Hi all,
Below are attached the Global 2012 DCM rankings. If there is interest, I can post similar tables on: ECM, M&A, Loans, Trade Finance, Project Finance.

Call your attention to the first chart, you'll see the deep cuts that Citi and UBS have made reflected in their dropoffs from 2011 levels. Notice also the extremely close numbers between Barclays and Deutshce. Look for a change in the #2 spot for 2013, as DB is certainly trying to make that a reality. Also notice the disappearance of BNP, as their balance sheet overhaul in 2012 placed them at a disadvantage for underwriting business. Credit Suisse is moving up the charts slowly.

I have read most of the project finance exit opps threads here and I notice:

1) the lack of response from the WSO community
2) if there is a response, the answer is PE energy/infra funds

Because of 1), I want to try again, as there might be other people like me, an explorer in this field.

My concern is 2). From someone not in the field, when it comes to how PE energy/infra funds profile those who want to get in, how does project finance analyst look against leveraged finance and energy/infra M&A analysts?

When commenting between PF, LF and M&A, if answers can be themed around factors such as:
- skill set
- intensity of work
- identity (e.g. how the street views PF analysts?))

... that would be appreciated.

Hi all,

I am starting a new job in a project finance team of a renewable energy developer. I have a bit of experience in financial modeling but never in terms of project finance. Wondering if there is any recommended book that I should read and some of the concept I should learn about before starting the job?

Thanks all.

I'm looking into a position that is based off financial modeling for a project. I'm familiar with corporate financial modeling/valuation, however I'm wondering if someone here has experience in project financial modeling.

How does project and corporate financial modeling differ? I've heard that project financial modeling can often be more challenging than corporate, does that hold true? Finally, can anyone suggest any good books/online courses for project financial modeling or related topics?

Note: This project is under a large corporation and will likely not need external financing, if that makes a difference.

Thanks

I'm looking into a position that is based off financial modeling for a project. I'm familiar with corporate financial modeling/valuation, however I'm wondering if someone here has experience in project financial modeling.

How does project and corporate financial modeling differ? I've heard that project financial modeling can often be more challenging than corporate, does that hold true? Finally, can anyone suggest any good books/online courses for project financial modeling or related topics?

Note: This project is under a large corporation and will likely not need external financing, if that makes a difference. And I posted this in I-Banking because I thought this crowd would have the most modeling experience.

Thanks

I have been trying to model a power plant and got a sample PP model. However, seeing the model, I am not able to understand the following:

In my excel:

A1= Cash Available for Working Capital (Linked from CF statement)
A2=Working Capital Requirement (Assumed)

A3 = Beginning Balance (initially 0)
A4= Additions (Releases) (MIN(A1, A2-A3))

A5= Ending Balance = SUM(A3:A4)

Can anyone explain the logic behind the calculation of A4?

The same is being done for debt service reserve. My logic says: any shortfall after WC n DSR should be taken from reserve/revolver. Why are we modelling each item separately?

Hi

I'd like to brush up on project finance and modeling. I happened to come across the following Euromoney books:

1. Financial Modelling For Project Finance by Penelope Lynch
http://www.euromoneybooks.com/product.asp?Position...

2. Infrastructure Finance: Trends and Techniques by Henry A. Davis
http://www.euromoneybooks.com/product.asp?Position...

3. Project Finance by Richard Tinsley
http://www.euromoneybooks.com/product.asp?Position...

4. Advanced Project Financing: Structuring Risks by Richard Tinsley
http://www.euromoneybooks.com/product.asp?Position...

Got a call from a recruiter about this job. What do you guys think of doing this post 2 years in banking, in terms of opportunities to PE or top B-School afterwards? Is this a decent gig or doesn't compare to PE / HF / Corp Dev? Long-term goal is PE or HF but opportunities currently seem bleak for me so trying to be open minded here.

http://www.solarcity.com/hr/377/26/Analyst--Struct...

Anyone have a project finance model or template that I can see for practice for an interview? If its agriculture / farming project and development related, it would be great. However, any good project finance model / template would do.

Thanks for the help!

If you had a choice between these two, which one would you pick? Please tell me why.

In general, is it hard to get in? Why? How valuable are the skill and experience that you gain in the group? Also, it seems like in project finance, you will need to know a lot about the sectors and players in the industries. Doesn't it sound like investment banking where the associates would need to know those stuff in their group?

So I am finishing my two years at a major European bank on the Project Finance side. Think SocGec and the likes. Have a decent track record of transactions with mostly commodity background and some infrastructure acquisition deals. They offered me to stay on board as an associate.

On the other side, I have an offer to join a successful midsize (EUR 2-3bn) Fund of Funds. Invested mostly in PE funds in W. Europe & USA. They are expanding their infrastructure funds investment business and need a new associate. Basically I would have a chance to participate in full life cycle of a fund from fundraising to investing,

Why do people always say that Structured/Project Finance can lead to Hedge Fund? What sort of skills and experience that are relevant to HF?

Thanks

I'm a career switcher who just finished my 1st year MBA at a target school. I still don't know much about finance but definately know a lot more than before. People always talk about how important transaction experience is. Can someone tell me whether what I'm doing right now as an Intern in Structure Finance will get me transaction experience?

The firm that I'm with this summer invests in different sectors of emerging countries, such as banking, infrastructure, energy, etc. PE firms or the company itself would approach the Structure Finance team for borrowing $ to funds their projects.

I'm now working on two live deals, and we're lending 100MM to each. My job as a summer intern is the following:

What are the best schools/programmes if I would like to set my career on infrastructure PF? Are there any good jobs in the field out there? I hear that the UK is pretty much secondary market. But I'm sure many banks (i.e. Macquarie) must do a lot of greenfield investments. Cheers.

Hello WSO,

So I am a first year MBA and landed an offer for the summer at an industry focused boutique IB ~ 20 bankers, mostly ex-BB. I think the bulk of their deals are M&A. I also recently had a good interview with a bank for a project finance position - mostly underwriting senior, some mezz solutions for energy projects and portfolio monitoring.

I just wanted to poll the public on which opportunity they would choose. I'll be leaving the country for a month so there's a chance I'll need to make a decision via e-mail so just wanted to be prepared with all the insights as possible in case this high class problem arises.

Are PEs apt to hire someone with a background in project finance?

I'm a student at a top U.S. public university and I am interested in positions in project finance. Only issue is, all the big players in project finance seem to be European (SocGen, CA, BNPP, HSBC, RBS). I can't help but think that being in the U.S. will make it difficult to land interviews with these European banks (I don't think any of the banks mentioned above recruit at my school).

So my question is -- how receptive are the European banks to off-campus applications from U.S.-based students? Does anyone have experience successfully making this kind of jump? My background is East Asian and I am more than willing to move to HK / Singapore, if that's relevant.

Hi,

I know that there are some BBs that have specific project financing groups but I was wondering, for those who don't, would project finance (by that I mean projecting cash flows for project/investment, designing capital structure, obtaining necessary financing, etc.) be more like capital markets or even corporate banking versus just traditional i-banking groups like M&A or restructuring?

Hey guys,

Now that I have my summer worked out I'm starting to explore what I want to pursue for FT in the fall. I'm definitely pretty firm on staying in the energy/infrastructure space but I've recently been looking into Project Finance groups. I'm not concerned with exit ops just something that really interests me. What are some of the best firms/groups for project finance (in terms of deal flow/prestige/size)?

Thanks alot in advance,

Hey,

I was wondering if anybody knows anything about the firm George K. Baum (it's a public finance ib)? Can you do anything coming out of here (i.e. exit opps)? Would it make you a competitive business school applicant assuming you meet other requirements (+700 GMAT, solid GPA, ECs, Recs)? I went to H/P/Y undergrad and just received an offer from these guys. Once in business school, could you leverage this into traditional ib or other roles? Thanks in advance for any input.

Hi all,

I have been asked to prepare a research paper on Project financing deal structures for Oil Wells. Can someone please advise as to what might be the good resources?

Thanks!

Hi All,

Does anyone have any insights as to how to create a roll-out schedule for a project finance model? As in what factors it could depend on? Total funds available/ failure rate/ payback period etc..
Finally a dynamic draw schedule is to be created based on the roll-out schedule. Something like, in the 1st month X% of fund is to be deployed, then in the 2nd month Y% will be deployed based on some parameters ( need to decide on those) and so on..

I am not sure if this info is enough but if any of you have done similar stuff, please give some insights..
Thanks!

I have years of engineering experience in handling industrial projects such as building chemical process plants, oil refineries, power plants and etc., and currently, I am thinking to have a career change to do project finance for those industrial projects in Asia area. To do that, I am planning to study a master degree to prepare me for the career change. The following are my questions

Should I do MBA or MSc?

Any suggestion for good master programs/Schools in Asia area are suitable for my situation?

I know I-Banks such as credit Suisse, deutsche bank, and etc. are some big players in the project finance industry, but is I-Banks the only way for jobs? What are some other options?

How hard for an engineer to have a career change into the finance industry?

What kind of exit opportunties at Associate 2/3 level in Project Finance with a top player?

Hi,

I am an Associate in the Project Finance arm of a large EU bank.
I'd like ideally to land in some infrastructure investment fund in a few years and I'm wondering what's the best way forward to do so.

Is it best to stay in PF as this is probably the most relevant field to get a broad understanding of the infrastructure space, although it is only about debt origination (understand little valuation practice), or should I try to switch to another team (LBO, M&A) to develop skills on the equity side?

What are your thougths about that?

Igo

Just had a 2nd round interview with a boutique specializing in renewable energy project finance. The MD asked me as to what value will I bring to the firm?
I replied that Energy Investment Banking sector requires engineering expertise and also financial skills; therefore I believe that I will bring a unique skill-set to the table and add lots of value( have both degrees). The combination of engineering and financial skills will enable me to understand the structuring and financing and to also help me in determining the risk. But he blasted me by saying that I hadn't done my homework and asked me if I ever looked at their website. His point was that almost everybody at his firm had an engineering degree.

I am supposed to be updating my firm's website and am having trouble wording one of our activities.

Does anyone know what the technical term would be for the following transaction;

Say you are a commodity trading firm.
A mine operator wants to invest in a new mine.
Rather than taking out a loan, they pledge to supply you with X amount of tonnes of product at a discount (say some CME coal contract minus 2 dollars) for the next three years, in exchange for the cash to carry out their investments now.

Likewise, does anyone know what the technical term for the following, simpler, transaction would be?

Commodity trading firm lends cash to mine operator, mine operator pledges to supply trader with X amount of tonnes for FREE for the following 3 years.

Any ideas?

Hi All,

I am in the process of interviewing with a Boutique Bank that provides Project Finance service. I have been asked to respond to a set of questions and one of them is asking a summary of my project finance transactional experience. While I have no professional experience at all in project finance, I did take corporate finance and IB courses where I learnt modelling, financial analysis and valuation skills.
How should I go about responding to this question? Should I write about my academic experience with financial analysis and of my willingness to learn?

Thanks in advance.

Can someone shed some light on this area of investment banking. i.e. top banks, exit opps, etc...