Deutsche Bank FT Group Selection (M&A, Sponsors, LevFin?)

If I was looking to go into PE later on, what order should I rank my preferences at DB? 1) M&A 2) Fin Sponsors 3) REGLL (real estate, gaming, lodging, leisure)

The consensus is that DB's Lev Fin group is relatively strong within the bank, but I'm not sure if I will like the type of work, as it seems to be much more capital markets based than M&A or an industry group. I imagine it to be much more focused on looking at high yield rates, bond market trends etc, rather than M&A modeling, company profiling etc. Because of that, I was thinking of just putting Fin Sponsors on my list instead of Lev Fin.

So: 1) Does this list sound good? 2) Is the difference between their Lev Fin and Sponsors groups so large that I should just definitely have Lev Fin instead of Sponsors on my list?

Thanks.

9 Comments
 

Judging by people I know, it seems that quite a few of them did lev fin before moving onto to P.E. (@ other banks) so I know exit ops would be available since the buy side is heavily weighted toward debt/leverage experience. However, M&A would be another great experience given the obvious. REGLL on the other hand would be more of challenge (not sure what kind of fund you are looking to get into or the industry) since there are relatively less shops that have a focus on real estate and gaming/lodging. From what I have read and heard, REGLL at DB seems to be a pretty legit and they have a good marketshare of the industry. If I was in your position, I would rank them: M&A, Lev Fin, and REGLL.

Are these the only groups you have offers to and can go to?

 
Best Response

Thanks for the feedback. I understand from your prior posts that you know a number of current DB people, so I appreciate the advice. Group selection hasn't started yet, but getting a headstart on thinking about group preferences should be helpful.

Are there other groups you might suggest?

At DB, sponsors is a separate group from LevFin, so not sure what opinions are about the Sponsors group. DB has done some deals with top sponsors (TPG, Apollo etc), so it is probably decent as well. LevFin work seems very different from typical advisory work (pitching, company profiles, comps) but its difficult to understand what LevFin work is really like - any ideas?

 

Sorority rush.

You rank the groups, the groups rank you. There are a couple of mixers during training, but if you really want to be in a group you will need to network ahead of time so that they have some idea who you are.

--There are stupid questions, so think first.
 

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