Best Response

Is this for FT? Anyways, make sure you know general banking techs and fits (you can see BIWS for that or ibankingfaq is good as well). Also, you will have to show passion for the ECM. If this is FT, you may have to pitch a stock, macro trends; check out the major indicies, know where they are trading, and not sure which sector this bank may have emphasis on, maybe all who knows, but def knows how certain sectors are performing right now...also read up on current events and what may happen in the near future. Make sure you know recen/past IPO or other equity offerings, past deals in general. Make sure you know, yourself, what the ECM group does and why you wanna be a part of it at a BB. It assists in pricing, allocating, marketing, and executing equity offerings. And most of the time, they dont do THAT much financial modeling, since most of it is done by the specific industry group.

Is there a specific division you are interviewing for, within ECM?

 

This is for a summer analyst position - no specific division. I've been preparing for S&T interviews also so I'm familiar with a lot of the markets based questions I may be asked, but what type of banking questions should I anticipate for ECM?

 

I went through general capital market interviews and will be working for a MM capital market group out of school...here's my experience:

You can expect the basic investment banking question as well as basic sales and trading. It kind of reflects the unique position of ecm between st and ib. I think beyond the basics, every single interview wants to know you're up to date in current events. Even going beyond being up to date by understanding the events that led up to today. Have an opinion on everything and an well thought out reason for why you think markets will go in a specific direction

Why get your own coffee when you can get an intern to do it for you?
 

Which most common stock indices do you know? Why is the performance of German DAX not comparable to the S&P 500? What are reasons for an entrepreneur to sell its company via IPO? Difference Spin-Off - IPO What is a dual track Difference Common vs Preferred Stock A company with high leveral should be IPOd. Spin Off and IPO are possible - what is the better solution? What is a stock split and why do companies use it? Which title and functions have banks in an IPO process? Who do you sell / advertise an IPO? What are primary vs. secondary issues? Why are companies that do the IPO almost always underprices? What is causing this IPO discount? Assuming you are an ECM analyst and you have to do a first draft pitch book - which chapters would you include? A company with 400m shares outstanding issues 100m of new shares - all shares have voting rights. What is the dilution? How do you calculate the final price of the IPO? Why do you need a prospectus with an IPO? What are possible reasons to issue preferred shares rather common stock?

Thats what came in my mind.

 

Pitching a stock is a big thing. Know the basics of converts and their relationship to M&A in financing. Basic options knowledge. Why do an IPO? How does an IPO work? Basic accounting may come up. Tell me a story. Teamwork is big since you will set on desks with everyone. Why ECM... Know about the market and economy, have a real opinion Know what the banks numbers are.

WSO Vice President, Data @JustinDDuBois
 

I went for a superday of interviews for an ECM position at a top BB for a summer analyst position. From what I remember, the interviews were VERY behavioral. However, I did get asked a stock pitch question - probably because I had an ER internship. They focused heavily on my past internship experience, being able to explain each experience in-depth, and detailing risks to my investment thesis. Knowing exactly what the role of ECM is important (sit on top of Chinese wall, etc).

Hope this helps.

 

Also - I came from a liberal arts college / not a heavily technical background, so that might also have explained why I was not grilled on technical knowledge. ECM interviews, though, are less technical than traditional ibd interviews.

Good luck.

 

I interviewed for an ECM position with a BB a few years back. I was asked the regular accounting questions and valuation questions you can expect in a cap markets interview. Also, I was asked my view on the IPO market, and equity markets in general.

'We're bigger than U.S. Steel"
 

This is not a troll post. I applied ages ago but the analyst in charge of my app (I was invited to interview ages ago) kept going out of town so I was never interviewed. An intern actually withdrew their offer, they had my resume on file, so I got lucky. Hence Im working as hard as possible to score this.

View on IPO market - anywhere I can 'copy' mine from? And Im not being interviewed in my home country - should I know THEIR equity market developments or my home countries? How do I find this?

I have BIWS - that covers all the technicals I need right?

Anyone know a good guide to pitching a stock just incase I'm asked that? I don't think BIWS have anything like that...

Thanks!

btw - I knew someone at my university who got 0 job offers and then got a call from GS in June to intern with them because someone dropped out. he's now a full time analyst there. its all possible :)

 

It looks like the IPO Market is thawing...Annie's Foods, Facebook, ExactTarget, Vocera - there seem to be a lot of VC-backed IPOs. Does anybody else have ideas? Sorry I couldn't help much.

 

Some questions...

1) Know about your home market, the market your being interviewed with, and generally about the global market 2) Know your resume, be able to give competency examples for fit purposes 3) Technicals - same as M&A prep except will they ask more bout the IPO process etc? or just the typical accounting, how do you value a company questions?

Finally - suppose you get an offer for ECM - how can you swap to a coverage group or something else? Is this even possible?

Thanks!

 

ECM at Lazy is a very small. everyone is top notch. be aware that Lazy wont do any underwriting cause of the structure of the firm. you should learn how they work with the Alternative Capital Finance team (these guys mostly do RDs - registered directs- and that kinda stuff). the ECM team will never take left book cause of the structure of the firm. they do a lot of secondary offerings. know group just had a record revenue year. be aware of how the relationship with LCM

 
CatsLHP:
I have an SA ECM interview coming up with a JPM/Citi/BofA and am wondering what to expect in terms of technical questions. Will it be a mix of accounting and markets questions? brainteasers?
Would it be 1st round? If so, then I'd imagine that the interview will be competency/motivational based, with a few brainteasers. If it's second round/AC, then most likely it'll be business awareness (how well we rank on various tables, etc), aswell the "how would you advice company XYZ to raise funds if...", type questions. Out of interest, will it be in London or US?
__________ Just my 2c.
 

Bump this thread.

I know there has to be some folks here that have some better advice than what's given.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 
  1. download the "Hull: options, futures and other derivatives" pdf and get comfortable with the options lingo. --- make sure you understand the basics (options and the greeks) and read the pages on convertibles --- it is absolutely essential that you know what a convertible, mandatory, exchangeable consists of. --- read a couple of term sheets (including conditions) and try to understand how all that stuff on there is actually put into practice by using different kinds of options etc.

  2. download the "brealey: principles of corporate finance" pdf and read the chapter on convertibles. --- the key is to understand why a company should issue convertible debt? when should they do it? what are the pros and cons? what can go wrong?

  3. read everything there is online. i know there isn't a lot out there

 

Thanks for your answer!

It's somehow difficult to get a good opinion of what they do or did in North America as this bank is more active in Europe... But I'll definitely check on my free time (i.e during night hours !!).

Thanks again

 

I would expect all the standard IB questions, and in addition to that have an understanding of what's been going on in the equity markets which should be pretty obvious. Beyond that I would also know what's been going on in the IPO market and also what deals that firm has done in the past few months on the equity side.

Hope that helps

'We're bigger than U.S. Steel"
 
Whiskey5:

It's my view that you learn much more and relevant corporate finance knowledge in coverage.
TNA is absolutely correct that life is more than buyside, but ECM will limit you rather than opening new doors for future opportunities whether it's buyside, corp dev, or startup.

I mean I get this, but what if you absolutely hate M&A. Like ECM is a lot different in both work and time in the office than say M&A.

I personally would go DCM over ECM. I feel like there are more options on the DCM route while maintaining a livable standard of living if you did decide to stay in banking. Either are going to be fine though. I just think WSO gets a little clouded when they think about these exit opportunities. Unless you have an amazing pedigree you are going to be working at a MM PE shop. These vary in pay, culture, opportunity and life span. Just from the recent posts on here recently regarding pay and opportunity you can see that PE isn't a magical end of the rainbow.

Just food for thought (not directed at you Whiskey, just in general)

 

EB ECM = minor co-manager roles on deals all year long, no? Thought EB capital markets were basically just a backdoor way for the bank to get paid on M&A deals that never closed.

I kind of agree with @"Whiskey5". Banking is always going to suck; might as well at least get the most marketable experience you can get, even if buyside isn't your goal.

 

Hi gekko2,

Know - the main indices and not only American ones to show your interest (CAC40 in France, FTSE, DAX etc for Europe and maybe Nikkei and Hang Seng in HK) - sector indices : DJ Stoxx, DJ Eurostoxx, DJS 600 etc - the recent IPOs in your country (USA ? then Vitacost, Opentable for example - yes both are e-retail players but I work on this sector at the moment - ), - the pipeline (take the latest SEC filing (Dec 11th I think) with the pricing dates) - maybe know how long it takes before launching an IPO (find a calendar of a transaction), just to have an idea

Because it is ECM, don't only focus on IPOs, but know how a capital increase works (dillution of the shareholder structure etc but I can't tell much about that since here in France, we generally do rights issues, so capital increase with rights to give to shareholders the privilege to buy a specified number of new shares from the firm at a specified price within a specified time)

  • Know the pros & cons for a company to issue such products and not these ones: for example why a convertible bond over a classic bond ? The criteria are shareholder structure, cost of the transaction, effect on the balance sheeet (is it debt or equity) etc

Well it should be enough since it is not an ECM interview ! Good luck ;)

 

I had an ECM guy interview me for IBD and he didn't ask anything like whats above. In all liklehood they're only gonna ask you technical questions you SHOULD know based on your resume not random stuff out of the blue. I had superdays with MS and GS for SA and every technical question was some variation of: "So I see you've had accounting, why don't you tell me...." or "So you've worked with LBO models, explain...".

 

While ECM is a selective group (it's different from classic corp fin), many of the people either transffered from regular IBD or were recruited into IBD and then chose to join / were put in IBD ... therefore most of their technicals will be similar to IBD.

No one will quiz you on equity financing specifics just like a nat res banker won't quiz you on E&P specific questions.

p.s - Fordham, why are you so hard on ECM bankers? I read you're a Junior ... which means you've had no substantive experience in corporate finance, or capital markets. I mean I know lots of people who don't want to be in it (for valid reasons), lots of people who didn't want to be in it without really understanding what the job was but now love it once they started, and lots of people who've always liked it ....

This is a word of suggestion to all the prospective analysts on this board. 1) You will never know if you get put into ECM/DCM so I suggest you keep an open mind 2) ECM has its own merits but of course if you want straight to P/E etc, then yeah ECM is a bad choice for you

but at the end of the day I think its silly to say I will pigeonhole myself to one role because in 2 years i'm going to quit and go somewhere else ... considering you don't know what you're passing up on and you don't know what you're really gunning for

as an FYI, if you look around the street today, many successful people were ex-ecm bankers and many ecm bankers were ex-corporate finance bankers. (i.e - J Michael Evans, 3rd man down from Blankfein at GS - ECM banker, in fact 2 of the vice chairmen at GS were ECM guys ... with majority of the remaining being traders). Lots of ECM guys also end up running equity sales or vice versa (i.e head of DB's ecm ran equity sales before).

my 2 cents - no need to flame me.

Merry Christmas to all

 

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