Engineer consultant to IB / Project finance / Infra Fund?

Hi WSO,

Looking to slowly branch into a finance role from an engineering consulting background think infrastructure advisory teams of engineering consultancies like AECOM/GHD/WSP/ARUP etc.

I think working in an infra PE fund or somewhere in project finance could be a nice step-up.

What are WSO's thoughts in having to lateral into a big 4 (PWC etc) and work in one of the deals/valuations/MA teams, and noting the big4 do have their own infra advisory teams, where I'd think they're more to do with transactions than technical DD.

Keen to hear your thoughts all. 

 

I worked at one of those firms (hint: the one that pays the least)

Going to be doing IB next summer so it's definitely possible to switch, you just need a good story

Your skillset might be better for project finance though, it's much more technical and your prior experiences would be more applicable than in IB

 

Awesome, which teams were you in, from those engineering consultancies? Were you a design consultant or in an advisory role?

And does that mean you went back to study a masters and then went back to IB as a summer intern? What was your process like?

 

I was in a design role and yeah I went back for a MFin and am coming back as a summer intern. 

It's the same process as for a typical summer intern recruiting in his/her 2nd year of undergrad. It worked for me because I never did full-time, just internships. If you're full-time you might have to do an MBA to switch, or at least have something on your resume that shows you have finance knowledge. 

 

like the other guy said, look at Macquarie. They hire tons of engineers and do some project developer/finance work in addition to traditional M&A. 

 

Gotcha. I believe it is hard to just simply go into PF / AM, and would most likely want transaction experience, and then that'd at least get you a foot in the door. Would you say that's correct?

 

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