A very general question, hope someone may help

Hi all,
I'm new to the forum. I'm Italia, 24, currently working, graduating in october and looking for a new job then.

I'm doubtful about trying IB or consulting... or maybe I won't get an offer from any of them :)

My question is: what about doing valuation and M&A at a consulting firm, rather than an IB? My first idea is that it would be cool since it would be easier to switch from only M&A to other consulting services than when you are in an IB. On the other hand, are these services valuable, do they do "serious" things, or they're nothing compared to the deals banks work on?

Another question related to the previous: when you think about consulting, you think about BCG, bain McKinsey, e&y. Then there is PwC,Deloitte, KPMG, that are mainly auditors, but they do also some management consulting, right? What would you choose? Would it be better to work in the strategic field being at a consulting firm rather than in the valuation service, since it is not the core business, and you would always be in a kind of minor branch? For the same reasons, is it ok to do strategic consulting in Deloitte, for example, while its main business is auditing?

Thank you for your answers and forgive me for the length of the post

 

Just to be clear, E&Y is not in that list of "when you think about consulting". They do similar work to PWC and KPMG. Deloitte has a slightly better management consulting arm, in terms of strategy related case work.

It is better to work in the strategic field at the Big 4 consultancies if you're interested in going into consulting. Consulting and Tax/Audit are two completely different industries; don't worry about being a small branch at a company. People see PWC consulting completely separately from PWC tax.

 

excuse me tenbytwenty, but id didn't get you, you seem to be contradictory. You say is better to work in the strategic field at the big 4, and then don't worry about being a small branch... At the end of the day, the meaning is: go to bcg bain mckinsey if you want to do consulting, e&y pwc and deloitte for tax and audit, an IB for m&a, restructuring etc. right?

My question was, if I am interested in financial operations like m&a restructuring, spin offs and stuff like that, should I choose an IB because it's their main job, or I can do it as well at a consulting firm, and what are pros and cons of each option?

Thanks everyone, as you can see I'm quite confused and I still don't know what to do about my future, although I am attracted by both the options...

 
mav:
My question was, if I am interested in financial operations like m&a restructuring, spin offs and stuff like that, should I choose an IB because it's their main job, or I can do it as well at a consulting firm, and what are pros and cons of each option?

Did you just ignore my post? They're completely different roles. It's not the same job. A bank acts as issuer and underwriter. A consultancy acts solely as an advisor.

 
Best Response

No porcine I didn't ignore it, I probably did not express properly. I was talking specifically of m&a etc operations: in this case the bank works for the buyer or the seller and makes a valuation of the company. Isn't this an advisory work as well? Also in the case of equity or bond issuing: the consulting firm will probably advise the best way to finance the company, while the bank advises and moreover physically issues the securities. So at the end the analysts do more or less the same job working for one organization or another, isn't it? I don't want to look dumb, but this was my idea...if it's wrong or confused, please correct me! :)

 

Well, then explain... they do both a valuation to assert the value of target company or a branch, then the work of the consultants is over, what else do IBs do?

I feel you are kind of hostile, but there's no reason to be... you are probably in the industry since years while I'm about to graduate...so I just ignore!

 
mav:
Well, then explain... they do both a valuation to assert the value of target company or a branch, then the work of the consultants is over, what else do IBs do?

I feel you are kind of hostile, but there's no reason to be... you are probably in the industry since years while I'm about to graduate...so I just ignore!

op,

i think you are missing the point. he is trying to explain that firms like PwC, Deloitte have advisory services that are entirely different than their other branches. Their advisory services dont do valuations ,etc, those are the people in the financial sector of the company. For example, Deloitte does strategic consulting, which doesn't necessarily include valuation. They may get help from another division within the company, but that is not their responsibility. IBs also do M&A, investment management, equity, asset managment, valuation, some do risk management, etc.

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” - Albert Einstein
 

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