Lifestyle/hours at Credit Suisse Financial Sponsors

Does anyone know what the lifestyle/hours are at Credit Suisse Financial Sponsors and other BB financial sponsors groups in general?

34 Comments
 

into top-tier PE shops if that's what you're looking for. Obviously, M&A work is quite different from sponsors coverage. I'd take CS sponsors over names listed above. However, if you can get MS M&A, GS, other top groups, that would be worth taking over CS sponsors.

 

into top-tier PE shops if that's what you're looking for. Obviously, M&A work is quite different from sponsors coverage. I'd take CS sponsors over names listed above. However, if you can get MS M&A, GS, other top groups, that would be worth taking over CS sponsors.

 

lol Citi M&A and Lehman coverage groups are better going into than CS Sponsors... hands down

scottwibell... "into top-tier PE shops"... if you go to carlyle, providence, Silver Lake, first reserve, and whatever pe firms there are out there that list their associates... please let me know just how many CS sponsors people you find on there. i dont think you'll see very many

they are probably the strongest sponsors group on the street, but sponsors also happens to be the weakest group in general in this market

 

kingbling -

why don't YOU go to those specific PE firms' websites, and see how many CS sponsors people there are? I am certain you'll prove yourself WRONG. Citi's M&A team might be strong, but (no offense to Lehman bankers here) Lehman does NOT place into PE nearly as consistently as any other bulge bracket bank - you can do the research yourself. Considering that CS gets a piece of every single financing out there (and was simply running the financing for sponsors that didn't win bids for transactions where they were not involved), the sponsors look to that team for strong talent. For some background - I interviewed and met several people from the CS Sponsors team - they all have solid buy-side jobs lined up.

Also - Sponsors is FAR from the weakest group in general in this market. Sponsors teams have tons of exits and strategic moves in the pipeline - the credit markets are NOT the only source of potential revenue for the group. If any group is the weakest currently, it would likely be real estate, or some pockets of leveraged finance.

If you want PE, CS Sponsors is an excellent choice, even in this market.

Seriously - go to every single sponsor you can think of off the top of your head - BX, Carlyle, KKR, Warburg, Providence, TPG, Permira, Apollo, MDP - CS Sponsors places - check the associates on their websites.

Note - I don't even work at CS - but I've seen the process. CS is a solid bank.

 

Interesting thread. Don't know much about CS but it seems like a lot of the layoffs at the VP/Associate levels in my bank came mostly from Sponsors and the TMT-type groups. The exit options for the Sponsors analysts were great (class of '06) so they didn't care too much, but towards the end of their second year, they were pretty much working 4 or 5 hours a day due to the lack of business. The first years who I know in that group aren't doing much and definitely aren't interviewing with many PE shops let alone the megafunds.

 

werdwerd.... just look at the associates on those PE firms you named... there arent that many CS sponsors people on that list.. having a few people going to good buyside shops doesnt mean that the group will put you into top tier PE

your right about Citi and lehman but your blowing CS Sponsors out of proportion.

 

Group selection is based on candiates meetings with various groups on a "sell day". At the end of the meetings, candidates state their group preferences and groups state their candidate preferencs and then CS tries to match candidates with groups.

 

This has been said elsewhere on this site, but GS Sponsors doesn't get the most action since many of the top PEs are actually competing with GS's internal PE group (forget what it's called) for deals, and therefore do not want to pay fees to a competitor holding company and just on the principle of it.

 
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