I have just completed my fourth and final week of work experience this year in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The trip was from 1st to 11th of May and the aim was to give me an overview of Private Equity. The company I would be working for was Inverness Graham.
The day after I landed, I began my week of work experience. I was anxious as I didn’t know what to expect but no sooner had I walked into the office, then everyone was already introducing themselves which certainly settled my nerves. I had a short meeting with an extremely kind man called John whose responsibilities include financial administration and accounting. He gave me a brief explanation about private equity and Inverness Graham which was unbelievably interesting. I then met with Courtney who expanded a bit more on John’s points as well as giving me a brief explanation about Hedge Funds, Venture Capital and Investment banking. She was incredibly helpful as she used all kinds of analogies to explain what she was talking about.
In the afternoon I read my first of many Confidential Information Memorandum “CIM”s that week. A CIM is basically a booklet that a company will put together if they want to be bought. It has very detailed information about everything to do with their business i.e. finances, history and so on. Once I finished reading it, I then discussed it with Collin, the senior analyst at the firm. He was extremely patient and informative and great help all week.
The following day I met with Paul who is responsible for sourcing new investment opportunities and negotiations. He, with a few others, were basically my mentors. They helped me with anything I didn't understand and always made sure I had work. After spending the morning with him, I then spoke for a while to Chris who talked all about Investment Banking which I had touched on with Courtney on Monday. He spoke about how it worked, what’s involved, tips… It was really fascinating. Later that day I met Dennis who set me to work using spreadsheets for corporate taxes and how they applied to different states. I realised pretty quickly that computers are certainly not my forte. I struggled at first, but with help I soon began to get to grips with it and by the end of the afternoon the task had been completed. As soon as I got home I collapsed onto my bed with exhaustion.
Wednesday and Thursday were the two toughest days in terms of work. I was constantly either on the move or at my desk studying for the test / presentation, the firm had asked me to prepare for Friday. I was in conference calls, reading CIMs, using spreadsheets, researching companies… It was certainly a very hectic two days but I loved the challenge. For most of Thursday morning I was in with Paul running through financial sections of Nike’s and Apple’s 10K which was really interesting as he explained it to me in great detail. Later that afternoon we created financial figures for our fictitious Lemonade business. It was terrific and a great way to learn. That same night I had to finish studying my CIM which I would present the next morning as part of my exam to Kenny……. the CEO of the firm to showcase what I learnt during the week.
I spent most of Friday morning reviewing my CIM and preparing my presentation. As part of the exam I had to explain the company I had chosen, it’s history, financial history (ie EBITDA, gross profit, its SG&A’s…), projections etc. I also had to give Kenny my opinion on whether to buy the company or not. I must admit I was a bit nervous at the start but gradually as I started talking I realised that everything I had learnt helped me. Later that afternoon, I drafted a copy of the bullet point of my presentation under each different heading. It was a very enjoyable task yet quite complicated.
The week was absolutely incredible and fantastic. I cannot put into words how much I have learnt. Everyone was so unbelievably generous and kind to give up their time to help me. Definitely the best week of work experience I have done so far this year. I think that it might definitely be a future line of work I might be interested in doing.