Is my boss being unreasonable?

Hi Everyone,

I just joined an Investment Bank this month and i am new to the sector. My boss just asked me to build an LBO model for an urgent client pitch 2 days ago. This was my first week, and i have never built a model before particularly for a real client situation (I built basic models in my university finance classes). He provided me with a model to work through but it is so badly built and it is hard to understand the theory behind it. Whats worse it is for a totally different sector. My boss is aware i have no experience at all. I have raised this to him several times and he just gave a 10 minute run through each time. 

I went on to collect all the data and have tried really hard to understand how it works. Today i raised it to him again. I said have never done this before, i am lost and most importantly, do not feel comfortable building something alone, for the first time that will immediately be used for a client pitch! I asked him to do it with me live for the first time.

His response was that he is really disappointed and that its really not good the model has not been completed. Furthermore, he has again not offered to go through the model with me step by step (just in the begining). I feel totally overwhelmed and am having panic attacks. It is so hard to get a job these days, and i just feel this is incredibly unfair. I have not been trained AND i havent been able to prove myself yet.

Is my boss being unreasonable or am i expecting too much? Is this the normal experience when you join an investment bank?

This is having a big impact on me and my wellbeing, i cant sleep and wake up in a panic. 

I really appreciate any thoughts on this and honesty. If this is normal i do not think this is for me.

Thank you so much!

A.M

 

I'm assuming you're at a boutique bank.

Are there other analysts / associates at your bank that can help walk you through step by step. That's understandable for a first go around. You aren't in the wrong.

However, you need to realize that at any bank, an MD is not going to walk someone through a model step by step. In the beginning or the end. That needs to be the job of the VP and under. Do you not have one on this deal team? If not this deal team you need to go to another junior (VP and under) to ask for a quick step by step run down.

 Take notes during the run down. Do not ask this MD again to walk through the model with you. They usually don't look beyond inputs + outputs. Nothing in between as that's far removed from their role.

 

Thanks so much for your input. Yes i am in a boutique. I did ask the VP and other 2 analysts in our small team (before raising to the MD) and no one has built an LBO model before! which I am also really surprised about.

 

Very strange. Have work from small LMM boutiques up to BB's in coverage.

I've never heard of no one on the junior level having built an LBO before. tough situation you're in. Your MD essentially has hired a bunch of non technical junior staff and is throwing them under the bus.

 

Unreasonable indeed but do not ask MDs for model / deck walkthroughs. It's not their job, they probably can't do this well enough (making analysts understand sth is not their forte), they certainly do not have the patience for it and as stated above this should be done by the Aso/VP. Since this is for a pitch, could be kept simple with an illustrative S&U table, some basic line items from Rev --> FCF etc. , include a debt schedule, deleveraging profile and PF capitalisation/metrics and exit assumptions + IRR. Sensitivity tables too.

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As others have mentioned, this seems like a staffing failure. An MD will not walk through a model with you and they certainly won't make one for you, but you shouldn't be on a pitch with just an MD. 

What should have happened was you should have been staffed on this with an Associate or Second Year Analyst who would "drive" the model. In normal times, you literally would have been sitting behind them in their cube while they banged it out and answered questions. It benefits nobody to have you flounder at a task you don't know how to accomplish with no support.

If you have a staffer, you should raise this. To answer the question, though, the MD is not being unreasonable. They probably can't tell the difference between you and any other Analyst in the group and for you to go to them telling them you don't know how to do your job is a bad look. That's not to say you're at fault. Sounds like your group is short-staffed and staffing stupidly. 

 

I'm definitely the kind of person who believes in getting things done no matter what generally, but even I believe this was a very difficult situation. 

You did the right thing by asking others for assistance, but as said before, the MD who assigned you to build the LBO model will definitely not be providing you a serious walkthrough of the LBO. He's not the guy to ask for help. I'm admittedly a bit stunned that nobody could help you and that you were forced to build the entire thing by yourself. Normally another Analyst would have really assisted you but COVID times suck for things like this. I myself think that the learning aspect of IB has been significantly hampered due to COVID, as I found difficulty learning during my SA stint.

But for future, make sure you get your task done when the MD wants to get it done. Don't turn in incomplete work, even if you are nervous about potential imperfections. I would highly advice you are transparent about why you put something together the way you do, and describe areas of potential difficulty if there were any. Also, no matter what, make sure all of your work looks neat, orderly, and presentable. Do everything you can possibly think of to get to the right answer in the LBO, but if you are uncertain, be sure to voice your concerns. 

TL;DR: Always get your work done on time. Do everything you can to make it right. If you really are uncertain about something, explain exactly how you get to what you did and the process of putting it together. Honestly and hard work often go farther than you might think. But it will never suffice when it comes to incomplete work. 

 

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