Finance companies are back on track this summer at the Indian Institute of Managements

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(IIMs). Following last year’s debacle, when marketing and consultancy bagged majority of the students, this year the investment banks have bounced back to reclaim the top spots.

At IIM-Bangalore (IIM-B), which completed its placement process on Tuesday, finance companies recruited 35 per cent of the batch. While the investment banks (i-Banks) hired 19 per cent of the batch, other financial companies offered jobs to 16 per cent of the students.

“Goldman Sachs was the biggest hirer on campus this year with 13 students getting offers. Similarly, other i-Bankers, which visited the campus, include JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Nomura,” said Vineet Sharma, placement representative at IIM-B. Marketing lapped up 21 per cent of the batch, while 15 per cent opted for consultancy firms.

“The response this year has been great, with about 180 students or over 50 per cent of the batch being placed during slot zero itself,” Sharma added. A total of 150 companies participated during this year’s summer placements. The institute has placed its entire batch of 348 students.

At IIM-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), finance remained the top pick with 44 per cent of its post graduate programme (PGP) students opting for roles in finance, including investment banking, private equity, corporate banking and treasury roles. About 18 per cent of the students opted for marketing roles in sales and marketing management, branding, business development and marketing research. Consulting and general management were the other preferred domains followed by IT.

Saral Mukherjee, chairperson of the placement committee said, “We did not expect such a drastic upturn. The summer placements have come as a pleasant surprise. However, this may not necessarily translate into increased final placement hiring as often summer placements serve a different need of the recruiter. Hence, we are upgrading our expectation to one of cautious optimism and at the same time working hard towards attracting a diverse set of recruiters to the campus.”

Last year, for the 2008-10 batch, the number of offers made by i-banks on slot zero stood at 35, while this year, this number has shot up to 77. IIM-A successfully placed its 301 students this summer.

At IIM-Kozhikode (IIM-K), banks and other financial services firms lapped up as much as 30 per cent of the batch. Marketing companies were the next big hirer with about 23 per cent of the students opting for jobs in that segment. A total of 120 firms participated, including Arthur D Little, KPMG, Hewitt, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank. The highest stipend offered this year was over Rs 1 lakh by a finance company.

“The participation of new recruiters in the emerging fields of media, sports management, hospitality and NGOs is indicative that our students are willing to explore new avenues and challenge old stereotypes,” said Keyoor Purani, chairperson-placements, IIM-K. The entire batch of 309 students bagged offers this year.

Placements at IIM Lucknow (IIM-L), whose batch comprises 380 students, is still in process. According to RL Raina, chairman-placements, “Until now, the response has been better than last year. Lots of finance firms have come for hiring and the sector is opening up.” The first phase of the summer process at IIM-L has witnessed a 25 per cent increase in number of offers as compared to last year.

The scene has been upbeat at IIM-Calcutta (IIM-C), too, with 43 per cent of the batch bagging finance offers. This included 80 offers in investment banks and private equity firms, as compared to last year’s 58. The slot zero consulting firms made 20 offers, up from 16 in 2008. IIM-C’s batch comprised 407 students this year.

Prafulla Agnihotri, chairperson, career development and placement office, IIM-C, said, “The i-Banks returned with great gusto to the campus. The Royal Bank of Scotland made the largest number of offers, by taking in 11 students. It was closely followed by Barclays Capital and Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BoA-ML). Nomura too recruited from the campus, burying the ghost of Lehman Brothers, which was a highly favoured recruiter until last year.”

Other banks that recruited from IIM-C, include UBS, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan Chase, HSBC Global, Macquarie, Deutsche Bank, Rothschild, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Consulting firms such as McKinsey, Bain, BCG and AT Kearney also recruited IIM-C students. Private Equity firms, too, returned to IIM-C this year. Among the prominent ones were Baring Private Equity Partners and Mount Kellett Capital Management.

Mount Kellett was a first-time recruiter at IIM-C. Along with Morgan Stanley (London), IIM-C was the only college in India it recruited from, said Agnihotri.

IIM-C conducted its summer placements for the batch of 2009-11 from November 4 to November 9. The process ended with all 407 students (a rise of 33 per cent) of the batch landing an offer. Leading consulting firms too kept their date with McKinsey, Bain, BCG and AT Kearney recruiting students from here, Prof Agnihotri said.

Marketing and general management firms, too, marked their presence. Leading recruiters were Hindustan Unilever, Procter and Gamble, Diageo, TAS, Aditya Birla and Edelweiss. TAS made an unprecedented 10 offers on campus. Other big players were Cadbury, Coca Cola, Pepsi and RPG Group.As many as 61 students have internship offers across the world: New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and South Africa.

(With inputs from Ritwik Mukherjee)