Preparing for an ER associate role

Hi everyone,

I'll be starting as an ER associate next month covering medical technology/devices. Do you have any advice on how to pick up coverage? I've been reading as many of the analyst's reports as I can, but I'm not quite sure if I should try to know a little about all the names (~20) or a good amount about a handful.

Also, does anyone have any primers they can send over? All advice is welcome! Thanks!

 

Just continue to familiarize yourself with the companies under his/her coverage. Try to read the last quarter's transcript and earnings releases.

The names that the analyst actually has a call on (Buy/Sell) are far more important than the market perform/neutrals. Concentrate on those names because they will represent 75% of the work you do.

Good luck

 

If you have no finance experience I would also purchase a modeling course e.g. WSP before you start. As you say they will want you to hit the ground running and you would impress if in your project you can turn in a solid model - a lot of sell side models are very poor and this is something you can do in advance that will stand you in good stead. I have seen WSP and I definitely think if you have no modeling experience it is worth the money. Presumably your internship will only last 2 months or so and you wont want to waste any of that time catching up on modeling. It will allow you to benefit as much as possible from the experience if the modeling box is ticked in advance.

Agreed with HFer post above - whatever you do stay humble and do not pretend you know more than them - in saying that make sure the work you present is as good as possible and it will not go unnoticed... Be confident, but not arrogant.

I would also make the point to take every opportunity to get coffee/ drinks with as many people as possible and show you are a social person who they would actually want to work alongside... this is very important.... every year when we have interns, the ones who say nothing and keep to themselves will be overlooked... that is not to say you should be brash, just take every opportunity to socialise and get to know as many people as possible informally. This does make a big difference when the internship period is over and people meet to discuss who they liked. Remember of course that this is also a part of the job itself - research is a sales job, so not only will this mean the people assessing you are more likely to rate you if they like you as a person, but to be honest if you cannot socialise and interact with people sell side equity research is not for you.

In other words, "be remembered"... this is very important. The ability to do a good job is clearly very important, but to the point where it is essential. Because so many people can produce good work. What you need to do on top of that is to be remembered and give people a reason to vouch for you when the time comes to choose who is coming back and who isn't.

Good luck anyhow.

 
saracen:

If you have no finance experience I would also purchase a modeling course e.g. WSP before you start. As you say they will want you to hit the ground running and you would impress if in your project you can turn in a solid model - a lot of sell side models are very poor and this is something you can do in advance that will stand you in good stead. I have seen WSP and I definitely think if you have no modeling experience it is worth the money. Presumably your internship will only last 2 months or so and you wont want to waste any of that time catching up on modeling. It will allow you to benefit as much as possible from the experience if the modeling box is ticked in advance.

Agreed with HFer post above - whatever you do stay humble and do not pretend you know more than them - in saying that make sure the work you present is as good as possible and it will not go unnoticed... Be confident, but not arrogant.

I would also make the point to take every opportunity to get coffee/ drinks with as many people as possible and show you are a social person who they would actually want to work alongside... this is very important.... every year when we have interns, the ones who say nothing and keep to themselves will be overlooked... that is not to say you should be brash, just take every opportunity to socialise and get to know as many people as possible informally. This does make a big difference when the internship period is over and people meet to discuss who they liked. Remember of course that this is also a part of the job itself - research is a sales job, so not only will this mean the people assessing you are more likely to rate you if they like you as a person, but to be honest if you cannot socialise and interact with people sell side equity research is not for you.

In other words, "be remembered"... this is very important. The ability to do a good job is clearly very important, but to the point where it is essential. Because so many people can produce good work. What you need to do on top of that is to be remembered and give people a reason to vouch for you when the time comes to choose who is coming back and who isn't.

Good luck anyhow.

Good advice, but 'a lot of SS models are very poor'? In what regard? The assumptions? Maybe/possibly. The actual structure/detail? Of course not, that's one of the few things where you can actually have value add for the BS as then they don't have to build stuff from scratch (assuming their models go beyond the very basics, which they can do on their own in a heartbeat). Regarding the assumptions - that's for you (as an investor) to adjust/change yourself surely, otherwise you wouldn't need true BS professionals as everyone would just go blindly by what the sell-side analysts say and invest.

 

Starting S&T gig soon and the 3rd and 4th paragraphs in your 1st response were beneficial to read. Definitely looking forward to not only working hard, but building relationships with supervisors.

twitter: @StoicTrader1 instagram: @StoicTrader1
 

Thank you very much for the advice fellas. I'll definitely go in humble but with a keen interest. Good advise on the social aspect. People often talk about ER as an introvert job but that's not the case at all. People seemed friendly when I was in for interviews so this shouldn't be a problem. I did WSP and thought it was great, glad to hear you confirm that it;s worth while.

I'm really pumped to sink my teeth into the job. It was really cool to be able to reach out for advise here on WSO. Thanks again for the responses everyone. I'm sure I will have some more questions for you guys in the coming weeks/months.

 

as someone who uses sell side ER, the biggest thing I hate is poor writing style. the first thing I'm looking for is "what's the point of this report: deliver news, change recommendation (if so, why), reiterate recommendation given recent events, etc." After that, convince me you're right, I place a lot of trust in analysts because I personally don't have time to crunch the numbers or check your work, so all of the data you put at the end of the report better be icing on the cake to your narrative. if I were you, I'd pick a few companies and write up mock research reports. if you're interested in seeing what current BB ones look like and can't find any, ask friends you have already on the street or PM me, I'll share some stuff.

get your point across early and often, then use data to back it up. I have a primers database if you're interested, PM me for it. also, look at your local library for old investments textbooks. my grandfather showed me his from his MBA days pre-Vietnam and it has sector analysis in it. even though it's limited to banks, utilities, railroads, retail, industrials, and more old economy sectors, it will definitely give you some perspective as you read through newer primers.

 

best advice i can give is think attention to detail and formatting.

Really easy to mistype numbers from financial statements into excel. So focus on the totals adding up in the excel spreadsheet to equal whats in the financial statement. Also if there are two different numbers from presentation and financial report, use the presentation because its typically what investors look at.

At the end of the day, keep it simple and you will smash it. Ask lots of questions but when its the right time - ie. ask 5 questions at once rather than one every 10 minutes... head down, ass up.

good luck champ.

 

Glad to hear it. Yes its very important... also just ask if you can sit with people for an hour or so, and when you are doing that if you ask a question write down the answer... it is frustrating if you have an hours conversation with an intern explaining the business etc but you feel like they are not taking in the information. If you write down what they say and take notes, it shows that the information is actually being noted and will not just be forgotten. But again, being able to balance this with being able to chat and have a normal conversation is honestly very important.... don't assume that because you are an intern they won't want to talk to you / have a normal conversation with you... it is very refreshing to have a normal conversation with an intern aside from explaining the job. Doesnt mean the focus should be on that by any means so don't overdo it - it is just an aspect that is surprisingly rare and will make you noticed. But in saying that- as I say, being able to produce top work is a pre-requisite and it still the most important factor. This is advice that, on the caveat that all the other boxes are ticked, is going to make you more likely to receive an offer if you have fulfilled all of the other requirements/ criteria they have.

 

Hey BottomUp I was in a very similar situation 12m aho, got an internship at a top AM firm in London which turned into a full time after my internship. Two advices from me. 1. Pay huge attention to the actual model - what i mean by the actual model is the revenue and margins drivers. On the topline always try to include tge whole industry growth with market shares and if you dont have such info then try to break sales driver to the greatest detail possible f.eg for a coke bottler break it into population growth x consumption, if you can break it down even further in a reaosnable manner such as demographics sttucture and coke cons. for each demographics structure - do it. 2thing - put a lot of effort in understanding competitive landscape. It took me 10 months to understand fully that firms dont exist in vacuum, and price wars, weak competition or power of supplierd is extremely important. This might be a bit higher level analysis for an intern as you will probably spend the first 10 weeks on learning modelling, accountinga bit of pitching, but im sure you will impress your supervisors if you come up with a neat but comprehensive competitive landscape anal. I suggest readibg porters 5 forces and trying to implement it to the stocks that you work on. Take care and good luck.

 

Start with your analyst notes but I would say try to get more macro/industry knowledge before digging into company's notes. The companies you will cover have probably published white books or stuff like that. Ask your analyst to recommend the key notes he published in the past (some pieces don't get old)

 

Congratulations on the role! I started about five months ago too so was in a similar situation. Try to get some industry primers to read through then go through the companies' IR decks and the analyst's notes. It'd probably be helpful to go through some noncoverage companies material too. If you're running short on time, probably best to focus on their Buy rated names first then maybe Sell, then Neutral.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 
Best Response

Autem in sit omnis veniam. Expedita porro praesentium tenetur veniam. Error modi dicta earum architecto ad reiciendis quam eveniet. Et maiores libero voluptatum omnis. Saepe illo nostrum omnis eum laborum dolore.

Nam mollitia eum adipisci inventore minus. Vitae odio dolores est nostrum deserunt. Et neque ut qui. Autem est ut iusto sit. Id ut non omnis aut optio et qui. Ut voluptas dicta maiores cupiditate et quo deleniti mollitia.

Ut mollitia tempora id atque sit. Eius totam deleniti ut quia voluptatum et. Quia quam et veritatis et omnis laborum. Sit id est reiciendis sit reiciendis consequuntur doloribus. Earum incidunt corporis sequi maxime eligendi.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”