An investment banking dashboard presents essential information visually through charts, graphs, and tables. It includes:

• Deals: Which are the deals the bank is working on, and how are they progressing?
• Money: How much money is the bank making or spending?
• Clients: Who are the bank's customers and how happy are they?
• Risk: What could go wrong and how big the problem could be?

The dashboard lets bankers see what is happening, understand problems early, and make decisions faster.

Benefits of using investment banking dashboards

Real-time insights

• Comprehensive deal tracking: Keep track of deal progress (like prospecting, qualification, proposal, negotiation, closed-won, etc.) using progress bars and timelines.
• Pipeline health assessment: Keep track of how many people move from one stage to the next in the sales process, from qualifying leads to sending proposals or from sending proposals to negotiating terms.
• Key metric analysis: Monitor average deal size, valuation, and win rate over time and compare the performance to quarterly targets.
• Benchmarking: Check how your key performance indicators (KPIs) stack against industry averages or top-performing competitors. For example, look at the average deal cycle length and win rate.

Performance optimization

• Team productivity metrics: Track each sales rep's performance by monitoring their deal closures, total revenue, and average deal size.
• Top performer identification: Don't forget to recognize the sales reps who consistently exceed their quotas or delight customers.
• Resource allocation: Assign resources based on how well the sales reps are doing, the potential of their territory, and the stage of their deal pipeline (like giving more help to reps who are closing big deals).

See it in action
Investment Banking

Key components of an effective investment banking dashboard

An effective investment banking dashboard provides a clear and actionable business view. It relies on three core components: key metrics, interactivity, and customization.

Key metrics

The dashboard should display key performance indicators to measure the bank's health and progress. These include:

Deal-related metrics

• Pipeline size: Number of active deals
• Win rate: Percentage of deals closed
• Average deal value: Total deal value/number of deals
• Close rate: Number of deals closed/total opportunities

Financial performance

• Revenue: Total income generated
• Profit margin: Profit in percentage (%)
• Fees: Income from services (e.g., transaction fees)
• Expenses: Total operational costs
• ROI: Return on investment (profit divided by investment)

Interactivity and drill-down capabilities

A static dashboard is of limited value. A dashboard must allow users to identify trends and answer specific questions to unlock its full potential. This includes:

• Filtering: Users should be able to filter data by various criteria, such as the deal type, industry, region, or period.
• Drilling down: The ability to click on a specific data point and see detailed information. For example, you click on a metric, and it can show detailed financial projections, team members, or important milestones.
• Comparing data: Users should be able to compare performance over time, between different teams, or against benchmarks.

Customization and filters

The dashboard should be flexible to meet the diverse needs of different users. This involves:

• User-defined metrics: Users can add or remove metrics based on their roles and responsibilities.
• Data visualization options: Provide various chart types (bar, line, pie, etc.) to suit different preferences and data types.
• Saved views: Enable users to save their preferred dashboard configurations for quick access.

Customizing the dashboard makes it valuable for frontline staff or top management.

Related Read:

• Fintech data visualization: Importance, Examples & Tools
• What are Data Visualization Dashboard

A step-by-step guide to building your investment banking dashboard

Identify primary users and their needs

The first thing to do is figure out who will use the dashboard.

This could include deal teams, senior management, and analysts. Understand their roles, responsibilities, and information needs. Conduct interviews or surveys to gather their inputs.

Define dashboard objectives and KPIs

Clearly outline what the dashboard should achieve. Is it for deal tracking, performance monitoring, or strategic planning? Identify KPIs, such as average deal size, deal win rate, revenue, and profitability, to measure success.

Data collection and preparation

Gather relevant data from various sources, including CRM, databases, and financial systems. Ensure data quality and consistency. Cleanse and transform data into a format suitable for analysis.

Choosing the right dashboarding tool

When choosing a dashboarding tool for your banking needs, make sure it fits with your technical capabilities, budget, and user-friendliness.

Don't forget to consider its ease of use, data connectivity, available visual options, and collaboration features.

DataBrain can handle large datasets, integrate with various popular databases (MongoDB, Redshift), and provide advanced analytics, making it a strong choice for investment banking users.

Designing the dashboard layout

1. Create a clear and intuitive dashboard layout.

2. Group related information together.

3. Use a consistent visual hierarchy.

4. Prioritize essential metrics.

5. Provide clear labels.

Adding data visualizations

- Choosing the right visualizations—such as charts, graphs, and tables—to represent your data effectively

- Using colors and formatting to improve readability

Testing and refinement

Test the dashboard with end users to gather feedback.

Make necessary adjustments to improve usability and accuracy. Monitor the dashboard and make changes required to fit the growing business needs and data availability.

Templates and Examples

Return on equity (ROE)

This metric shows how much profit a company makes from shareholders' investments.

Formula:

ROE = Net income/shareholders' equity

• Net income: Income - (expenses + taxes)
• Shareholders' equity: Total assets - total liabilities

Example:

If a company makes $100,000 in net income and its shareholders have equity of $500,000, its ROE would be:

ROE = $100,000/$500,000 = 0.2 or 20%

This means the company made a 20% return on the shareholder's money.

What ROE tells you:

• Profitability: A higher return on equity shows that a company is making more money.
• Investment performance: It helps investors see how well a company is doing compared to others in the same industry.
• Financial health: If the ROE is going down, it could mean the company is having money problems or not managing its assets well.

How does ROE help in investment banking?

• Valuation: Compare ROE to peers for valuation used in discounted cash flow (DCF) models.
• M&A: Identify targets, structure deals, and assess synergies.
• Equity Research: Analyze profitability, recommend stocks, and compare performance.
• Lending: Assess creditworthiness and structure loans.

Revenue breakdown by division chart

Revenue distribution across four divisions of a company: Trading, Asset Management, Advisory, and Investment Banking.

Implications for investment banking:

This chart visually represents the revenue mix within a financial institution. For investment banking, it offers several insights:

• Performance evaluation: You can use the chart to check how each division is doing compared to the others and spot their strong and weak points.
• Resource allocation: Knowing how much each division contributes to revenue is key to allocating resources effectively. For example, investing more in talent and technology for that division might make sense if investment banking brings in the most revenue.
• Strategic planning: The chart can help with significant decisions, like finding new opportunities to grow or diversify. For example, if the advisory division is small, the company might consider expanding its advisory services.
• Risk management: Knowing how the money comes in gives you an overall idea of the company's risk. If the money comes from many different areas and not just one, it helps lower the risk when the market goes up and down.

This chart offers a high-level overview of the firm's revenue composition, crucial for making informed business decisions in investment banking. You can check out this investment banking dashboard in real time.

See it in action
Investment Banking

Future of investment banking

Several key shifts are molding the sector’s future:

• Advanced algorithms are streamlining operations from client interactions to risk evaluation. These systems sift through vast data pools, uncovering fresh prospects and patterns to guide more choices.
• As online financial management gains traction, there's a surge in demand for enhanced digital offerings. Financial institutions are pouring resources into crafting innovative virtual solutions to meet evolving client expectations.
• Blockchain technology promises to boost transaction efficiency and security. This decentralized digital record-keeping system validates exchanges across a computer network, ensuring data integrity and immutability through sophisticated cryptographic methods.
• The increasing reliance on technology exposes financial entities to malicious cyberattacks. It raises the need to safeguard their data against cyberattacks.

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