Question about M&A and LBO

Hi all,

I have a question about M&A and LBO modeling. I'm a recent grad and am interested in research/analyst positions where I use financial modeling to make projections on stock valuations. Now, since I am interested in such positions in wealth management/investment management firms, and NOT Investment Banking, do I need to know M&A and LBO modeling for such roles? I guess another way to put it is: if I were in a position where my primary responsibility was to create financial models to determine the best stocks/investment vehicles to put in the PM's portfolio, what would be the essential pieces to know?

Since I don't have any real technical accounting or finance experience, I wanted to know if M&A and LBOs were a key element in 3-statement financial modeling used to value and determine the intrinsic price of a stock.

Part of why I'm asking is also because I'm looking into the WSP's financial modeling course and determining whether I really need to purchase the premium package that covers LBO and M&A modeling. The basic package seems to cover 3-statement financial modeling but NOT valuation, so not sure.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated!