In the spirit of adding some interactivity to this site, please post your comments and suggestions. Also, feel free to post your questions about investment banking and I will try my best to answer them.
-Andrew
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Comments / Suggestions / Questions…In the spirit of adding some interactivity to this site, please post your comments and suggestions. Also, feel free to post your questions about investment banking and I will try my best to answer them. -Andrew 192 comments to Comments / Suggestions / Questions… |
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Hi Andrew,
Thank you so much for all your help. I’ve actually read through your website already and have looked through Wallstreetoasis to prepare for my upcoming final round interview with Houlihan lokey FAS group. I was wondering if there is anything else I need to prepare?
Is there any recent interesting news about them? I looked onto their website but not seem to have much.
Thanks a lot!
Edwin
Edwin,
Houlihan Lokey interviews tend to be pretty technical so I would definitely be prepared for them. As for recent news I don’t know of any off hand. I would do a quick Google News search for them and see what comes up.
Hello Andrew,
Awesome website, I really admire your patience and knowledge. I will have an assessment center for Equity research position in a BB. They said it’ll contain a case study.
Could you figure out what a case study for research guys will be like? Should I sharpen some valuation methods and/or financial ratio analysis?
Thank you and best regards,
Matt, I am not very familiar with interviews for equity research positions so I really can’t give advice with regards to the case study. I would have a basic understanding of valuation (specifically equity multiples like P/E) and financial ratio analysis, as you mentioned. I wouldn’t expect it be as technical as investment banking interviews, but that is just a guess on my part. You may want to search or ask this question on http://www.wallstreetoasis.com or http://www.analystforum.com as you might find more folks that have gone through ER interviews on those sites. Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
Hi Andrew,
wonderful site, first time looking at it in detail and wished i could’ve gone through it sooner
I have a quick question.. What are the main differences in i-banking groups (ex. you mentioned product groups, industry groups etc.) and what differentiates their work from each other? i got superday coming up for a intern position called Client Management Analyst at a BB, and from what i was able to figure out so far it’s a coverage position… how is coverage different from the rest if any main differences at all?
Thanks a million.
Myv,
Generally the work between product and coverage groups is about the same, in that you do analysis, valuation, presentations, etc. However, product groups such as M&A or leveraged finance tend to do more modeling and coverage groups tend to do more pitching. However, there are exceptions as certain banks (and certain groups within banks) operate differently. I’m not familiar with the Client Management Analyst position so I can’t comment specifically on it.
Hello, Andrew!
I have perhaps stupid question but nevertheless.. When a company goes public, it issues shares and investors buy these shares.. I wonder to whom belong shares that circulate in the stock market? to the company or investors or somebody else?
Steven, I’m not 100% sure that I understand your question. As you correctly say, when a company goes public (IPO) investors buy these shares. These investors are then free to sell to other investors, who can then sell to yet other investors, etc. This is what’s known as the “stock market.” Whoever buys the shares, owns the shares. Does that help you?
Andrew,
I want to say that you have a wonderful site here. I have a query for you. I am a recently qualified chartered accountant in Canada (24 yrs old), and work for a BIG firm. I have spent the last 4 years in financial services, and have a pretty good grip on the industry. I do not have a CFA or MBA or any finance related designation.
My question to you is, in your experience have you ever seen a certified accountant (CPA or CA) become an ibanker? If so what type of obstacles do i face if i wanted to pursue this career path. Being a CA would i have a leg up on say someone who just has a finance degree, or would i be judged pretty much at the lowest level?
thanks for your help
Mike, I have seen plenty of CPAs become investment bankers. Typically, however, this happens after they get an MBA at a top business school. Folks with accounting backgrounds tend to do well as Investment Banking Associates. It may be possible for you to make the switch into investment banking without the MBA but you would likely start as a first year Analyst. If you want to give that a shot then try to network your way to get interviews. If you are serious about banking, I would start thinking about getting an MBA.
Thank you for this fantastic site. I want to work at a BB bank and I know they finish hiring as early as October and I missed it due to some letimate reasons. I am a senior at a top-10 school and they all came to our campus, also I have access to many alums working at Wall Street. Of course I am trying to leverage these assets, but most people say that it is over. My question to you is that do I have a chance at all, and what should I do besides reaching out to alums which are not very responsive at this time of the year?
Kevin,
The good news is that yes, it is possible to still get a full-time banking offer, even though full time recruiting is over. The bad news is that it is very difficult (especially bulge bracket). You need to keep reaching out to bankers through your network, even if they are not very responsive. Sometimes slots do open up because someone will renege on an offer. This can happen even days before training starts in the summer. If a bank does need to fill a slot, you need to be on the top of their radar screen so keep networking. It may also help you that people seem to think that the economy is improving and therefore the job market is also improving (banking recruiting was certainly better this year than last year – though not at the levels of the bubble years). A bank may decide that they do have a need for additional analysts, beyond the number for which they gave offers in the fall. However, this is less likely for bulge bracket banks and more likely for boutiques. So beyond just networking, my advice to you is to seek out boutiques and not just limit yourself to bulge brackets. Boutiques tend to be more flexible with their hiring needs. If you get good deal experience at a boutique, there’s always the chance to trade up to a BB after as a second or third year analyst.
Andrew,
Amazing site you have here. I had a MBA related question to ask you. I am a Chartered Accountant with about 2.5 years experience at a Big firm. I plan to get my MBA in the next year or two and specializing in finanace as i am keen to get into investment banking. A few queries for you:
a) Will having a MBA (from a top 50 school worldwide) mean i am close to guaranteed at least interviews in BB companies in the area of investment banking? Or put it simply, can i at least assured i have a better shot at landing an IB job as opposed to right now?
b) Do all MBAs start as associate 1? Also what is the earning potential of an associate 1 and how many years of Associate work would be needed before getting up to management level for a potential MBA and CA like myself?
Thanks for your help. I am just trying to see if an MBA is worth it, since you know it is a pretty big financial undertaking. For me “worth it” would mean at least 110K salary starting out first year after i graduate from MBA. Is this feasible or should i wake up and smell the coffee?
Thanks
Maurice
Maurice,
There are only about 10-12 business schools in the US (and a handful more in Europe) that are considered target schools for bulge bracket investment banking MBA recruiting. These are pretty much the top 10-12 schools in most rankings. If you are at one of these schools, you have a good shot at getting a lot of interviews (though there is no guarantee – you still have to do networking and a lot of informational interviews). Beyond these schools, it is not impossible but much more difficult to get interviews at bulge bracket banks for IB. You have to do much more work since the banks won’t recruit in campus.
Essentially all MBAs start as first year associates. You can search around the internet for first year associate compensation for the last couple of years but yes, bulge bracket comp for 1st year associates is above $110k (expect about twice that – or a little more). Keep in mind that compensation includes your base salary and bonus, of which the bonus is completely discretionary and depends highly on market conditions, and may be paid out partly in stock.
With regards to how many years until you get into a management position, it depends on what you mean by “management position.” Some managing directors become heads or co-head of their groups (this will generally take maybe 10-12 years or more) but very few investment bankers have true management positions. If you are interested in management don’t go into investment banking.