EY CF/Valuation

Hi JonnyPi,

I have just completed by second year in the CF team of a Big 4 company in Continental Europe. Therefore, I will give you my thoughts on your questions with specific reference to what I have seen in my country (Italy).

First of all, I have to say that my team is considered one of the strongest M&A team in my country with regards to FIG transactions (obv. we don't do € 50 bln mergers, but if you are willing to dispose some of your branches, your subsidiaries or to do a deal up to € 1 bln, we do compete with some investment banks). That said, we receive some attention from headhunters when it comes to recruiting opportunities. With regards to what I have seen, my colleagues (second year analyst to first year associate) and I have been called for the following opportunities, in my country, by headhunters or company HR (with no application submitted by us): a) Senior analyst position for a Continental Europe boutique (i.e.: Leonardo & Co.); b) Senior analyst position for a Italian based MM boutique (i.e.: Vitale & Associati and Mittel Advisory): c) Senior analyst position for a Elite boutique (e.g.: Lazard/Rothschild/etc.); d) Second year analyst for a BB bank (e.g.: Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, etc.); e) Private Equity Associate for a middle market Italy based fund (ca. € 1 bln AuM); f) Private Equity Senior Analyst/Associate for an Italy based minority investment fund (ca. € 5 bln AuM); g) Private Equity Senior Analyst/Associate for a middle market Italy and Financial Services based fund (ca. € 800 mln AuM); h) Senior Analyst for a leading restructuring consulting firm (e.g.: A&M/AlixPartners); j) Senior consultant within the Financial Services practice of another Big 4 company; k) Business development analyst for a listed Italian company with revenues of ca. € 400 mln; l) First year analyst for a BB bank (MS/JPM/GS/etc.);

Note: f) and l) have been achieved thanks to contacts collected during previous internship experiences.

As you can see, working with a Big 4 corporate finance team, at least with the strongest Big 4 M&A team in the country, could help to obtain some exit opportunities which may include some middle market funds (e.g.: e) and g)). That said, it is not always easy to translate these opportunity in full time positions and, as you can see, they are very limited in number (only 2 in 2 years). Obv. you can enhance your opportunity with more networking with the funds you may be interested to join or working in a team which has an higher exposure to them. That said, if you were able to join a consulting firm such as Roland Berger, ATK or LEK (which works a lot with PE firms), I would strongly advise you to take that opportunity over a Big 4 CF slot, at least in my country because of a) higher prestige which helps to attract headhunter; b) better pay which helps you to keep your morale up; c) higher opportunities to join a top ranked MBA program if you are not able to make the switch; d) probably better hours. The only cons I see there is that it would be more difficult to move to banking. Finally, people who don't know what a Big 4 CF team do (almost every one out there which was not at a Big 4 CF team before) will always believe your are an accountat and that you only do accounting due diligence.

Good luck.