Specific IB Consumer Retail Question
Hi all!
(and to the bankers who are still working away). I know more often than not industries for interns/early analysts are assigned to them instead of by preference, however as a female aspiring investment banker obsessed with makeup and skincare (I promise my makeup is super natural no cakey stuff!) I was wondering if there were legitimate teams dedicated to these industries. I know consumer retail is the general one, but is there a cosmetic sector? I just think given I love finance and studying beauty companies I would be a great fit (in a perfect world if that was even feasible). And if you know what are the hours like in consumer retail? A girl I know at Goldman told me 70-80 for consumer retail but curious what others have to say.
Thank you and don’t work too hard! These are stressful times
BB analyst in CRG here. Consumer Retail covers everything from cosmetics to groceries to auto services. As an analyst, you may get some exposure to your area of interest but it’s unlikely you’ll have the opportunity to specialize in a sector. As you become more senior, I assume you can start covering a specific universe of clients and start focusing on a niche but unlikely at the junior level. Hours are around 70-90, in-line with other coverage groups at the Bank.
Okay thank you for your insight! Sadly it’s not as easy as I liked lol but it seems semi-doable. When recruiting (if you don’t mind me asking) how can I convey I have an interest in a particular industry and that I firmly believe I can do well in? Is that a thing or should I stick to the cookie cutter answer...I just hate being boring haha
How much do you run a week?
Also mostly likely if you join a industry coverage group, and work on a variety of deals in the consumer retail sector. This means you will have opportunities to do cosmetics deals only if the there are MD's that are specialized in cosmetics. As an analyst your choice of deals will be limited, but as you climb the ladder you will have more say in what deals you work on. Hours for a coverage group are standard wallstreet hours.
I ran the Chicago Marathon and hopefully will run the Boston in 2021 if COVID doesn’t cancel it! So 15-40 miles a week (big range I know).
okay, so sadly I can’t immediately specialize in the sector but I could hopefully go into consumer retail and there could be an MD with the specialization. I saw Goldman’s recent highlight on the MD Janki Gandhi about her work in the M&A in the beauty industry and was super interested in that.
As far as recruitment goes when answering “why IB”, do you believe there is a way to implement in my answer that I have a passion for consumer retail/cosmetics and why I think I’d be a strong candidate for that industry? I know kind of confusing question but I guess I don’t like just giving a bland answer relating to ib.
For the "why IB", you really do have to keep it finance specific. If you just have a passion for cosmetics, just go work at a cosmetics company. I interviewed an intern that was big on fashion, she was terrible at IB because she hated the work. You could tell the every day was a grind for her and she was just in it for a paycheck. She didn't get a return offer. So, I think you need to ask yourself if finance is the right move and the reason you picked fiance should be how you answer the "why IB".
Check out Financo. Advised Drybar on its acqusition in 2019, Shiseido on a few occasions, Kate Somerville, etc.
Oh wow that really does cater to what I like. What is the process of getting into a bank like Financo? I’ve kinda only learned the BB way meaning I know a lot more people at the BBs.
thank you so much for this insight though
HW brought in a health and beauty MD for their consumer group.
I'm an analyst in a consumer/retail group at a BB. We have a couple MDs that focus on the beauty sector and we do a lot of makeup/skincare deals. Also not sure if it's the case at other banks but our staffer asks for our preferences and tries to give us projects accordingly, so there is a girl in the group who has worked on almost exclusively beauty deals since she started because that's what she's interested in.
Ugh I’m so jealous of her! I’m a sophomore in college and have kind of flirted with the idea IB for a long time but was turned off from the hours. After a lot of research and talking with interns I realized I’m strongly drawn to finance (business/accounting major) but do have a passion for, well, the feminine industry because IB is male dominated and cosmetics are targeted for women. It sounds like it’s more related to luck in this instance though. Thank you for your insight!
As other posters have already indicated, it may be tough for you to gain exposure to cosmetics/skincare as a new analyst because there simply isnt that much deal flow and not every bank will have an active coverage. My personal opinion would be for you to join the best BB (or EB) consumer/retail group you can out of the gate to provide you with (i) great training and "generalist" consumer/retail deal experience and (ii) branding to allow you to exit/lateral to a more niche, skincare/beauty advisory or investing role down the line.
A lot of the cosmetic/beauty companies and deals are too small for BBs (or even the use of a financial advisor for that matter), or the deals tend to me minority stake investments. Financo is active for sure, and im sure there are some other smaller boutiques who cover the digitially native brands
A few relevant M&A deals off the top of my head:
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