Five weeks into the internship and it feels like it was just yesterday that I was on-boarding. The sheer nature of the work that we have been assigned throughout these past five weeks excites and keeps me focused. Starting with baby steps in the Private Equity field and continuously adding onto the fundamentals has proven itself an effective process to accomplish more.

As we continue to learn more search methods, especially on the broker side, it feels like we attain more steps forward to finding that one company that will fulfill the Search Fund process. The broker search process has deemed itself more interesting to me, having locked in on the Investment Banking field. The process involves more analytical skills than interpersonal skills. Analyzing performance of companies begins with “teasers” which are a sneak peek of a company’s financials and value propositions. Based off teasers, we can already start weeding out potential companies from disqualified companies, in terms of criteria to complete the Search Fund process. Don’t get me wrong, interpersonal skills are still a must as it involves contacting brokers for more information on companies that they have listed. If a teaser matches, next steps are taken. Brokers are reached out to for more info on the specific company and may involve signing an NDA. That next batch info usually comes in the form of a “CIM” (confidential information memorandum). With a CIM, as an analyst, I can confirm historical performance, key trends, and continue the filtering process.

On top of the broker deal flow, we continue the prospecting process. Hopping on calls with CEOs to gain a sense of their timeline to sell their businesses has been yet again one of the most interesting parts of the internship. I’m looking forward to what the next five weeks have in store.