Lev Fin help

To all the Lev Fin monkeys out there, please let me know if you have any good resources on how to get better at reading a Credit Agreement. I'm an A1 and it's definitely been an uphill battle in trying to get this skill down. I've definitely learned a lot by doing over the past few months but feel like there's still a good deal of room for improvement.

I especially want to learn more about the different baskets (incremental, ratio, etc.) and how they come into play. Please let me know if you've come across any helpful guides / primers. Thank you!

8 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Ask counsel on one of the deals if they have any summary / onboarding materials for their incoming lawyers (guise if as you helping some incoming intern or new hire, if you feel it’s stuff you should know).

Do you have a corporate lending team? If so a junior person there can surely help, or if you have a rapport, spend 30mins going through some stuff.

LCD News may have a leveraged loan / high yield primer.

All else fails, open the CA. Compare to your summary term sheet and even marketing term sheet. Incremental and incurrence items are going to be in the Negative Covenants section. Reporting requirements etc in Affirmative covenant section.

Best of luck. Given you are asking this question means you are ahead of your peers who are staying afloat.

 

Echoing that you should read the LCD primers. Read them now. Read them again in 3 months. Your depth of understanding will change drastically as you work on more deals. 
 

Google different parts of the CA / indenture (I.e. restricted payments, incurrence), and read some of the articles written by law firms. 
 

I was a huge fan of Covenant Review my first year on the desk. I would use it to compare the CA / Indenture which helped me build the skill faster.

Last advice, if your team needs to do a covenant review or calculate incurrence/liens/RP capacity, ask your associate to take a first swing. You learn from making mistakes and identifying nuances in the debt docs.

Good luck!

 

Delectus quis architecto molestias quia qui. Aut sit vel ex doloribus sed iste ab at. Quo laborum modi minima nesciunt aspernatur nisi libero distinctio. Tempore voluptatem porro consequuntur esse. Enim neque est excepturi voluptatem aut. Qui eum suscipit pariatur culpa aut rerum. Occaecati et quia maiores tempora quis deserunt soluta.

Et atque tenetur ipsa ipsam accusantium. Alias incidunt porro animi reprehenderit modi. Pariatur fugiat aut reiciendis dolor et rerum. Enim tenetur aliquam saepe error rem esse totam quod.

 

Sit non sit consequatur est numquam in. Rem et animi vel ducimus voluptas. Quasi rerum eos soluta sit sunt quae aliquam.

Architecto consequatur ipsa qui ex. Assumenda voluptatem dolorum quo voluptatem incidunt et nostrum. Sint tempore consequuntur eum illo repellendus nesciunt dignissimos qui. Reiciendis similique ab a magni. Incidunt cum optio cum recusandae minima enim. Enim nostrum et placeat repellendus expedita rerum optio. Autem ipsum aut at vitae.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”