Hi all, happy to answer London-specific questions on recruiting. Long-time WSO user, created a new account for this Q&A. I got a lot of help from this forum during my recruiting process and I owe a lot to WSO. Wanted to try and give back by offering some insight into recruiting, exit opps and general life at a BB. Background: Non-target, okay GPA and some very relevant work experience. Hope that helps, feel free to ask anything and I'll try to get back and answer questions whenever I can.
-- Can email Andy/Patrick from work to confirm authenticity.
Thanks for doing this!
1) What's your story -- how did you transition from your university to where you are now? 2) What attracted you to restructuring? 3) How did you learn about the restructuring field on your own? 4) What are your plans for the future -- do you want to stick around in the distressed/restructuring space or move on elsewhere? 5) How does the restructuring scene in London compare to that in NYC?
No problem, happy to help.
1) I did a standard business degree at a very standard school in Europe and graduated again with very standard grades. I started working in PWM during my high school summers and eventually transitioned to IBD during my last summer before joining school. Spent another summer the following year (was FIG M&A) and then landed a gig at a $30bn+ HF during my junior summer, was multi-strategy but worked with the credit team. Graduated school in the middle of several interviews and managed to land an investment analyst role at a $7-8bn debt focused HF in London which invested across the capital structure. Loved the gig and the team but was not ideal for a kid fresh from school, everybody had a lot more experience and didn't really have the time to 'teach me' so I constantly felt like I wasn't up to speed and decided to join a BB to learn at a more reasonable pace. By the time I got brought in for interviews I had 10-12 months experience at a debt HF so I breezed through the interviews, I don't think this would have been the case if I had come in directly out of school however.
2) After having spent 12-15 months looking at special situations in Europe (from loan portfolios Sareb was selling in Spain to the Towergates of the UK) I was full on into the learning curve and I genuinely find the debt space much more interesting than anything else I've worked in before therefore I didn't see a reason to move when there is still so much for me to learn.
3) As I'm sure you know, Moyer's is a must. I also ready Credit Analysis by S&P, Value Creation Through Restructurings and am an active reader of Distressed Debt Investing (whenever they update it....).
4) For now I'd like to stick where I am. I have a really good team and the learning curve is very steep, so the target will be to close as many deals and see as many situations as possible. We work with businesses around the world and analysts are generalists therefore you get a ton of exposure. Where will I be in 18-24 months? I have no idea. Would I like to move back to the buyside eventually? Probably, but for now I would like to stick around.
5) Can't comment on the restructuring scene in NYC, sorry.