Public Finance Q's
Hey everyone! I've been going through PF recruiting but haven't heard much from the Bulge Brackets and Boutiques. I see a lot of monkeys already have superdays and offers for various IBD related groups. Anyone have updates on Public Finance recruiting? Are firms done, can anyone share some light on if they know of people with Public Finance offers? Is it competitive?
Also is Public Finance worth getting into? I'm still considering other options, wanted to hear some feedback on it.
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Wow, PF recruitment is already over?? So if my application to the various BBs are still pending I'm assuming it means I got dinged? Also, care to share some light on how big PF teams are, and their general recruiting class size?
Also to confirm you went through SA recruiting right?
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Went through a bb superday over a week ago but haven't heard back. Assuming offers were given out.
All my friends who got a PF role at a BB want to exit into public policy or dual MBA/MPA programs. Public finance is very niche and as a result the candidates that get the offers tend to be extremely committed to the role; usually carry some sort of public policy experience.
Idk if it's even possible to move to another group within IBD? I wouldn't risk going into PF if your long term goal isn't public policy or MD within public finance. Idk why people think that investment banking is the worthy job straight out of college. It'd help if you listed all the other options youre considering to put things into perspective
As a PF analyst, I can say things definitely move at a slower pace than corporate finance. Whether or not it's worth getting into, only you can decide. My recruiting process, at a regional bank, was very different than listed above. It was a little more traditional, Only two interviews and no superday. No terribly difficult technical questions. For my bank, analysts are hired year-round out of necessity. So if this is something you still want to pursue, I would branch outside of BB and keep your eyes open for opportunities at the regional level.
you should do an AMA bc its a very niche industry
Feel free to ask me about it if you have any specific questions, I spent 2 years as an associate in pub fin before going to corporate banking covering another industry (think TMT, healthcare).
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Why do you say that Healthcare IB and raising money for hospitals is easy? Can you clarify?
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Sounds good, thanks for clearing up. Raising money for hospitals is an interesting space for sure. Seems like there has been a decent amount of M&A recently. I wonder if most of the Public Finance Bankers are working on raising debt for acquisitions as opposed to raising muni debt for hospitals to continue to operate? You have any further insight on this?
In regards to Project Finance, I would assume just because there are not a ton of stadiums being built that it is a highly competitive industry but the $ amount to fund massive stadiums is crazy so assuming they muni debt raised for Project Finance is more of a "syndicate" amongst diff banks to take risk off the balance sheet for most banks.
PF bankers do raise debt for aquisitions for hospitals quite frequently. What they’ll do is create a conduit structure. They’ll call it like “Bro son Hospital Corp” (This is just an example) and will essentially create a legal investment vehicle that will pass through lease rental payments from the hospitals revenue sources/taxing district (if it has one) to finance acquisitions of property, facilities, and equipment. Nuanced credits like these are definitely more intricate, and could probably provide relevant transaction experience for someone wanting to jump into HC IBD. Otherwise PF bankers are generally pitching refinancings like every other banker is, and the work isn’t too interesting/doesn’t translate to CIB very well.
Thanks for sharing. My understanding is that the "Bro Son Hospital Corp" that you are explaining is basically the same thing as raising muni debt for projects (i.e., hospitals, stadiums). Assuming you have the network and are with a good group, I definitely agree that its a extremely transferrable experience. I have several buddies who are absolutely killing it in municipal/public finance. Most don't want to leave to go to Healthcare IB due to work life balance, solid compensation and no need for an MBA (although, I believe the MBA is becoming more or less not as popular from an opportunity cost standpoint).
Question - do you work in the space? If so, what are your thoughts on the new tax policy affecting the public finance space?
super interesting! did you end up lateraling to another group successfully after a summer in pubfin?
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Public Finance Recruiting (Originally Posted: 11/19/2014)
Hey guys- I currently work outside of finance and am looking into attending an MBA program in the next year or two. Not totally sure what I want to do afterwards, but public finance caught me eye since I have a prior master's degree in public admin.
Does anyone know how difficult it is to break into this field post-mba? Do banks hire from top 20 MBA programs? Any info would be appreciated; I've searched around this site and found some good stuff on public finance but not necessarily recruiting info.
If you go to non-target there are still recruiting being done. I'm doing a couple first rounds for IBD coverage this week.
Nobody knows nothin' huh
It's tough from b-school, most of the Associates in PubFin are A to A promotes (either in-house or they jump ship to new firms and get promo'ed). That said, BAML definitely hires some MBAs and MS hires MBAs occasionally (rare)...Having your MPA will certainly help you make inroads. Outside of BAML and MS it will likely be less of a structured recruiting process and you'll need to network your way in.
Thanks for the info. Is it so rare of a path out of an MBA program that it's not even a realistic goal?
eh not really its just that public finance is so niche that theres limited associate positions and most are analyst promotions
Public Finance Question (Originally Posted: 05/23/2007)
I am wondering what one could expect in terms of joining a regional team and coming on as an Investment Banker I. The role differs from an analyst in a sense that it isnt a 2 yr committment then booted. It is more of a 4-5 yr program and then at that pt you would start going out on your own and sourcing deals and whatnot.
Whats the lifestyle like? Whats the pay like? Is this a career limiting move? Etc etc...??
MM - not BB by the way....
What is the company's name? It doesn't happen to be De La Rosa does it?
No...think more commercial bank...wachovia, WFC, etc etc...
BB Public Finance Departments (Originally Posted: 06/30/2010)
Pub Fi is a fairly regional business and I know a lot of municipal issuers will choose underwriters who are close to them so they can have a real hands-on experience with the project.
My question is...do BBs run all of their Pub Fi business out of their main office or are there regional offices that also have Pub Fi departments? I'm starting as an analyst in Pub Fi for a smaller firm and I'm thinking that underwriting is a career I could potentially want to pursue. How hard is it to break into Pub Fi at a BB and what are the salaries like 3-4 years after you've graduated? Also, are they looking for MBA or CFA even if you have an undergrad degree in finance from a top 10 business school?
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I have some knowledge, but I don't specifically work in PubFin.
Gettting into PubFin at a BB is just as hard as getting into anygroup at a BB. The PubFin group is a combination of traders and bankers. At my bank the traders are on the floor, while the bankers were in a large glass room next to them. If your doing banking I would assume an MBA is wanted more than the CFA. I have spoken and PubFin bankers do a fair amount of traveling, especially at the more senior levels. I am not sure how regional it is, but I think that the bank has "hubs" NY,Chi, SF--so a few major cities.
youre sure pubfin is really where you want to be? why?
Public finance question (Originally Posted: 01/03/2011)
Hey i have an upcoming SA public finance interview and was wondering what the interview questions would look like. the guides i have gotten from WSO and the vault have info on valuation would this not be as important for public finance since the it is not corporations but municipalities. should i just focus on bond math and municipal bonds. thanks for the help. also its at a bb if that makes a difference on the types of questions to expect
General market questions, the different types of muni bonds, why public finance AND why public finance is important. I would also read up and be very well versed in the developing muni crisis--if anything you can ask the bank questions about how they are protecting themselves from it and make yourself look well informed.
I had a public finance interview a while back and I found this link to be helpful in becoming familar with all the terms. I am not saying you need to memorize everything, but it wouldn't hurt to become familar with terms you may not already know.
http://www.emuni.com/glossary.html
You'll get fit questions coupled with a discussion of the muni market.
Know what a municipal security is and the different types (general obligation, tax-backed, revenue-backed). Know what an underwriter does (issuing, refunding). Know what's going on with the whole muni crisis and what build america bonds are.
Here is a little nugget of gold: try to find some of the specific projects the bank has recently worked on.
Lastly, come up with a sincere story about why you want Public, specifically.
Banks recruiting for FT Public Finance? (Originally Posted: 10/21/2015)
Are there any public finance groups actively recruiting for analysts at this point (not on campus, but online)? I know this unlikely. I know a few firms like JPM, Loop that have had online apps, but not really any others. Does anyone know of some I'm missing? I'm assuming most FT classes were filled by SAs.
Most are filled with SA already but there are experienced positions available. I would pay attention in like a month or two to see if anything pops up in case some SA's find other opportunities
Where should I be paying attention?
Online postings? I mean you're way too late but you never know
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