No promotion bc of bad deal flow

I've been at my current bank for around a year as an analyst and was hoping to get promoted to senior analyst. During my performance review, my boss said I received a good feedback but won't get promoted bc I wasn't on any deals (our team didn't had any) and I didn't have a chance to prove myself. 

I was told that if there is a better deal flow and I participate in something, there is a chance I get promoted next year. 

I don't like the fact that my promotion is based on things I have no control over, would you jump ships?

18 Comments
 

I should also add that I did couple internships before that and worked at another bank as an analyst for a year. 

Other people also didn't get promoted except for one guy who already got fast tracked before and apparently was told he might be up for a VP next year (3 years of experience total). It feels like everyone is trying their best but only one person gets noticed.

 

Forget promotion, I'd jump ships if I wasn't doing deals full stop.

It's already harmed your CV. Don't add another year of no flow, otherwise you'll struggle to lateral in this swamped market.

Sponsors M&A (London)
 

Everyone in my team got punished except for one person, did it ever happen to anyone? What would be the reason for only rewarding one person, seems like a huge mistake on MD's side - builds resentment. 

Worse thing is, I wasn't expecting a salary increase, just title

 

Yep, we're constantly doing teasers, have 3 to do this week. Do you reckon solid experience with teasers and fundraising on a deal that's not closed yet + 1 closed deal from previous job are enough?

 

Would be careful on what to focus.  Back in the day, we had a basic set of questions when interviewing a 3 year-analyst who prob had 2-3 deals on the resume.  If the analyst "worked" on a deal and didn't know how many contacts there were in the WGL for any deal or the % metrics from teaser sent/NDA signed/IOI/etc etc, then it told me that they didn't do anything meaningful.  That's even before we talked about valuation ranges and final sale price (plus kudos if they worked on sourcing the debt!).

 
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From an interviewer perspective, it's a matter of teasing out what a candidate "owned" vs. what they "contributed" on a deal.  No one should ONLY ask "give me the exact number of records on your last deal's WGL" (although back in my junior days people liked to ask "how many ping pong balls can you fit in a 747?" Equally crazy)

From a candidate perspective, here's a sample scenario: some people prep to death on valuation for a manufacturing / distribution deal they worked on and can talk at length about growth strategy and capital structure but can fumble basic things like "how did your team get the engagement?" or "did you tour the warehouse?"

Bad answer would be "I don't know" or "no"; better answer would be "my MD has been calling on the CEO for 5 years and we caught a break as there's been a consolidation wave in the sector" and "yes, toured the warehouse / line and wore my steel toe Wolverines ..."

For more context, a candidate can also round out the resume bullet points with comments like "I helped prep section X on the pitch / deck but I owned section Y" or "I had to own the buyer / marketing list; when we got the mandate, our team went to # potential buyers and got # IOIs"

If two candidates ace valuation topics but one can also provide context on the overall process (and sound human), which one has a better shot?

Some people on this forum don't need the detail / nuance but I'm trying to give both perspectives for the benefit of the readers.

 

If it’s industry wide you should lateral and consider other coverage groups. I started in one area that got totally fucked up in 2023 but now it’s one area I invest in. Caught the downswing on the buy side and got some good discounts. Don’t self-flagellate in an industry with no growth. I’ll also push back on the deal flow issue - make sure you don’t attach yourself to MDs who can’t pull deals from their network. I’m sure there are banks you can hop to that are doing deals in your space even if there were only a few. If there’s only one deal you gotta win it. Best of luck man 

 

Thanks for the advice, rn I'm super unhappy about this situation and it really helps to get some advice. 

Side note, it's *broette or whatever is the female version of bro hahaha

 

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