How do investment bankers get up to speed on a new company?
This post here inspired me to ask a question on the IB forum.
Just graduated, hoping to start at a desk soon. Previously in my MM internships, I typically found that small private companies aren't very complex and they're fairly simple to understand.
For large / mega cap companies with complex business models, how do you efficiently and effectively get up to speed on a new company? Is it really just skim through 10-K, read ER reports, and listen to a few earnings calls?
Are you totally generalist? Most places are coverage-specific, or even in "generalist" groups like M&A you focus on one or two sectors. That means the learning curve is steep at first because you're learning the whole industry, but you pick it up quickly.
I usually skim the investor presentation, read an ER report or two and look at comps, but once you've done a few projects you will know most of the large-cap companies in your space. You might be working hard on a deal for Company X and becoming intimately familiar with them, but you'll be making plenty of pages showing them against Companies Y and Z. You'll probably notice that Company Y trades way lower than it should, or that Company Z has taken huge market share in the past two years, and go down those rabbit holes trying to work on the materials for your original company.
All to say, the first few months will be hard but after 6 months or so you will know the industry landscape very well. Even private companies you start to have an idea of how they stack up because you spend so much time comparing them all as acquisition opportunities.
Very helpful, thanks a bunch
-glance at factset snapshot page for 30 seconds
-open latest investor pres but get bored 1 minute in and x out of the pdf
-head to team page online and see if any baddies are on the team
-open up the earning call transcript but get bored 30 seconds in and x out
-start putting together draft email for India team to summarize company on a ppt page (4 quadrants)
Basically it (100% srs, not trolling)
Send an email to the VP « need a PIB on these 12 companies » Email is forwarded to the asso « please do » Email is forwarded to analyst « please do » Email is forwarded to intern « can you please help on this important, high value project »
After 9 turns between the intern and the analyst, each pib is 375 pages long and includes: - latest quarterly presentation, 10q, and transcript - latest annual presentation, 10k, and transcript - latest analyst day presentation - 18 recent analysts notes of 1 page each « earnings in line with consensus this quarter » - a 5 year old « assuming coverage, TP unchanged » - a well curated selection of pages from the most recent 10-K, but largely comprising risk factors - nicely arranged dividers that had to be recut 7 times
This all goes to the MD’s desk on Monday evening. Unfortunately he’s already out as he flew out this morning on this two legs trips.
This is too real. Alternatively the courier calls asking where you want to leave the PIB as the 1000 page epica rivaling Homer's Iliad can't fit through the mail box
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