GS Structured Finance London
Hi WSO,
Just wondering if anyone has any info about GS Structured Finance in IBD London? Culture, reputation, dealflow, exit opps etc.
Might have an interview with them hence the ask
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Is this for FT, SA or lateral?
FT
Mind me asking when you applied and did the video interview?
I applied in august and I've not even been invited to the video interview lmao
GS isn’t huge into StrFin, but you’ll get the name prestige still, I would assume they’re even less active in the European space. Do you know what group particularly you’ll be with (ABS, RMBS, insurance-linked etc..)?
Thanks. I'd say neither of those as I believe the StrF team in London is more debt advisory-focused within project financing (infrastructure, renewables), asset financing (aircrafts, media rights etc.). They also do some underwriting/syndication of the credit.
Their NYC office almost has control of the entire aircraft abs market. I rarely seem them on anything else in the US.
You'll probably be doing aircraft abs and other complicated weird asset class underwriting, which gives you great experience. The skills you'll learn from working on these asset classes is highly transferable and niche, which means great exit opportunities.
Hey was wondering what the process was for FT - do they call you to let you know a specific team was interested or do you know once a HV is submitted?
What are the possible exits from Structured Finance (think infra, renewables etc) in Europe?
infra PE
Doesn’t have to be PE. There are several structured credit desks you can exit to as it is a fairly niche industry, with a lot of money at work by few players. You can go into Structured credit investing/trading at HFs. Or lateral internally to the S&T side where structured credit is a lot more safe and lucrative than most other asset classes, pretty much on par with like an exotic rates desk.
Anything infra-PE/PC is probably very feasible. How about more traditional credit funds in direct lending, or distressed credit?
Realised it’s 2 years later but wondering if OP had gotten/taken the offer? If not where are you now
Time has flown since I posted this, and a lot has happened.
I got the offer and started, and did a little over a year there, then moved to a larger private credit fund focused on DL. So overall a great outcome for me in relation to what my goals were.
Congrats!!
Would you mind share some insights on what the group culture is like? And also wondering what kind of work does the team do? Such a mysterious group haha nothing can be found online except it’s on the financing side, is it more like project finance stuff?
Thanks
~80% of time is spent on acquisition financing for infra/energy PE funds in energy companies, wind/solar farms, telecom/fiber co’s. Some more corporate infra (EBITDA-based, LevFin style for the fiber companies and such) and some more PF style (debt sculpting based on contracted cash flows etc). Pretty much all private debt, where GS underwrites and holds a piece on the BS and sell down the rest.
The other 20% can be a variety of things, like financing backed by music rights, IP, or other assets, that can also be structured like off-balance sheet funding. I hear the music thing is a big focus now.
They also dabble in some financings in the Middle East.
Intrigued on how do you go about music rights, we don’t do this here (MM IB), mind giving an example on how it could be done?
Package up the royalties into an SPV, and issue debt against it. Music Royalties often have lumpier cash flows than bonds or loans, so you cannot lever up too much or you'll be too likely to have a mismatch between cash inflows and outflows from the SPV.
Thank you, could you provide more info on what the typical hours were during the week? How much weekend work?
bump
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