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What is the best way to answer the question “why investment banking”? Have you seen any non target kids break into BB healthcare IB?
Absolutely - anyone can break into healthcare investment banking, and recently I’ve seen a ton of non-targets break into it. Honestly, being a non-target only means that you need to network more, but once you’re in the process, it doesn’t really matter what school you go to as long as you nail your technicals and have a solid story.
As far as why investment banking, I find that answer to be hugely personal. One thing I would note is that in healthcare banking, you also deal with a lot of capital raising (obviously in addition to mostly M&A). I’ve heard some great answers about wanting to help companies raise money to bring their products to more patients etc. However, as I said, the more real the response is, the better. Read healthcare news and see what sticks with you. It’s super obvious if people are really passionate about something, and that’s honestly one of the biggest factors for us while hiring.
have you seen any pre med non targets get into HC? I would imagine they have lower GPA's on average due to taking much harder classes.
I am a non target and broke into NYC BB HC
See, it works! Same here
Hi! This is such a relief to hear since I’m in the same boat. Would you be available for a quick chat?
Thank you so much for your time!
1. How has HCIT changed over the past 5 years in the capital markets/M&A space? What are the trends you've noticed in strategic buyers / PE firms?
2. Will HC providers consolidation ever slow down? Seems to always be a stable M&A market yet a lot of political views seem anti-consolidation.
3. Are there certain trends that strategic/corporate buyers look for in HC companies that sponsors don't? And vice versa?
4. What verticals are you bullish on? For ex: HC services? HCIT? Biotech? Medtech?
5. Is telemedicine losing its "appeal"? It was booming in 2020 but now the market seems to have cooled down. A lot of public companies and recent SPACs/IPO have not performed well.
Thanks in advance.
Oh boy loaded question haha. Let me see:
Tysm! I have an extensive healthcare background and am considering recruiting for IB at Bschool. I know these questions were loaded haha so I definitely appreciate it.
Awesome post
Why don't you guys ever hire us healthcare consultants to help you??? Lol! Nah, but I think it would make modelling and valuation assumptions better.
We do!! Especially for market intelligence. It’s super helpful having all that background research done, it really helps us validate our assumptions.
PM me then! Would be happy to share thoughts with peers in IB.
Can you PM anonymous posters?
Thank you so much for being open to answer questions!
Currently heading into a Tier 3 BB with their healthcare services coverage group. Not in NY but in a LCOL city. Have a lot of interest in healthcare M&A teams at boutiques like HL and Provident.
What are other HC services groups to look into?
1.) Are you getting good modeling experience at your BB (Not just comps)? -if you're specifically in LS I know SOTP is solid experience.
2.) What are you thoughts on exits from HC IB? Are you interested in IB long term?
3.) I want to be a beast and know the industry really well. What daily reads, other resources would you recommend to be knowledgeable about the landscape? Any free primers?
Thanks again!
Of course, I’m happy to help!
Hopefully this is helpful!
Amazing insight. Thanks a ton
Kind of related topic, but also slightly off-topic. Was recruiting for a HC group any different than what's "normal" in IB?
I'm coming from a HC background (hard sciences, research, HCIT consulting) in b school, and I'm guessing it makes the most sense for me to pitch myself to HC groups.
Thanks for doing the Q&A.
I assume you're a senior associate or close to VP. What's kept you in banking thus far? Have you thought about corporate exits, buyside, or leaving the industry all together?
Do you gravitate more towards HCIT or lifescience deals?
Of course, happy to help! And you got that right, close to VP. Honestly I’ve seen it all over the years - analysts getting recruited to PE during their training without even knowing what they’re getting themselves into. For me, I want to understand what it is exactly that I’m getting into, and one of the biggest question is if I love the people.
I feel like IB gets a bad rep. Yes, we do work crazy hours, but to be completely honest, I absolutely love my group. I’m very close with all the Partners on the team, and the one I work closest with gives me insane opportunities to grow.
The one absolutely crazy thing I’ve seen analysts do is pick certain banks because of marginally better names than others without any regard to the group culture. What I tell everyone is yes, shoot for the stars, but only people you love working with will help you reach your true potential.
TLDR: I would jump off the bridge for my teammates
Thats awesome, glad to hear you really like your team.
Follow up Q, how did you responsibilities change when you were promoted from analyst to associate? If you had to redo / give advise to yourself as an analyst, what would it be?
Anddd I forgot to answer the last point - life sciences!
What would be the most difficult technical questions for BB HC candidates being interviewed for the FT Analyst position?
E.g., DCF modeling of a pharma company, Healthcare combs?
Thank you very much!
Depends on what your strengths are! Definitely review pharma DCFs (how do you estimate market size, probabilities of success, costs - clinical trial costs increasing with each Phase and ramp up in SG&A ahead of commercialization) and napkin merger models (company A acquires company B, if synergies are X is this deal accretive?).
If you’re interviewing for a more healthcare services focused HC BB, then probably more focus on services based valuation, maybe even concepts behind an LBO.
In either case, have your accounting concepts down and do a ton of practice questions. When practicing, ask yourself why you got questions wrong - it really helps!
Do you have any recommendations on free resources for merger models calculating how accretive a deal is? thanks in advance!
Also on comps - not too much emphasis there for life sciences focused groups given most biotechs don’t have revenues, let alone EBITDA
Appreciate it!! Wishing you all the best for your career!
Starting at a MM HC boutique this summer as an analyst. Is there a reason that drew you to HC specifically? Also, how available are the opportunities to exit for corpdev at something like a J&J or a Merck at the A2 or Assoc level? Love this thread, thanks for the insight!
First of all, congratulations!! For me personally, I was always excited about life sciences, and I love seeing companies grow throughout their life cycles - and you see a ton of that in life sciences!
With respect to corp dev exits, they’re definitely doable / I’ve seen quite a few BD director openings at large pharmas. It becomes even easier if you work with these companies and develop direct relationships. I would say definitely look at earlier stage companies as well - you’ll have more room to grow and usually great equity packages as well. Plus it’s really fun helping your company go through an IPO or M&A!
Thanks for the reply, appreciate the insight! During my networking with people in the industry, someone told me that "if you can model in healthcare, you can model in anything." Do you think that's true? And, if so, what makes modeling out healthcare firms more difficult/complicated than other industries? Maybe it's just a specific vertical (pharma, life sciences, biotech, e.g.) but would appreciate your thoughts on this sentiment. Thanks again!
Thanks for doing this! Do you think being in life sciences / pharma pigeonholes you into the sector? Thinking about recruiting for HC groups but not certain I want to stay in the HC long term and am looking about potential exits into PE.
Not necessarily! I’ve seen some great PE exits from people who have been in life sciences. The only thing I would say - if you feel strongly about PE, consider recruiting earlier in your career rather than later. I think if you are in life sciences IB until your VP years, it would be near impossible breaking into services oriented PE. But as long as you’re an analyst and you can study for PE technicals, you’ll be more than fine!
Best NYC HC franchises in your opinion? Love the healthcare space and really see myself in healthcare investing in the future.
Oh boy, that’s a loaded question. Honestly I think it’s very personality dependent, and it also depends on what you want out of your experience. For example, if you want to work on company positioning and helping them go public, go to Cowen because they have excellent equity franchise. If you want to do M&A only, go to Centerview. If you want broader product exposure (M&A and equities), go to Evercore. But in reality, I think the most important thing is the team. Get to know people on the team and see who you really vibe with - you’ll spend so much time with them, so you want to make sure you enjoy them!
What about for someone who wants to focus on debt raises?
I'm working at a Healthcare IB boutique this summer for my junior year internship. Any advice on lateraling to an EB ,
Honestly I would say focus on making the most out of it. You never know, maybe you’ll absolutely fall in love with the group / team! If you feel like it’s not what you want to be doing, just do a ton of networking. Reach out to analysts at groups that you’re interested in and have an honest conversation about why you are looking to lateral. Just keep in mind most EBs have very high return rates, so openings after junior year internships are quite rare
After having so much experience in the industry, what have you really seen in a candidate that makes them stand out from the rest? Besides genuine passion, hard work ethic, and avoiding the cookie-cutter answers, any advice?
Additionally, what makes you inclined to respond to a cold email. As someone who tries to be as specific and tailor it personally to them, I still have a 5-10% response rate.
Huge thanks, it means a ton!
Honestly, have a personality outside investment banking. I love it when people have an interest section on their resume. It’s also amazing when candidates talk about volunteering experience they’ve done in the past - it shows they care about more than this job.
In terms of better odds on emailing.. how an email is written matters a ton. You’d be surprised how many candidates aren’t polite / write incredibly cookie cutter emails. Also always make sure to send thank you emails, they really matter. And never email us during the morning rush because your email will just get buried - between ~6-10pm is the sweet spot!
Wow thank you. 6-10pm is interesting, I’ve always sent mine at 9-10am. I will surely try it out!
how the fuck is healthcare a separate industry, never understood that. I understand how tech, c&r, fin sponsors can be a separate industry group since they're massive but how is healthcare so big?
Hahah well to be honest I only know healthcare banking, so I have the exact same question about other industry groups!
Hopefully not derailing this conversation, but HCIT feels like a lot of the quality sponsor-backed assets already had some sort of an exit event in the past 18 months (think 2H 2020 thru end of 2021). Therapy Brands, Provation, Quantum, GHX, symplr, PartsSource, Greenphire, MMIT, eSolutions, Wellsky, RLDatix, GoodRx, Multiplan, Qgenda, Cytel… Probably plenty of others that I missed, but there was definitely some pull forward in those past 18 months and 2022 should be interesting.
Definitely! The point I was trying to make is that there is still quite a bit of room for consolidation, and there are some great assets that are coming close to the end of PE holding periods
What are the best Healthcare PE funds? I am looking at exits at the ASO/VP level from Healthcare? Any resources for this?
I’m not trying to go the PE route, so unfortunately don’t have the best answer. Have you spoken to recruiters? I would hit up CPI, Henkel, SG and Amity. Definitely get on their radars and make it clear that you’re looking to make a jump. In terms of biggest players in HC, I would say Blackstone, TPG, KKR, Warburg, but then also places like Arsenal, Clearlake (for HCIT) and Charlesbank
I work in this area (healthcare) but on the clinical side/biopharma. Would this be able to translate into IB?
Most definitely! I would just say focus on groups that have strong life sciences groups (Evercore, Centerview, Cowen, Leerink and some others). Also make sure you study your technicals and you should be all set!
I am coming from a non-traditional background. Currently working with program management team to get a CAPM through PMI to hopefully spearhead projects. Also finishing an online BS in Public Health.
How do firms view these experiences, and how would it translate into Healthcare IB? I have always been interested in how healthcare is funded, how hospitals run, healthcare insurance policies.
Would a MBA or JD help further translate into this area?
FWIW, I am in SD - CA. So a smaller city compared to LA/NY/SF/Chicago. However, we have a huge biotech/biopharm market!
Should you always attach your resume to a networking email? I feel like many people have different viewpoints.
Yes absolutely. What else is also very helpful is including your availability for the next week (evening times) and offering to send a calendar invite
would you provide your availability + preemptive calendar invite in the opening email?
Thank you for sharing your insights! I found your responses helpful! A few questions:
1. What do you find exciting/ interesting about HC banking?
2. If not HC banking, what would have been your next career choice?
3. Are skills transferable between life sciences and medtech, or is the person seen as a siloed specialist?
4. What questions would you ask prospective employers for an entry level position to determine if the firm is a good fit (either in life sciences or HC area)?
Hey! So:
What's your opinion on Cain/MTS/Leerink? compare to healthcare practice at EB?
I think they just have a much more narrow focus on specific industries (for example, I think Cain is amazing at healthcare facility rollups - like derm clinics). They don’t have as wide of an exposure and tend to serve one group of clients (middle market focused). Some people absolutely love these types of projects, so if you thrive in it, it’s the perfect fit!
What are your thoughts on Medical & Health data providers like PicnicHealth and Tempus? Basically, companies that take disparate patient data, structure it, and then sell subscriptions for data access. In general, what are your thoughts on the market for clinical research data/clinical data management?
Very interesting question! Also interested. Didn't know about PicnicHealth until looking it up after reading this post! Very interesting company - PicnicHealth and definitely addressing a huge issue within healthcare communication between different providers/companies.
Great question! I think there’s a ton of room in the space, aka huge potential for companies. Someone just needs to figure out how to do this right / how to make things painless for providers and administrators. The biggest issue is solving data entry - I get that a lot of companies can clean up data, but the issue with human biology is that 1) it’s complex 2) issues assessed can be interpreted very subjectively. I think if companies can figure out 1) EHR integration 2) ease of use for providers 3) overcoming clinical hurdles, that should set them up for success! Agree that Tempus is probably the one furthest ahead. We’ll see what the future has in this space.. maybe health records and clinical data in the blockchain? Would be super cool
del
I think so, but definitely don’t do it if you hate it. Honestly if you’re in sciences and you manage to have above 3.5, you’re golden. I personally majored in a bio-related field and absolutely loved it. I know there are some feeder programs into life sciences IB (like the Vagelos program at Penn), so we see quite a few candidates with both bio and finance majors
So I probably know more about this than OP; if you're GPA is being lowered by taking a few biology classes I really don't think you're going to accel in Biotech banking to beggin with. Your better off taking a few fluff classes and sticking with something a bit less quantitative like Equity Research or even the generalist M&A group.
Hi,
When I say its being lowered, I mean its dropped to the 3.7 range, not something outrageously low. Also its not bio classes, but rather OChem that I am struggling with a little bit. Even so, the real problem is the time commitment not that actual difficulty of the classes. If i was just a pure Bio major, I could pull off close to a 4.0, but having a second major and recruiting full time is what is dragging my GPA.
I also legitimately enjoy the major. Do you think it is worth it?
Thoughts on Cantor HC?
I don’t know much about it, so don’t want to opine and tell you something I can’t support. I’ve only seen them as co-managers on equity deals
Does HC M&A limit you to HC PE?
Not at all! Ton of analysts exit to other industries as well (one of my favorite analysts is going to a tech mega fund)
Hi! Thanks for doing this. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on TripleTree given their incredible growth the past 2 years.
I haven’t seen them around much. I think they’re more focused on small sized deals and healthcare services. I spend my time in mid cap and large cap life sciences primarily, so not much intersection there
Could you share your thoughts on Baird HC/ Life Sciences, in terms of work culture, complexity/ type of deals, and exit opps to PE/ b-school?
Don’t know enough about it to opine unfortunately. Sorry!
Thanks for responding though!
Thoughts on Citi?
I just wanted to get your thoughts on CS HC? When do you know if it is worth trying to lateral into a different bank in their HC group?
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