DISCLAIMER: will have to choose an IBD team soon, that's why asking
Hey guys!!
Does anyone know which London IBD teams places best into PE? I've done my researches , but would also like to hear it from people in the sector as many post on this seem to be a little old now.
I heard some London HHs saying to break into IBD Industrial, FIG and TMT (random order) as these are the most searched for ..
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Wouldn’t say FIG places that well tbh, very specialised. You will do well with Industrials or TMT though both further divide into a lot of sub verticals. Some banks have separate teams for telco and media/tech for example, all under TMT. Bottom line is do your research and pick one that interests you more as well. Nothing worse than grinding the hours in a sector you aren’t remotely interested in
Thanks for the pov, appreciated!
wouldn’t you say GS (but also MS) FIG place well?
if PE is your goal in FS then you'll have to look at shops like JC Flowers who specialise in FS, most MF avoid that sector unless there's a big overlap with tech
Mostly you would still work on things like insurance, AM etc, the business models of FIG names are just too different from a normal EBITDA based company, and unless you’re determined to go into a FIG specialists buy side firm, you would be better off elsewhere IMO. Only exception is fintech and payment related deals, GS is big in this sector and has a specialist fintech team, i.e not covered out of FIG
Lots of PE firms in London have large FIG and Financial Services teams, BX, KKR, H&F, Apollo, Warburg, Cinven, Permira that have done deals in insurance, wealth management, FinTech. Work in FIG PE and would say if you understand FIG businesses it's an easy way to stand out because 90% of people don't.
Really doesn’t matter as long as the team does work on M&A transactions and models in-house. Also BB over EB every time in London. For context BB is JP/GS/MS/BAML/Citi and until recently CS but who knows going forward.
Source is that I work at a MF and that’s what we tell HHs.
Can analysts from more specialized groups like FIG or Natural Resources still be considered for generalist PE roles? From GS/MS/JPM
From those three sure, but will be better if you’re in a different team. Make sure you work on actual M&A not just asset purchases
BB over decent EBs like Roths/LAZ/PJT as well?
Yes
When you say BB over EB every time in London, does the statement apply in exactly the same way for the major European EBs (Lazard and Rothschild) - if so, why? Also why not include Barclays in your BB list?
Nice to to hear the view of someone at a MF so thanks.
Barclays just don’t seem to get as many lead advisories as the others.
See above for why BB over EB, it’s about advising the acquirer.
I come from FIG don’t choose FIG if your goal is PE.
Even if JPM / GS / MS ? Why so ?
1) most of FIG BB business is done with large insurance and banking clients and is unrelated to M&A, mostly strategic advice or capital raises or even simply for relationship purposes since your bank will have strong product ties with other banks too
2) Balance sheet heavy work very differently (eg most notably there no CF statement) so you won’t train yourself to the LBO / cap structure mentality
3) There’s generally a stigma from PE funds against FIG people. I’m not saying they wouldn’t hire them (I am the counter example) but I got rejected to so many places even before an interview just because I was FIG (and I was told so). If you wanna do PE, pick another sector team, with preference for HC, TMT, Industrial
I’m American but usually TmT or industrials have good results.
(Worked in London for a year)
What would be your opinion of Consumer Goods, is it a good team to start from to later move to the buy-side?
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