Joined a Low Volume Boutique. Am I fucked?
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Do a year, and then switch to a larger shop if you’re seriously not seeing any deal flow. Don’t leave immediately because it won’t look well when you try and make the jump. Bigger firms are always looking for more analysts but they want to see you’ve had some experience first.
Is that possible to jump if all I'm doing is pitching? I think I'll be able to get on a deal by 6 months in. I don't think most analysts have a closed sell-side deal in their first year to be honest, even at bigger shops.
On the flip side, my hours are really good for IB so I'm using that spare time to network.
Live deal experience is over valued. Personally I think you learn more from pitches, esp early on in your career.
I disagree. You will want live deals on your resume (1 min., Ideally 2-3). You learn a lot during closing diligence that you don't get from pitches. One thing, I have been seeing more of for Assoc.+ positions is firms asking for x amount of deals closed or worked on (usually 1-2 per year of work experience asked for). I don't think its a problem if you are working at a lower volume shop, but you do need to make sure you are getting put on deals that are closing.
Do you have to have a closed deal by the time you start lateral interviews? I feel like most an1s even at big firms don’t have a closed sell side in their first year. Ideally would like to move after 6-9 months, a year would probably be the maximum amount of time I’d like to stay.
I would stay a year. I think it offers more continuity in your story. There is also something to be said that as you stay if you are a high performer, even if deal flow is low, you should be well positioned to get on the deals coming in.
I did two years a a lower BB, and there were MDs who would bring in deals and those who did not. You need to make sure you are getting yourself in the position to get on deals (friendly with the staffer, aligned with MDs, Good analyst so you get chosen, etc.). There are plenty of stories on WSO of associates and VPs who did not get deal reps, and where not given promotions.
Sometimes deals die and you cannot control them, but you should be working on live engagements and getting them towards a closing. In a year, you should definitely be able to get something under your belt in this environment.
LOL. You’re not in this industry
I work at one of these currently. I am in the process of lateraling after a few years. If you don't have deals on your resume, it is significantly harder to exit. A lot of larger banks want to see some overlap with what you're doing and what they expect you to be doing. Since you said you won't be working on deals, this will be very difficult to overcome. You will mostly get looked over for analyst roles, and you need to utilize your network to get past initial screens. I cannot emphasize this enough. You must be networking and leveraging your network to lateral to a better firm. As for the lack of series licenses, most boutiques don't require juniors to take their exams, as pure buy-side / sell-side M&A advisory is usually exempt at a smaller level (sub $25mm EBITDA since the no-action letter). Firms that do capital raising, etc. will require it. It's more of a marketing thing. Feel free to pm with any questions.
Make sense – it’s not like they don’t do deals but it’s just a lower volume than other places I’ve worked in the past. Getting staffed 6 months in sounded like the worst case scenario, which I hope to be true. I have fairly decent hours for IB so I’m using that spare time to do networking to hopefully be able to make a jump when it’s appropriate.
As a first year analyst, if your bank is doing a good job you probably should only be on 1-2 deals a year. If you are getting deals, I don't know why you are concerned about the volume. Reasonable people will not ding you because you were not closing x+ deals in a year.
Similar situation, but at a larger LMM shop by headcount. Hopefully roles are less rigid at your shop given size, so once you’re staffed, try to play up and take on model work / actual value-add shit. If you can spin your experience well and show that you can wear a lot of hats, you’ll be in a fine spot for lateraling in my experience. Certainly start pounding the pavement early (once you feel like your resume has some teeth) on lateraling up-market or to LMM PE. Separate thought — to the extent that you can take on some industry coverage (not sure if you guys put out quarterly updates, etc.) and fill some resume white space there, that can help too.
We are technically a generalist shop but have carved out a niche in a certain sub vertical of industrials. My background is in a different industry so I hope I’m not too pigeonholed. It’s me and one other analyst who’s been there for about 8 months longer than I have who’s staffed on 2-3 deals and he’s pretty in the weeds.
Currently networking with some folks in some of the UMM IB platforms. Would like to get to a bigger platform before thinking about moving to buyside or maybe just stay in IB long term.
Okay, my shop is similar in that regard. Technically generalist but a few “bread and butter” subverts. I’d worry less about being pigeonholed if this is a one-year stop. My first stop was a pure play industry boutique and I lateraled out pretty easily (because that shop was even leaner so I was modeling / running analyses three weeks in…).
Ask that analyst what you can take off his plate. It may be above his/her paygrade, but if he’s on 3 and you have a ton of capacity, they may just rotate you onto a deal and let him/her breathe. Just lock in on getting the reps and worry less about overindexing one particular subvert.
Just wait one year and move
The competition goes down massively in IB after a couple years. Especially in reputable banks every analyst burns out and leaves
Do I have to have a deal closed? Don’t think that’ll happen even if I’m there for a year. Ideally should be staffed on 2 deals but might be 1 in a year. Pipeline is pretty stale rn.
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