Questions to ask when interviewing at a boutique firm?

I have an interview with a boutique firm in its investment management group coming up. I was wondering what types of questions I should ask to properly vet the firm and group. It's kind of a sketchy situation as the firm is primarily a New York firm but the position is in the newly created Chicago office and the person I'd be working under only joined the firm in May. Fortunately I was able to vet that person and from what I hear she has a good reputation.

The group is described as follows:

On an exclusive basis, will provide buy-sell advisory investment advice to investors who require highly specialised due diligence, valuation, structuring and complex negotiation services in order to facilitate transactions in the United States.

Is it kosher to ask about who the company's clients are? What kind of fees and fee structure it charges? The group itself is very new so I don't think that there will necessarily be metrics in terms of # deals, deal size, etc. that they will be able to quote.

What other questions should I ask to make sure I don't end up somewhere shitty?

4 Comments
 
prnz Is it kosher to ask about who the company's clients are? What kind of fees and fee structure it charges? The group itself is very new so I don't think that there will necessarily be metrics in terms of # deals, deal size, etc. that they will be able to quote.

Def kosher to ask about the kinds of clients that they service. And while the office may be new the person running it will certainly have deal experience to share and can also talk about the business they are hoping to build.

 

Not sure if this is obvious, but try to get an understanding of what your responsibilities will be, in very concrete terms. Who will you be working with, what kind of activities will you do (and what proportion of the time are you doing each), and what skills will you learn?

 

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