Would going into Lev Fin at BofA limit my exit opps to credit/distressed debt? Would classic buyout private equity still be attainable? What about hedge funds or corp dev (if I choose to go down that route)?
I know they are one of the strongest LF groups on the street and analysts do the modeling but want to make sure I don't get siloed into anything.
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LevFin @ BofA is top of the line. You will get great modeling experience and your exits will be fantastic, buyout, distressed, HF. Don't worry
Friend of mine went from LevFin at a top BB to MF PE
Current second year at JPM LevFin, here's my perspective:
It's an incredible group that will open up all of the opportunities you stated above. A credit background is highly desirable at each of those shops, and at BAML LevFin you'll get the skills and product knowledge needed to succeed. At JPM we send a lot of kids to the type of funds above (most recently Oaktree, GSO, Arsenal, EQT, and KKR come to mind) and BAML will do exactly the same. I don't believe BAML has a dedicated Restructuring group, so if you're goal is distress you can always try to work with your staffer to get on some distress deals as they come through. Not sure what the future holds with these COVID shutdowns, but distress will always be a thing and BAML will always compete for those types of financings. If traditional buyout is your jam you'll obviously have an enormous amount of work to do there as well.
Just my thoughts, but happy to answer any other questions if you have.
Hi, sorry to hijack OP's post – I've been trying to reach out to people on your team for a chat; especially since the JPM email system stopped accepting external emails, it's been tough to get people on the phone.
I would appreciate it if we could PM, had a few questions about your team/work in LevFin.
Sure! If you can reply to this without being anonymous and I will PM you.
Hey OP here. Thanks so much for your helpful insights. I just have a couple of follow up questions:
Could you speak to the actual day to day of analyst in LevFin and what skills I'd leave with after two years?
Are there any books you'd recommend me to check out in order to learn more about LevFin?
If my primary goal is buyout PE will I be better served in the M&A group? Or perhaps an industry coverage group?
Thanks again. I really appreciate it!
You're looking for materials that don't exist. For quick insight - skim thru some of my old comments - I spend a lot of time on them and gotten good feedback - I get a lot of DMs of ppl saying they read my comments thread
Lifeandlevfin is a fantastic resource, too
Do you mind PMing me? I tried to but it’s not letting me. I’d love to ask you a few questions about Levfin if that’s okay
Sorry to Hijack this as well 2 years later. I actually did my JPM group preferences form for 24FT analyst and wanted to hop on a call with LevFin banker as well. If you are free I would love to have a 15min chat with you.
Thanks in advance!
JPm levfin is not good, no modeling skills. Would recommend another group.
Former BofA LevFin.
The great thing about the group is that you have Breadth. Unlike industry groups or traditional M&A, you actually have the option of pursuing roles outside of HF, PE, and Corp Dev. Many who go into LevFin or do their 1-2 years, realize they really like Debt and are enticed by the great options of Private Credit or Credit Investing/HF. Many realize they may want to do things outside of debt and having a BofA LevFin background is especially helpful and provides a different perspective, if you want to go to PE or even Corp Dev. Equity Hedge Funds are something very uncommon from the group, since its pretty much on the opposite spectrum, but I have also not known anyone in the group who actually wanted to go do that. You can easily go to the cream of the crop Debt Funds if you want to/are good. A lot go to PE as well, MF to MM. Have seen several go to Startups and very few to large Corp Dev roles at F500 (not something many really want to do). I know its really hard to understand what you'd actually be doing on the job, how recruiting works, and even what you will even want to do post-banking, since you are just an intern.
If anything, LevFin will do the opposite of Siloing you.
Can you talk a bit about that LevFin to Corp Dev transition? I didn't think that was a thing.
SA2024 at BofA, really appreciate the insight. Could you share how you thought about/navigated group placement or any other advice you might have? Would also be happy to PM. I’m interested in/enjoy modeling, which I’ve also heard is done mostly by the product groups. Also would like to know more about the levfin group in general and exits
Doesn't BAML sponsors run the model? That was my understanding.
The concept of "running the model" has to be one of the oddest concepts to emerge on this website probably due to the fact that it's an entirely false construct to begin with. Every group "models" to some extent. On certain deals, FSG might "run the model" (also I don't even fully understand what running the model entails but oh well I'll go with it). Others, IBK does. Then others, LevFin does. FSG teams tend to have lighter workloads and thus probably are more likely to take on the burden of the work when they are actually staffed, but the vast majority of the other groups (ranging from IBK to LevFin) are working on numerous other deals/projects/screens that FSG isn't even a part of. And yes those deals require those teams to "run the model."
Same 2nd year at JPM LevFin from above and I agree with it being an odd concept that in my opinion is way over exaggerated on this website. In my experience it's as simple as if you want to model you will model. WSO has this wild thought that if your group isn't historically modeling intensive you can kiss your Blackstone Infrastructure offer goodbye, but this just isn't the case. As a first year I took initiative and asked my seniors if I can run the model on various deals and never had any pushback whatsoever. Obviously I've relied on coverage partners for their input, but they also have never said no to us holding pen (often times it's been appreciated). It's not this insane art that takes a decade to master, but if you take the time to learn for a few weeks you'd be surprised what you can do.
At my BB, product groups run the model for most deals and coverage groups drop in assumptions (except 1 or 2 groups for whatever reason)
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