Ernst & Young Transaction Advisory Services - Valuation

I'm posting this here to get some take on this full-time position with E&Y. I'm very interested in investment banking at some time in my career and I have an interview for this position. Here are two questions I have regarding it:

  1. Would investment bankers see this as valuable experience?
  2. Anyone how has experience interviewing with E&Y or a position similar to this, do you have any suggestions for the interview? What should I expect?

Ernst & Young Interview Process

Ernst & Young have a multi-phase hiring process like many other major finaincial firms. You will need to submit an online application and aptitude test, go through your first and second round interviews, and a day at their Assessment Centre.

According to WikiJobs, the Assessment Centre day will include the following. For more details on this stage, visit the WikiJob page.

You want to arrive to your interviews prepared to answer both general and technical questions. It's also a good idea to prepare a few questions of your own.

jack_donaghy:
I have some friends in the EY VS group.
Questions will include:
  1. Where does value come from in an LBO?
  2. A company experiences an increase in Beta, ceteris paribus, what happens to the WACC?
  3. A question asking about getting to EBITDA
  4. You have Company X. Name three different ways to value it.
  5. How do you build WACC?
  6. What is a DCF?

As with most interviews you can also expect some standard HR questions:

  • Tell us about a time that you took command of a group.
  • Tell us about a time that you instituted change.
  • Describe a time that you were able to sway the group to adopt an unpopular position.

Importantly, make sure that you have good questions to ask them about transactions, fair market value, and business in general. It's fine to ask similar questions to everyone you meet with, but be sure to have 5-10 minutes worth or good questions.

Is TAS Good Experience For Investment Banking?

While working in transaction advisory services, specifically in a valuation group you gain deal and valuation exposure that could be leverageable into an investment banking interview. However, this is in no way guaranteed.

Read More About TAS on WSO

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Best Response

I have some friends in the EY VS group. Questions will include:

1) Where does value come from in an LBO? 2) A company experiences an increase in Beta, ceteris paribus, what happens to the WACC? 3) A question asking about getting to EBITDA 4) You have Company X. Name three different ways to value it 5) How do you build WACC? 6) What is a DCF?

You'll maybe get a Fermi questions like "How many baseballs would fit in this room?" As long as you keep cool and work through it, youll be good.

Then some standard HR questions 1) name a time that you took command of a group 2) name a time that you instituted change 3) describe a time that you were an underdog with a good idea but you swayed the group to adopt your position. 4) Blah blah blah

I would make sure that you have good questions to ask them about transactions, fair market value, and business in general. Don't be worried about asking a similar question to everyone you meet with, just make sure you have 5-10 minutes worth or good questions.

Let me know if you have any other questions

 
jack_donaghy:

Let me know if you have any other questions

Thanks for the help before. I got the second round. What to expect? I'm apparently going to do a "writing assessment", what's this all about?

Thanks

 

I'm not an expert but I know a lot of people currently doing or alums of transaction services. The sad reality is that it's basically audit. The only difference is that once every 5 years, some bright kid networks his way out of TS and into IB...so they can tell you IB is an exit op in your interview. If there were a bait and switch in the big 4, it'd be TS.

 

It is not good...I have known a few people who have gone into TAS. One managed to jump to a MM, the rest ended up going to BSchool or a MFin in one case.

Honestly, recruiting is terrible right now. You will be competing with all the MM guys looking to get a BB on the resume pre-PE, the laid off, and all the guys at sinking ships looking to jump to a different firm before getting canned.

Also, I have yet to actually meet anybody in TAS who wanted to stay in TAS. The people who actually like accounting (they exist) generally do audit or even tax. Every person I have seen go into TAS is massively overqualified for most big4 jobs, and is using it to jump into IB or occasionally consulting. This means you are competing with your colleagues for the same, virtually non-existent jobs.

TAS is probably the closest you can get to IB without being in IB or in house M&A. But don't count on making the switch, especially if the economy continues to lag. I would take non-MBB consulting, a good f500 finance program, or a non-elite boutique over it.

 
West Coast rainmaker:
TAS is probably the closest you can get to IB without being in IB or in house M&A. But don't count on making the switch, especially if the economy continues to lag. I would take non-MBB consulting, a good f500 finance program, or a non-elite boutique over it.

I'm curious, if TAS is the closes you can get to IB without being in IB, why would IB recruiters shun away from former TAS employees?

 
jack_donaghy:

It is the TAS group, but he will be doing valuation work. Valuation is not audit or due diligence. It's just how EY structured their practice that VS is located there.

EDIT: just realized how old this post was.

Valuation is much less valuable to move to IB/PE than TAS. PE firms are going to continue to hire out accounting/valuation work to accounting firms.

DD gives you experience on transactions and although can be monotonous at times, gives you a better sense of the M&A process and things to focus in during initial meetings w/clients as an I-banker. Valuation is incredibly academic and rarely rooted in reality.

I would push to work on DD instead of valuation if you can, whether that be immediately or after a couple years in valuation.

 

TS is typically thought of as the due diligence process during a transactions. EY groups Valuation Services with TS, but the work is very different. Valuation groups offer opinions on the fair market value of intangible assets(think customer relationships) and enterprises(think whole businesses). The VS groups at services firms do valuations primarily for the following:

1) Management planning - the CFO just wants to know how the business is going.

2) Annual impairment testing - Does the value of the business support the level of goodwill/intangibles booked at the time of the original transaction?

3) Purchase Price Allocation - After a transaction, there needs to be an allocation of the purchase price to each of the tangible and intangible assets. The VS group would look at the purchase price less the fair value of the tangible assets(inventory and PP&E). That remaining piece would be divided among the intangible assets.

4) Transactions - While not all the time, VS groups will engage in distressed lending/asset sale valuations, as well as M&A. These deals will obviously give you good experience to recall in IB interviews.

You'll have some one-off consulting gigs, but those probably aren't the focus.

 

I interviewed with the EY Valuations group this past summer. Here's how my experience went-

Round 1- - An hour long interview split 30 mins between two senior managers from the group (one business valuations, the other business modelling) and HR. The senior managers asked some fit and technical questions. The HR person had no idea what was going on because they lack any type of co-ordination - she basically asked me some fit questions and pulled in the group VP and we had a nice chat.

Round 2- - Received a business case two weeks prior to the interview. Basically, it was an S&P industry report and I had to prepare a two page research report from it. I had to submit my report the day before the interview. - The day of the interview was spilt between a modelling test and more interviews. The modelling test was a 75 min Excel test split equally between a DCF (for the company from the business case) and an advanced Excel skills component. The interviews that followed totalled 90 mins and were split between two partners and two managers.

Still quite disappointed I didn't land the job given all the work I put in it especially when you consider you will still be spending 30% of your time helping out audit engagements (at least in T.O.).

It's also funny to note, in the first round, the resume the HR person passed out to the team wasn't the one I used when I applied for the job; it was my undergraduate resume from when I first applied to the firm. I only learned that at the end of the interview when I looked at the package the VP was using and noticed something didn't look right with resume in his hands!

 
hujja:
I interviewed with the EY Valuations group this past summer. Here's how my experience went-

Round 1- - An hour long interview split 30 mins between two senior managers from the group (one business valuations, the other business modelling) and HR. The senior managers asked some fit and technical questions. The HR person had no idea what was going on because they lack any type of co-ordination - she basically asked me some fit questions and pulled in the group VP and we had a nice chat.

It's also funny to note, in the first round, the resume the HR person passed out to the team wasn't the one I used when I applied for the job; it was my undergraduate resume from when I first applied to the firm. I only learned that at the end of the interview when I looked at the package the VP was using and noticed something didn't look right with resume in his hands!

In my email from E&Y it says specifically: "The questions will be behavioral, fit questions". It mentions nothing of technicals. Did you get the same sort of email indicating only behavioral?

Haha, honestly I almost submitted my old resume on their website (because when I went to reapply it had saved my old resume, and skipped most of the steps. My GPA/experience was messed up too). That might be why it happened to you..

 

I actually interns with a Big 4 in their Tas group, although not specifically in valuation, I worked closley witht hat group. I spoke with the other interns in the group and even my adviser about switching into it since I had an interest in IB. His advice to me was that, although valuation is the closest thing the Big 4 has to IB work, the nature of your work is still very different. For valuation in TAS for a big 4, a lot of the valuation work you do is valuing assets or intellectual property for a firm's financial statements. Most of the Big 4 have a corporate finance group that is their version of a boutique IB, and those are the people who do real IB related valuation work. Granted, in valuation, you may get assigned to something more IB correlated, from my understanding, most of it will just be valuation for financial statements.

Hugo
 

Big4 BVal -> MM IB -> BB IB

Experience you get at bval will be spin-able toward investment banking, but you still need to put in time to prepare for what you won't learn on the job. jack_d is spot on with the type of work you'd do - I did many PPA's and impairment testings but that being said, you will have projects that are more interesting and relateable to banking.

My interview was pretty simple - 3 people, 1 fit, 1 very basic technical (how to value a company, what to do if they don't keep any books, etc.), and 1 guy who just had me ask him questions for 30 min. I had been preparing for IB interviews and a lot of the questions were the same.

 
jtang128:
Big4 BVal -> MM IB -> BB IB

Experience you get at bval will be spin-able toward investment banking, but you still need to put in time to prepare for what you won't learn on the job. jack_d is spot on with the type of work you'd do - I did many PPA's and impairment testings but that being said, you will have projects that are more interesting and relateable to banking.

My interview was pretty simple - 3 people, 1 fit, 1 very basic technical (how to value a company, what to do if they don't keep any books, etc.), and 1 guy who just had me ask him questions for 30 min. I had been preparing for IB interviews and a lot of the questions were the same.

Good info. Thanks

 

So if you had to take 1 position at a Big 4 to position yourself for IBD it would be Valuation? Gee my progress towards a CFA charter might actually pay some dividends since every B4 Valuation posting states 'Must be working towards CFA charter.'

My name is Nicky, but you can call me Dre.
 

I have an analyst interview with a big 4 m&a group next week. What kind of questions can I expect? More technical or fit? Since a lot of people move to m&a from the audit group, do they tend stress more on accounting during interviews? I have 1 year ib experience with a middle market shop. Will appreciate your advice.

 

Hi guys,

I have an interview with a B4 TAS for analyst position. I would appreciate if someone could shine some light on what sort of questions I'd be asked (they mentioned technical and HR).

Also, I'm a fresh grad with no industry experience (only internships). I want IB, however my luck hasn't been great. I have been offered a job in wholesale banking for a big bank, another job for a regional bank in the middle east in their CorpFin and IB department.

Which would you guys advise me to start?

 

I got the 2nd round interview of VBM (Valuation and Business Modeling) under TAS, EY next week..

Does anyone here know any tips/hints about it? I was told that there would be a one hour interview hosted by the technics manager. What kind of technical questions will be involved?

Anyone? Thanks lehhhhh

 

For those of you that are interested in learning more about valuations and the exits/work, I did an AMA on it found here:

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/ama-former-business-valuations-as…

Feel free to PM me or post on that thread.

There seems to be a bit confusion on this thread and to clarify if this is a EY - TAS - Valuations position there will be .01% chance of any questions relating to LBOs (specifically if you are interviewing the Chicago office, which I have interviewed at).

I think @jack_donaghy second post about doing PPA's, Fair value, FMV etc is pretty much on point as to what you can expect as far as work.

EDIT: Just realized how old this thread is.

 
onmywayup:

Sorry to hijack but do you guys think valuations at a regional accounting firm would open the same opportunities?

Can't speak personally, but most of the people I've talked to who have lateraled into IB from other positions (e.g. TA, Valuation, Due Diligence, etc) did it from firms who operated on a similar scale to the bank they now work at. For example, I talked to one guy who worked at a MidWest-heavy valuation firm and went to leading Chicago MM firm, and another guy who worked for a Big 4 firm and lateraled to a BB. ....also a few regional examples (think they were prominent in that state's lower MM with no offices elsewhere) who followed the same pattern.

 

it's due dilligence around how good the financial statements are that the vendor provides. they try to do more but you want to keep their role to checking working capital for manipulation etc.

Let MBB run strategy and legal run legal. They try to overstretch sometimes.

 

It's basically another shitty way for an accounting firm to make money. Do not be fooled into thinking that you will be an "investment banker" in a TAS group. Also, be prepared to work alongside second-tier college grads who don't care about their career.


http://www.drmarkklein.blogspot.com/

_______________________________________ http://www.drmarkklein.blogspot.com/
 

Mark Klein MD,

For a guy who runs a blog that displays a hint of sophistication and intelligence, your posts here on WSO tend to run a bit childish and outlandish. Do you post here on WSO to release your inner Mr. Hyde?

http://thematurationofshane.wordpress.com
 

They do purchase price valuations and goodwill impairment tests for the most part. Pay should be 60-65 with no real bonus; some people from Big 4 valuation go into internal valuation at PE firms or banks, some do make the move to front office. Hours blow-probably 80% of front-office banking hours for about 50% of the all-in comp and exit opportunities.

Valuation has a leg up on other transaction advisory groups for two reasons: It uses most of the same finance principles as banking (WACCs, DCF, multiples, Black-Scholes, etc) as opposed to being accounting-focused, and companies need to test their valuations annually so they have work even if there's no "deal flow" in the usual sense.

If you can't get the job you want out of the gates it's worth taking a look at.

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