DealMaven versus Wall Street Prep (comparing financial training solutions)

Thanks a lot for your comments. You helped me decide which program to choose

1. How is DealMaven presented online? Html, flash, video?

2. Can you print the webpages (and therefore create a PDF of everything)? Or is it very interactive where printing won't help?

3. Can you give an example of how DM's "excel formatting guidance is questionable, at best"?

4. Did you do both DM knowledge base I and II? What about WSP: premium or basic package?

Thanks very much for the info, very valuable

It just seems to me (not that I know anything) that FactSet/DealMaven would be more well known than WSP, as the certification is only a small part of their product line. Also, the name "Wall Street Prep" seems a bit amateurish... at least that's what I thought when I first read the name. for some reason "DealMaven Certification" sounds more "professional"... as we all know, it's all about the presentation.

Is completing a program like Wall Street Prep or DealMaven really necessary if you are going in to banking? It was my understanding that most of the modeling/excel/accounting/finance work you do as an analyst you learn on the job. Personally, I am a finance/accounting double-major so I'm not as concerned with learning that before I start as a summer analyst, but how necessary is it to know the modeling that you learn in one of these programs prior to starting the job?

Hey Guys, in case you didn't see it in my blog post, I also wanted to introduce you to The Analyst Exchange which is different from the programs above because the training is 1 on 1. Below are the bios of the trainers so you get an idea for their qualifications.

The reason I went with these guys is that their courses are extremely thorough and i am a strong believer in their model of 1 on 1 training for the best learning experience. WallStreetOasis.com members can save money by purchasing the courses through here: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/training-basic-plan

The basic plan is great for summer analysts and new full time hires to prepare for their new career, the Interview Prep is great for students trying to prepare for the recruiting process: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/training-interview-prep

After personally having gone through the materials in detail I can honestly say that this would have been a huge help to me before i started my analyst program back in 2002 (especially coming from a liberal arts background).

If you're looking for training or to sharpen your modeling skills and understanding of the 3 statements, merger models and LBO models, etc. I really think this program is extremely thorough and you have the added guidance of an instructor (1 on 1)to make sure you understand every detail / concept. The instructors work with you to make a plan that fits into your schedule and all of them are super accomplished. (see bios below) if you have any question you can e-mail info@theanalystexchange.com

Trainer Biographies:

* Julio Marquez is an Advisor at The Analyst Exchange as well as Managing Director of Global Emerging Markets, and President of GEM Advisors, Inc. At GEM he oversees the financial advisory business, where he personally specializes in Latin America and the US- Hispanic market. Prior to joining GEM in 1999, he was a Senior Banker and Director of Analytics at Violy, Byorum & Partners, a leading Latin American M&A firm. Julio Marquez has 15 years of experience in international M&A, having worked at Wasserstein Perella Group, Citibank and Morgan Stanley & Co. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MS in Systems Engineering with Honors from the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

* Mark Berman is a trainer at The Analyst Exchange. He was head of Tokyo Equity Research for Lehman Brothers, the fourth largest U.S. investment bank, where he helped build the company's research department. Previously, Mark was Director and Senior Analyst for Credit Suisse First Boston's telecommunications and media sector; responsible for sector coverage of Japanese telecommunications and media, including NTT DoCoMo (the world's largest wireless carrier by revenue), NTT (the world's largest telecommunications carrier by revenue) and others. Additionally, Mark held the position of global technology, telecommunications and multimedia senior analyst for New York-based Rockefeller & Company, Inc. and also worked as an equity analyst for Jardine Fleming Securities (now owned by JPMorganChase), based in Tokyo. Mark holds a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation, and was certified as an Internal Control Manager by the Japan Securities Dealers Association (JSDA). Mark graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College.

* Obed Cepeda is a trainer at The Analyst Exchange. He is also Senior Partner at Green Coast Capital Inc., a New York City based asset management and equity research firm where he leads the Biotechnology & Healthcare division. Prior to joining Green Coast Capital in 2007, Obed was an Equity Analyst at Bank of America covering the pharmaceutical sector. In addition, he was an Equity Analyst at J.P. Morgan covering the biotechnology sector. Not only does Obed have 10 years of experience in finance, but also holds a BS in Biology from Cornell University. He has completed a prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship at the Yale University School of Medicine. Obed has published extensively in leading journals discussing Molecular Genetics and Gene Cloning.

* Roy T.George is a trainer at The Analyst Exchange and works as Vice President at Bernstein, a unit of Alliance Bernstein, LP. The firm manages $810 billion in Debt, Equity, REITs, Commodities, Currency, Hedge Funds, and Venture Capital. Previous to his stint at Bernstein, Roy worked as Director of Treasury for Blue Shield of California. In this role, he oversaw the firm’s $2.4 billion portfolio as well as monitored its capital structure. He also worked as Venture Capital and Private Equity (LBO) Manager for the S.C. Johnson Family (Forbes, Richest Families in the World). Roy is an award-winning finance faculty member for CoreNet Global, teaching Corporate Real Estate Finance. Roy holds an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.

* Paul Pignataro is an Advisor and Trainer at The Analyst Exchange. Prior to The Analyst Exchange, Paul worked as a generalist at TH Lee Putnam Ventures. Paul was also a member of the Investment Banking Department at Morgan Stanley where he worked on business mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, asset divestitures, asset acquisitions, and debt and equity transactions covering the Oil, Gas, Power & Utility, Internet and Technology, Real Estate, Defense, Travel, Banking and Service industries. Before Morgan Stanley, he was with J.P. Morgan's Fixed Income Group. Paul graduated Magna Cum Laude from New York University with a BS in Mathematics and a BS in Computer Science.

* Matthew M. Wirgau is president and managing member of Midwest Financial Service, LLC, a private boutique investment banking firm. Since 1995, Mr. Wirgau has been acquiring, managing, growing and selling privately held companies. He was President and CEO of a professional services firm, served as Senior Vice President of a real estate development firm, and was Manager of Corporate Planning and Acquisitions of a large privately held equity firm. Mr. Wirgau served as a Deputy Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration and a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the US Department of Transportation for Elizabeth Dole. He is also the Managing Member of the China Mutual Fund Partners, LLC, which owns the Halter Pope USX China Fund (HPCX). Mr. Wirgau has an MBA from The George Washington University with Honors and a BS in Accountancy from Ferris StateUniversity.

* Roger Groh has started and managed three international investment management companies since 1986. Groh has also been a global analyst and portfolio manager for over 30 years. Consistently ranked as one of the top performing managers in the world, Groh has run a series of very large organizations and has proven to be an excellent administrator. Groh founded Montgomery Capital, Montgomery Global and Groh Asset Management. Products include individually managed accounts, currency management, and direct investments. Mr. Groh was formerly at CNBC as an Inside Money panelist, named the 2005 Business Person of the Year by the National Republican Business Advisory Council and received the 2004 Inaugural Ronald Reagan Medal award.

those seem to be some pretty legit resumes...which begs the question, why the fuck would they be wasting time doing wall street training programs.

i'm skeptical.

ok, well it's not that hard to verify. i am sure you can contact them at 1-888-775-3072 or over E-mail: info@theanalystexchange.com to try and set up a time to speak with any of those guys and verify for yourself. Why do you think they are "wasting their time" if they enjoy teaching and are senior members of a fast growing training program?

a few of the advisor bios are here: http://www.theanalystexchange.com/bios.html and I got the other trainer bios straight from Paul, the founder.

also forgot to mention a promotion they are doing. If you sign up for Phase I in the month of April, on top of the discount he's giving to WSO members, he will also throw in a Valuation Course for free which includes two additional 45 minute sessions which gives the student an overview of valuation and DCFs.
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/training-basic-plan

Hi King Kong, do you know if i could take Analyst Exchange outside of US? Thanks.

Yes, the lectures and one-on-one training sessions take place online via Skype simulating a virtual classroom, allowing you to work at your preferred place and time.

you can see how they describe themselves here: http://www.theanalystexchange.com/trainingmethod.html

patrick, don't you think you are crossing a bit of an ethical line here promoting the analyst exchange so heavily? it is one thing to have a marketing relationship with them but is quite something else to use your status as WSO founder to push their service. if i were to promote my school (www.instituteforfinance) like this, i'm pretty sure the mods would delete the post.

no, i don't think I'm crossing an ethical line. I wouldn't promote any courses or products I didn't personally take or believe in and I am participating in a thread specifically related to training programs. I have never spoken badly of any of the other courses because I have heard that they are great too. besides, many of the courses offer different formats which are important to highlight. some are self-study, others are group lectures, others are 1 on 1. I think if anyone is looking to do a training course they should definitely do their own research -- including who the instructors / trainers are, etc.

Maybe you are upset because one of the mods deleted on of your posts in another thread that was off topic? please feel free to write a post on your program here. I haven't deleted and won't delete numerous other threads that discuss other training programs (like this one)

Hey,

I finally bought WallStreet Prep.

It's awesome, I love it.

You can get a 15% discount on your order if you type in this referral code:

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I bought the Premium Package ($499) and I got $74.85 discount (15% discount) too.

Best,
SoulSearching

first, thanks for caring about my feelings :)
i appreciate the offer to post about my school. i think it would be off topic in this particular thread given that i currently don't offer self study material a la wsp and dealmaven. my issue is as follows: because of (1) your status as founder, and (2) your username, any personal endorsement of any product or service by you is implicitly an endorsement by WSO. And if WSO is endorsing any particular product or service, then that compromises the integrity of the site. if you disagree then you disagree.

i do disagree. The fact that I endorse a particular training program (that I thoroughly vetted personally) I see as an additional benefit to my users, not a hit to the sites integrity. People come here for honest advice and information. If I was bashing the other programs and giving false information, then I would agree with you. Putting information out there as another alternative is actually what this site is all about.

WallStreetOasis . . . you've done a great job with the site and I mean no disrespect when I say that I would have to agree with Ex-Banker that this promotion seems to cross a new line, although I'm not sure that is it an ethical issue.

My current perception of the site, and therefore your role as founder, is that of provider of an impartial forum for young finance professionals. The lead post on this thread is a great example of the seemingly impartial advice and debate we have come to expect.

Now you may choose to fund and even make profits from the site via the ads and banners that we've come to expect on most websites these days, that's just the price of admission. However when you personally begin to promote The Analyst Exchange in posts the profit motive in the site goes from being passive (ads, banners) to active.

Of course there are other active biased participants, such as ex-banker, peddling their services, but since they are mere users the readers simply approach their advice with skepticism. However as founder and moderator, you are tied up with the perceived impartiallity of the site, and when you begin to make posts that require more skepticism on our part as readers, you make us more skeptical of the site as a whole.

Finally, I would say that the site is yours to do with as you please. Clearly I do not have extensive knowledge of the revenue streams and overall finances of the site, but I just wanted to pass along my initial emotional response to the post.

Sincerely,

MAdude

what one is the most advanced/technical (LBO modelling, cash sweeps, paydowns, debt schedules...etc) using Excel financial modelling?

Leveraged LTM cash-swap water fall modeling, hands down.

You need at least 4 weeks of modeling it.

Best,
SoulSearching

i meant which program is the most technical in terms of Excel modelling....

btw, i've modelled securization waterfalls. its easy. account for servicer fees, paydown, yada yada.....

Madude, thanks for the well thought out response. I can definitely hear what you're saying and I don't want to make any of my users skeptical of the site.

As far as finances go, I can assure you I have invested all of the revenue back into the site (and more of my own $) for web development and server costs.

Although your point is subtle (very thin line between active vs. passive advertisement, especially with so many ad networks and ad options), I want to make it clear that I would never promote something I did not believe in. this is probably why I thought my approval and advice would be appreciated (along with the discount I negotiated on behalf of the members). Although I did not stop long enough to think that it would reflect so poorly on the site -- for that I apologize.

I think in the future I will stick to just announcing partnerships and promotions but will refrain from interjecting my opinion for services like these in the forums.

Thanks,
Patrick

I just bought the Wall Street Prep (premium package) too, plus the Crash Course in Excel, and got the $74.85 discount from a referral code.

My referral code is REF9939, and you're more than welcome to use it for the dicount =)

Don't firms go over the same stuff during FT training? If so, then what is the use of doing these programs?

It's my understanding that it just gives you a head start and can be a tool for ingraining the processes.

I'm a liberal arts grad who's just started the Wall Street Prep premium package. It's a little intense with no financial training. Can anyone point me in the direction of a possible supplement for financial basics? It would come in quite handy while I'm going through WSP...slowly.

I don't really see how this promotion crosses a line. Second off, I don't see what "line" there is for him to cross. He isn't running this site as a charitable cause, I think the man should do all that he can to make a profit.'

I think everyone saying this crosses a line just wants to be WSO's little duffel bag boys.

Agreed. Wallstreetoasis is providing a valuable forum that promotes freedom of expression and unbiased exchange of ideas. He is free to advertise any product that he deems valuable regardless of any type of profit interests or lack thereof. The purpose of his participation in this post is to simply provide an alternative to other well-known training programs.

To the original OP...I appreciate the comparative analysis of the programs...very helpful to new users.

Why would you be skeptical about an accomplished banker teaching others to do what they do well? That makes no sense at all. Also, I have taken a course with The Analyst Exchange and they do much more than teach modeling. They are also a full service modeling consulting firm. Their trainers also work as current bankers, unlike other programs I reviewed. The program is great. It is unlimited training!!!! WSO actually introduced me to this program. I did not hear of them until WSO put the link on the site. I still call my trainer and ask him questions to this day. I finished the program 3 months ago.

That's ridiculous. I don't know what TTS materials you got but TTS is the trainer of choice for all bulge brackets -- just ask around. (I was at Merrill and Morgan Stanley IBD both, they BOTH use them, as do Goldman in some years, Credit Suisse, etc., depending on the instructors' availability. Yes they actually run out of room to fit bulge brackets into their summer schedule.) Either them or AMT. Wall Street Prep??? That's for annoying university undergraduate non-professional programs. If you think that's modeling ... umm ... okay ... guess that's good enough for coverage analysts, but you'd kind of be left in the dust in my M&A bullpen.

As for the comments about the bankers going to teach modeling, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Anyways if you've been in banking you'll realize most senior bankers, especially if they are any good, are terrible at modeling. It's a relationship industry. Most can barely tell you the difference between equity value and aggregate/enterprise value.

thats true, why do you guys think senior bankers know so little about the technicals/modeling? Is it because at the MD level its been so long since they were excel monkeys, so they just simply forgot? Or maybe the standards of getting into the business were easier back when they were starting out?

Ok, TTS Does NOT teach MS & GS. I was an analyst at MS, and AMT did all training programs. It COULD be that TTS did the incoming interns, but this was a few years ago, and I think MS had since cut out intern training.

So that's it. Anyone that tells you otherwise they're lying(and I know TTS says they do it, but I am proof that they don't)

thanks for the posts guys..

im going to get back to the DealMaven vs WSP thing again..

i agree that a 3 month course could be frustrating in the sense that you cant refer to the material later on..which i believe is very important..

however one can buy the liftime subscription to offset this..it costs 599 bucks (student)

as for WSP, one can add on the excel tips and tricks course for an additional 39 bucks making the entire package worth 538..

in light of this , and as a brand , which training is more well recieved at the BB firms?

thanks

cheers

After carefully reviewing the content of many service providers, I finally registered for Wallstreet Prep. It is the best - hands down! WSP's content is clearly more applicable when it comes to being interviewed or even in the industry. I doubt it adds any value to the CV though, or certification from any other service provider.

BTW, latest referral code: REF11910

is anyone attending the upcming 4 days boot camp? how useful are the training sessions in the boot camps?

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I passed 3 levels of CFA exams recently. Coming from a non-finance background, Wall Street Prep definitely helped me a lot in understanding financial statement and relationships among different items. If interested, you can check out my blog at http://wallstreetprep8.blogspot.com/ to read my profile and my blog on investing.

hey,

well after a lot of thought i decided to take WSP and have absolutely no regrets..its really very comprehensive and i believe its the way to go..

btw latest REF CODE: REF13050

cheers

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