Will you top bracket analysts out there talk about your PE/HF interviewing experience and what part of your banking experience was the most helpful in getting these jobs? Also, if you can, will you provide the name of your bank or its peers so us monkeys can gauge where you all come from? Thanks.
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Not a current analyst anymore but recently went through the process. From a middle tier bulge, targeted $1-4bn, middle market PE and landed at a $2bn fund. I didn't have the time nor the energy to employ the shotgun approach to my search. I only interviewed with 2 places. Definitely the most helpful part of the process was being able to talk about deals announced in the market place. At the time, I hadn't closed any deals but was working on 2 LBOs (a multi-billion take-private by a top tier sponsor and a middle market acquisition by ~$2bn sponsor), an IPO (sole-books), and a sellside (TEV $15-$20bn) that ended up dying. We talked the most about the bigger LBO, because it was pretty big news at the time and it had announced publicly. Obviously, knowing the in's and out's of your deals was crucial. But in addition to that, being able to think about what made it an attractive target for the sponsor, as well as how the paper would be accepted in the marketplace was a big point. In other words, taking yourself out of the role of a banking analyst and understanding why the deal makes sense for everyone - the sponsor, the banks (besides fees), institutional buyers of debt, management of the target, etc.
what group were you in at your bank? how much does it matter what group you are in?
I was in an industry group at my bank that was pretty "middle of the road" in my opinion. I would say certain groups have a culture of fostering good placement into PE simply because they embrace the fact that analysts will leave and give good reccomendations. These are the groups that you'll see place their analysts very well because they create an environment condusive to it. While my group was not historically a great placement group, nor were they particularly supportive (or unsupportive, for that matter), for some reason my analyst class placed pretty lights out (and I think it had everything to do the caliber of the analysts, not the group itself). I would point to my former group as an example of how a middle of the road group at a middle of the road bank with no culture of encouraging or discouraging analysts to go to PE can still place very well. Not saying group doesn't matter, but as long as you work in a decent group at a decent bank and have some valid work experience, you'll get interviews. The rest is up to you.
For a more sardonic take see paragraph 4 of the below post:
http://theallnighter.blogspot.com/2007/04/kruelberg-kretin-saga-xi-how.html
By the way, if you are reading this Mr. Allnighter, when are you going to treat us to another one of your wittily penned lyrics or posts?
To any prospective “monkeys” reading this, “The All Nighter” blog should be a more treasured resource to you than anything Vault ever bring out, particularly if you are in the UK.
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