I graduated in 2009 from a top-10 school and wasted about a year in consulting before I realized I wanted to transition back into finance. I was fortunate enough to find a great position despite the awful market and am starting in a couple of weeks in the principal investments/merchant banking arm of a solid investment bank. Basically the work is very similar to private equity in that we are closing transactions and working with portfolio companies. So long story short- the firm was mainly looking to hire experienced analysts with prior investment banking experience, but I somehow fudged my way through the interviews (and there weren't many technical questions at all) since my resume is still impressive (3.9+GPA, hedge fund internship, S&T at GS, 1 year consulting).
Now my dilemma is that while I know basic valuations I am still fairly bad at advanced valuation concepts. I am being dinged a year (starting with the class of 2010) which I don't mind, but I am worried what the expectations are. They sent me a model of one of the portfolio companies and basically because they've owned it for a couple of years it is highly detailed (i'm talking about 50+ tabs modeling each segment of operations), and I'm supposed to go over it so I can hit the ground running.
Given that I will be starting soon and will not have this training, how should I approach the job? I consider myself above-average intelligence so I think I can pick things up rather quickly, but I'm not capable of stepping in and building a complex lbo model with 10 debt tranches. Has anyone else been thrown in a similar situation, and what's the learning curve like?
Thanks.
As a prospective monkey, my advice is from what others have said in the past - you could try a modelling package as offered by WSO or Breaking Into Wall Street program.
I don't know about these specific programs, but none of the self-study programs would teach you how to build highly complex LBO models with 10 tranches of debt unfortunately... Just something you need to learn on the fly, don't be afraid to ask questions. Better to ask and get it right the first time than try it on your own, do it wrong, and have to do it all over again...
It sounds like they've already completed this model and they are just sending it to you for your reference (to study and get a better understanding of how a very detailed LBO model works). I second the 1st post in signing up for BIWS - OR - consider looking up some of the free LBO models available online. Here's a good post on this:
//www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/full-blown-lbo-and-operating-model
Though both these options serve only as good reference tools with maybe simpler/cleaner examples of how debt tranches come to play in a model.
Kudos on the sweet job. I'm curious though - how did you find out about this job? Via reference, recruiter or just found it on the IB's career listings? Can't help but be a bit envious - especially since you are coming from a FT consulting background (despite the S&T and HF internships). I've got a somewhat similar story, though I would say I have even more relevant exp (re: financial modeling) but still losing out to the more traditional IBers...
Thanks for the tips. I've actually already subscribed to BIWS. I've completed the fundamental valuations portion which was fairly basic but have yet to do the advanced one. Honestly time is my biggest constraint as the advanced one is like 30 hours or something and I just don't have the time to watch everything. Also I highly doubt I'll have the time to complete it during work. The annoying thing is I'm registered for the CFA in December so it's been hard trying to study for that while balancing time for valuation review.
So should I just go to work the first day and manage expectations? I know they are going to think I'm an idiot when I start so hopefully the learning curve isn't too steep, though since I hear that ibd learning curve is steep and p/e is more steep, I'd imagine a merchant banking learning curve is fairly ridiculous
In terms of how I found the job, I actually came from econ consulting which is not very respected at all. I looked for about a month and a half through various headhunters, doostang, efinancialcareers, and my campus career center. I actually got a good number of interviews with some legit boutiques (centerview partners, union square advisors) and some really decent l/s equity funds, and am just happy something panned out. I wish i had more of a network but unfortunately i didn't really ask friends for leads and ended up doing everything on my own. If you have questions about the lateral job search feel free to pm me...
Corporis commodi earum quos quaerat fuga. Est voluptas maiores omnis. Impedit fugiat quis labore facere ut consequuntur sapiente. Rerum debitis minima nihil reprehenderit. Sed explicabo veniam nostrum consequatur ad enim.
Qui nesciunt ut eum ipsa voluptatem dignissimos sunt. Nostrum sequi fuga repellat optio error rerum mollitia qui. Est rem doloremque quasi occaecati.
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...