Hi everyone - as I'm preparing to go through MBA internship recruitment for PE firms, I'm trying to get smart in the space (specifically in tech and consumer verticals). I have a general sense of what news sources to keep up to date with (WSJ/NYT/Bloomberg) and read a few newsletters to keep tabs on what's going on in the market (Axios, Morning Brew), but I'm struggling to find more vertical-specific news sources.
Have you found any good industry primers online? I'd really like to understand trends / major themes in tech / healthcare verticals and am struggling a bit with where to look. Also, any news sources that you think tailor to those verticals are much appreciated. Thanks!
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This is an excellent question to ask in interviews or networking conversations. Apart from getting an answer, it's a perfect non-hardo way of conveying sincere interest.
I fully acknowledge that you're asking in the context of preparing for an interview and my response is to ask during an interview, but this was a great prompt to make the point to anyone reading.
I interviewed at a handful of sector focused firms out of MBA school and got no/very few industry specific questions. I got a lot of “why do you want to do healthcare/tech/consumer etc.” questions but never anything technical about an industry. YMMV obviously but that was my experience
I'm also prepping for PE interviews and have found that Pitchbook has a number of industry-specific research articles. At the very least, they often post quarterly reviews of private markets and break certain trends out by industry. For tech specifically, TechCrunch.com has good industry and deal info. Hope this helps
I can jump in with a few initial thoughts:
1. General Preparation: Look for in depth reports published for free by the major consulting players (e.g., McKinsey, Deloitte, they both publish a lot). This should give you an overview of the key industry growth drivers and hurdles.
2. PE Fund specific: Figure out what their niche is. Take HC for example. Do they actually acquire physician groups (i.e., groups of Drs.) or are they medtech focused? Once you figure out their primary good or service, its a good idea to look deeper into that area.
3. Biggest healthcare trend: Assuming you are looking at HC as a whole and not medtech, understand managed care vs. fee for service (FFS). FFS is dying out as patients and companies alike realize managed care yields far greater health improvements and patient monitoring.
4. Specific M&A drivers: Once you understand the space the fund plays in, assess what the general market drivers are. Are multiples up or down? What is driving that? What are the headwinds and tailwinds? Are deals slowing as everyone braces for the '23 anticipation?
There is an insane amount of free information available, hopefully this should be enough to get you started. You wont be expected to be an expert in a space you have never played in at the Associate level, but showing an understanding of the key drivers should go a long way. Best of luck!
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