Over a year in, zero closed deals...anyone else in the same boat?
Title says it all. I'm at a solid EB but have closed zero deals since starting last summer. Based on internal transaction announcements it seems like ~30% of the associates in my class and maybe ~40% of analysts in my class are in the same boat.
Sucks cus now that we're 2nd years I'm starting to get a lot of emails from headhunters looking to fill buyside roles, and I know one of the first things interviewers inquire about is deal experience. Anyone else in this situation? Any advice on how to position myself better in recruiting despite this disadvantage?
I'd say relax. Even in a good market this isn't too unusual as a first year. We all get the joke that not every deal closes, particularly on the buyside, and this market is particularly rough.
Hopefully though, you have some deal experience. You know how to navigate around and organise a VDR. You understand valuation and how to build an LBO. You know how a deal structure typically works (phase 1, phase 2, etc.) These are all positives, but no one is expecting you to lead a deal from start to finish after a year and negotiate the SPA.
Closing is much less important than actually having experience of day-to-day tasks, and be ready to explain specifically what you did, even if the deal didn't close. If you're an MD, no deals closed is a problem, but as a first year, and in this market, it (genuinely) close to arbitrary whether or not a deal actually closed, so long as you can speak intelligently about what relevant experience you have.
That points to another question, what do you even talk about in deals?
The only thing you do is general process management, bouncing admin docs/Q&A from bidders to company, setting up calls. Sure you do marketing materials, but usually they are not that technical. Operating data benchmarking, peer comparison, trading comps. Usually when you work larger clients they have a lot of these in place already aka internal model, IM from previous process, etc.
Also curious, feels like IBD is just data mining + formatting + traffic coordinating, with some disgusting modeling for the sake of modeling lumped in once a while
You'll be asked to walk through a typical M&A process from start to finish and walk through some of the tasks which you performed.
I absolutely take the point that most of IB is shockingly basic technically. At best we do arithmetic in terms of technical skills.
But a lot of an M&A process is not something you can Google and, because each process is different, there's a lot of value in being able to demonstrate that you've worked on a few deals and can be put into a new situation and, frankly, just make things work.
For example, you'll make my life a lot easier as an Analyst if I don't need to explain to you what a VDR is, how to get some quotes, put them on paper, explain them to the client, engage the VDR provider, build a basic VDR index and hold the client's hand in uploading their files and organising them.
None of this takes a PhD. We'd all be out of a job if it did, I'll be the first to admit. But there's a lot of "stuff" that needs to be done in an M&A process, a lot of it isn't obvious, and I (or my MD or anyone else) don't want to get my hands dirty with calling up VDR providers because you've never worked on a deal and don't know what they are or how to explain to the client what the different quotations mean.
To answer your question, listing out the bits of an M&A process you did, whether it's VDR management or writing a CIM or maintaining a Buyer Log, will all add to your credibility and provide me with the confidence that you'll be an asset to the deal team, rather than a liability who needs my time to teach you what to do.
Of course, don't BS; if you don't have the confidence to speak about VDR management don't pretend, because that's easy to spot in a follow-up question.
And as a caveat, of course I and the MD and the rest of the deal team will teach and train juniors (I don't mean to suggest that we don't do that), but the point of an interview is to get expectations right about what a new hire can or can't do.
Datasite representative confirmed.
This.
Thanks.
Are you an analyst or an associate?
I always find it funny how juniors In BBs and EBs shit on MMs because of "prestige" and then their deal sheet is non existent or like 1 closed deal a year.
If i was hiring now (in a BB) then I'd take a MM An banker with a few closed MM deals versus a EB or BB An with zero closed deals.
Brand doesn't mean shit without experience.
I've done both so no hate for eitheeither Top end or the MM end here.
So why does every megafund and nearly every UMM prefer BB/EB kids with 0 closed deals over MM kids with 10?
Why do top firms take Philosophy majors from Harvard vs Finance majors from a non-target? Prestige.
Well I'm not in PE and my comment was who I'd rather have in my team as a lateral.
Hiwever, to answer your question - its fairly straightforward forward. I'll use an anecdote.
There was an old tech phrase that went something like "nobody got fired for hiring IBM". Which is effectively the situation here.
1. It's perceived as a low risk hire and many Seniors don't want to expose themselves to risk of any kind unless required
2. There is a certain brand snobbery in PE. You can see this on PE websites when you go to team page and they talk about university and bank they came from.
3. Seniors with the decision making power don't really care if they have no experience, they expect the Senior associate or principal to teach them. Its not their problem. The principal and associate would likely prefer someone who doesn't need to be taught the job.
To the other poster on the whole Harvard philosophy thing. The other commenter nailed it. As a grad the difference is minimal and people can be put on a level playing field, so banks prefer "target" universities because again, you guessed it, its lower risk.
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I'm almost a year and a half in and we also in the same boat. Gearing up to close a deal end of October. Once end of year 2 bonus hits I'm getting out. This shit isn't worth it. We are underpaid and overworked and being around MD's/CEO's who make shit loads of money doesn't create a good mental space for a broke 22 year old.
If you could go back, would you do it again? What exit opps are you looking at?
I don't know, maybe. For exit opps i could go to PE, corp dev, VC, etc. I'm gonna go in the army and go to special forces early next year. I can't sit behind a desk in my 20s no matter how much they pay me. I was an athlete in college and still miss being one. I'll be a desk jockey the next 30 years after that. But I've realized that most people in banking and high finance aren't good people and this job is very unfulfilling just to line the pockets of a business owner who is already loaded.
Wow! I'm new to this but I didn't even realize that for such a long period you can sit without deals...
You can be on plenty of deals and not have them close
Oh, God. Thanks for the advice, by the way.
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