务公司。
Many people think that the main function of an investment bank is to make investments. In fact, on the contrary, an investment bank is not an investment institution, and investment is hardly its main business. An investment bank is more like a financial institution that provides a variety of services for investment. Its core business is financing and trading, but it also provides consulting, research, asset andl wealth management and other related financial services. The investment bank is a very typical seller institution from the perspective of the traditional buyer and seller in financial markets. Investment banking mainly covers capital markets, including corporate financing and trading of financial assets. Its main sources of income come from various underwriting and advisory fees, as well as market making and brokerage commissions.Investment Banks are a kind of financial institutions corresponding to commercial Banks. Non-bank financial institutions are mainly engaged in securities issuance, underwriting, trading, corporate restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, investment analysis, venture capital, project financing and other businesses. They are the main financial intermediaries in the capital market. Investment bank is the title of the United States and continental Europe, Britain called merchant bank, in China and Japan refers to securities companies. There are four organizational forms of investment bank
s: First, there are many independent professional investment banks, which are spread all over the world. They are good at their own business, such as Citic Securities and CICC in China and Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in the United States. Second, investment banks owned by commercial banks are mainly engaged in investment banking business through mergers and acquisitions of other investment banks, equity participation or establishment of subsidiary companies, which is very typical in countries like Britain and Germany, such as HSBC Group and UBS Group. Third, universal banks directly engage in investment banking, which mainly appears in Europe. Banks engage in commercial banking as well as investment banking. Investment banks are mainly engaged in investment business. Fourth, multinational financial companies.