Trying to move from banking to UMM PE. The verbal technicals are fine, but the 3-hour case study is a different beast. I’m struggling to build the model and write the memo in time.
It feels like I need to be on autopilot for the Excel part to have any brain space left for the investment thesis. How do you guys practice for speed? Just re-doing the same LBO over and over?
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What helped me most wasn’t redoing full cases end-to-end but drilling components until they were muscle memory: sources/uses, debt schedule, returns bridge, sensitivities. Once those are autopilot, your brain is free for the memo.
Also, practice hard time boxes (e.g., 45 min model → stop no matter what, then outline the memo). Real cases reward 80%-right and coherent over perfect. Repetition matters, but deliberate repetition matters more than just grinding full LBOs.
I hope most funds think like you do since some MF def think missing 1 extra credit will make the candidate seem incompetent in model test lmao
Model tests and case studies are evaluating different things.
The reason case studies are given is to see you think like an investor; model tests are for pure mechnical skills. Am at a large UMM (15bn+ fund size); we have moved on people without perfect case study models but good write-ups and debriefs and have also not moved on people who have very detailed or fully correct models but comparatively weaker write-up or debrief. As long as model is not egregiously bad (i.e. things have to work, BS balances, growth rates make sense, margins make sense, debt schedule works, etc.); you aren't really going to get kicked out for modelling.
Similarly: how about verbal case studies (no model, no CIM)? What is the framework for thinking through a random business live when asked "What do you think about X business in Y industry?"
I’m in the same boat. Honestly, these scare me more than the Excel tests because you can't hide behind formulas. I've been trying to force myself to stick to a simple "Unit Economics" framework so I don't ramble:
I’ve been using WSO and Cook’d for the modeling drills, and weirdly enough, it’s actually helped my verbal cases too. Because I’ve seen how the inputs (like volume vs. price) actually tank a model in the sim, it’s easier to talk about the "risks" intuitively without sounding like a textbook.
But yeah, doing it live is still nerve-wracking lol..
This is far too simple for a PE associate case study. If somebody went in and answered just as is; would get dinged b/c these are far too general. I would approach this in ... acutally thinking through a business and industry dynamics that might be in play. Use the SWOT analysis approach (strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats) for both industry and business (obviously heavily-tied together). Just think aloud using SWOT; you don't have to be saying everything perfectly. It's much better to be thorough than too concise, interviews will almost always point you back to the right direction if getting rambl-y.
The way to prep for this is simply deal reps. The more deal reps and strategic type thinking around businesses you do the better you will do in these type of interviews; which is why we ask these types of questions. It's not a technical whereas we are looking for a right or wrong; rather looking for how poeple think.
I feel like that might work for FT or SA recruiting; but far too quantative base to give your revenue bulids, cost bulids, and risks solely based on direct financial figures. A lot of the business things in sectors like HC for instance are tied to regulation or IP's, which isn't as obvious from a pure financial model perspective. If you miss that; pretty sure that's a huge ding. Everyone knows that revenue for most things is price x volume and broadly what the difference between Opex and COGS is if you have done 5-6 months of banking already.
Hu
Yes you need to sit down and do a 1 tab practice LBO 100 times. Literally should be at a point where only limiting factor is typing speed because you have mechanically memorized every single formula. You should not have to think at all while building and should be anchoring cells, changing default formatting etc to make you go as fast as possible and minimize keystrokes.
If the person is fine at getting through the modelling; it's likely they are fine. The bigger issues that people spend too long trying to make their model complex and perfect. These case studies are testing your ability to think through a business, not the modelling test. If you can do PF Level 3 from scratch in ~90 mins, you are more than prepared from a timing perspective for most UMM/MF PE case studies (some model tests are harder; but case studies are not typically complicated from a pure model perspective).
Ignore title but having received a couple PE offers and got past the case studies, I personally found it way more impactful to focus on the drivers of the business. You need to be generally in the ballpark but I have seen cases where the debt schedule and returns analysis are okay but the rationale explaining unit economics, cost structure, etc really distinguish the case study.
how do you differentiate / go above and beyond in the rationale explainging unit economics, cost structure etc? any examples would be super helfpul - thanks!!
How did you practice getting better at case studies to where you had developed a framework for approaching them?
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