Big 4 Restructuring to IBD/PE
Hey everyone, just want to reach out to the WSO community on some career advice.
I'm currently working in the Restructuring service line at one of the Big 4 firms in Canada. I want to make a jump to either IBD/PE eventually but I'm not sure if I'm on the right path or if I'm even getting the right experience being in Restructuring.
So, I just want to ask what everyone think I should do: stay in Restructuring, or move to another service line that has more modeling experience
What does Big 4 RX do in Canada? Are you guys focussed more on operational side? Or the financial side?
It's both. I'm assuming by the financial side you're referencing the legal insolvency proceeding such as CCAA, Proposal, Receivership, etc. That's the side that I've had the most exposure to, the Big 4 also have Turnaround service offering. At EY and Deloitte, they have a specific team that handles the Turnaround work.
Welcome to the forum.
Although restructuring is a super interesting service line, in my experience you do see less exits in to IB/PE when compared to Corporate Finance, TAS and Valuation. This is probably partially due to self-selection, but also due to the skill set you develop. Each of the three more common services develop some skills that overlap, at least slightly (or almost fully for the case of corporate finance in the context of a MM sell-side M&A with IB), with what you'd be doing in IB/PE. Restructuring does develop a valuable skill set but since it's more operational and focused on turnarounds/liquidations, it is a little more of a stretch. I think a lateral to IB would have been easier and definitely possible before the market took a turn but it will be more difficult in the current conditions. Given there's so few players in PE in Canada, and considering the same reasoning as IB, I think making this move directly is unlikely.
To give more help, I think I would need more details on your background (are you a CPA from audit?) and end goal (happy with career in IB? absolutely want to be in PE? ok to be in big 4 corp fin? targeting a pension/institutional? mid-market?). Knowing what city you're in (Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver or other) and also how long you've been in restructuring would be helpful.
Going to disagree here. I’m in RX in the states and banking is, by far, the most common exit I see in the younger guys.
OP - you mentioned you don’t get much modeling experience. In most traditional Restructuring advisory groups here in the states, modeling is a heavy part of the job. Does Big 4 provide a different type of service?
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Interesting, the most modeling I've done is a 13-week cash flow. Mind telling me the type of modeling that you would take on at your work? I noticed that A&M or AlixPartners ask for candidates' ability to do a 3-statement model, which I've taught myself from my firm's eLearning classes.
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