On the Excel side, which has been most helpful for you? Currently evaluating Shortcut and Tracelight, any others worth thinking about?
On the data room / deal life end-to-end management, what has seemed most beneficial? I've heard about F2 and Hebbia.
Any others worth thinking about beyond GPT & Claude?
Trending Content - Investment Banking Forum
| +355 | Evercore Intern Seizure | 54 | 7h |
| +67 | JPM M&A is Gone??? Purely Coverage Banking??? | 31 | 6h |
| +58 | Is DCM actually underrated ? | 24 | 17h |
| +50 | How do I understand vs. just memorizing? | 5 | 16h |
| +48 | Losing my personality in Banking | 9 | 17h |
| +47 | Are all Tech / TMT groups sweaty? | 38 | 13h |
| +42 | Associate & Above IB exits | 16 | 3d |
| +32 | Incoming IB Analyst: Best Ways to Prepare? | 10 | 9h |
| +27 | Which groups are ideal for laterals? | 12 | 11h |
| +24 | The good and bad with Wells Fargo | 1 | 17h |
Career Resources
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here are some insights:
Excel Tools:
Excel Toolboxes: Custom-designed toolboxes can be incredibly helpful for day-to-day tasks. Examples include:
Excel Resources: WSO offers resources like Excel shortcuts, self-study guides, and advanced formulas, which can enhance productivity.
Deal Life Cycle / Data Room Management:
AI Tools:
Additional Suggestions:
If you're looking for more tailored recommendations, consider tools that integrate seamlessly with your existing workflows and offer customization for finance-specific needs.
Sources: What kind of tools / apps do you wish existed in the industry?, Tricks of the Trade, The Data Room Your Deals Deserve, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/hedge-fund/machine-learning-taking-over-hf-research-analyst-roles-in-near-future?customgpt=1
bump
worth separating these into two different problems because the tools that are good at one tend to be mediocre at the other.
for the excel/modeling side, honestly most of the dedicated ai-for-excel tools are still pretty early. i've seen teams get more mileage out of just using claude or gpt directly to write complex formulas, debug circular references, or build out sensitivity tables from scratch. the dedicated plugins are mostly just wrappers around the same underlying models with a convenience layer. if you're evaluating shortcut and tracelight, pressure test them on something specific to your workflow, like EBITDA bridge adjustments or building a quick lbo from a CIM's financials, and see if the output actually saves time vs just prompting claude in a side window.
on the data room side, hebbia is genuinely interesting for large doc set extraction. where it gets tricky is the unstructured nature of most VDRs. every bank formats their CIMs differently, financials come in as pdfs with wildly inconsistent table structures, and half the critical stuff is buried in footnotes or appendices. the tool matters less than how well it handles YOUR specific data mess.
one thing i'd add to your eval criteria: don't just test on clean sample docs. throw the ugliest, most poorly formatted data room you've dealt with at each tool and see what breaks. that's where real differentiation shows up.
Good point on testing claude side by side with the excel tools, I'll give that a shot. Thanks for your thoughts
Thoughts on tools for the process management side such as managing stakeholders, progress reporting etc?
Process management is a coordination problem and AI becomes less relevant. firms I've seen do this somewhat well use something simple like monday or asana with lightweight automation on top. Auto-pulling status from email threads, flagging stale workstreams, generating a weekly rollup partners can skim in two minutes. Nothing groundbreaking. If I were evaluating tools for this, I'd focus on how easily it integrates with whatever your team already uses, and how consistent it is when input gets more varied (need to stress test - not a demo).
Itaque distinctio aut doloremque odio esse ad omnis minus. Minima delectus rerum aut beatae eos sequi assumenda. Quia magni ut ut. Accusamus sunt quia praesentium rerum. Soluta natus dolore consequatur sint rerum.
Vel sed eos magnam nesciunt. Repudiandae rem eum et aut quia. Ad accusamus velit voluptatibus ipsam quibusdam dolorum ut vero. Sed dolorem recusandae voluptatem. Et aspernatur esse ut dolor aut commodi.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...