Investment banking companies are of different types and based on their area of operation, their location differs. Mostly the international companies, will obviously be located in tier 1 cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. Mumbai for valid reasons, as it is the financial capital. Most of the headquarters of companies in finance are located here. However lately there are companies who have parallel presence in other cities too like Delhi and NCR Region.
Evalue Serve- Gurgaon/Gurugraham
Brief on Company
Evalue is a market and equity research company that is based out of Switzerland and has close to 4000 employees across the globe. What makes E value in one of the top companies to work with, it was founded by a former McKinsey Partner Marc Vollenweider and IBM research manager Alok Aggarwal .
They offer wide variety of services in business research, market research, patent research, data analytics but the most coveted profiles is in investment research. Some of the services in investment research include:
- Equity research on stocks
- Sector research
- Target screening
- Commercial due diligence
- Valuation
They offer this services not only to investment banks but also to private equity and hedge funds.
Interview Process & Eligibility
Most of the jobs provided by Evalue serve require a masters or professional designation. The roles offered at graduate levels are very limited and lack the quality
Minimum Qualification :MBA/CFA Level 1/ CA
Expected CTC: 6-7 LPA
Popular Roles at Evalue Serve:
- Deal Execution – Mergers and Acquisition
- Business Analyst
- Equity Research Analyst
These are the roles that any one who is eligible should target, as they are core finance related.
Interview Process:
Now Irrespective of the names of these roles, Evalue serve as a very typical way of evaluating candidates. Be mindful that the irrespective of your previous backgrounds, you need to prove your skills in their financial modelling test and personal interview.
- Round 1: Financial Modeling & Excel Test
You would be given multiple sheets of financial data and a set of tasks and questions would be expected.
- Excel Data Look Up: A data sheet with some financial data including, stock market data. You are expected to populate the missing data. Popular functions like sumifs, vlook up, Index Match should be practiced
- Financial Statements Linkages: There would be three financial statements- Income statement, Balance sheet, cash flow statement with errors. You need to find the errors and record them in your answers. This would be in my opinion the most difficult one
- Data visualisation: Given some financial data, you need to use appropriate charts and functions like pivot table and charts. This would be moderate difficulty
- Round 2: Personal Interview
Compared to what you might expect, this to be only about finance. Wrong! Evalue serve is notorious to ask aptitude related questions here. For eg
- Estimate the market size of diapers in India
- How Many people take hair cuts in India
- Why Finance.
These questions test your approach to solving a problem rather than just straight forward calculation.
PWC- Corporate Finance & IB- Delhi Region
Now although this would technically qualify under accounting as per broader categorisation. However the functions are performed and offered under the IB division.
The team in this role performs the function of financial advisory in buy side and sell side transactions. Some of the activities and responsibilities include
- Invite and give in the moment feedback in a constructive manner.
- Share and collaborate actively with others.
- Identify and make suggestions for improvements when problems and/or opportunities arise.
- Handle, manipulate and analyse data and information responsibly.
- Follow risk management and compliance procedures.
- Keep up-to-date with developments in area of specialism.
- Communicate confidently in a clear, concise and articulate manner – verbally and in the materials I produce.
- Build and maintain an internal and external network.
- Seek opportunities to learn about how PwC works as a global network of firms.
- Uphold the firms code of ethics and business conduct.
Eligibility: Graduate or Post Graduate
CTC-5.5 LPA
Interview Process
Apart from the usual short listing which will be based on the profile matching, PWC uses the below interview process
- Situational Judgment Process: These are psychological and cognitive behaviour assessments done using various question, primarily non technical.
- Psychometric Tests: A series of game based questions to measure cognitive skills
- Video Interview: Record video for a range of questions
- Simulated Asessment Day: This is the stage where your technical expertise would get tested finally
Aranca: Delhi Region
Aranca is one of the fortune 500 companies founded in 2003. Its primarily a research and advisory firm, offering services to financial institutions, private equity firms and start ups.
Eligibility: MBA ( Tier 1), CA, CFA’s
Since ARANCA is one of the top recruiters, your background will matter. If you fall under any of the three categories, then you have a fair chance to get an opportunity.
Minimum Skills:
- Strong knowledge of finance, valuation financial modeling capabilities and writing skills; Powerpoint presentation skills would be added advantage
Interview Process
Total 3 rounds can be expected:
- Technical Round: Where your basic financial mathematics calculations including return calculations, aptitude based questions,
- Technical Round: This will be a face to face technical round taken by a lead analyst
- HR Round: personality based questions, ctc , location etc
CTC: 6 LPA
Primary Responsibilities:
- Project and client management: Provide research support on public/private investment opportunities for Aranca clients covering areas such as:
- Fundamental and quantitative research for equity markets and private investment opportunities involving financial modeling, report writing, investment committee presentations, due diligence reports
- Other research areas addressing specific client requests regarding researching on niche markets (e.g. US private lending space)
- Interact professionally with 3rd party entities (like investment fund managers, due diligence partners etc) on behalf of client over calls
- Support Aranca Investment Research teams efforts in developing inhouse research insights through articles, blog updates, infographics and other forms through own contribution as well as in collaboration with other Aranca team members
KPMG Valuation- Gurgaon/Gurugram
Designation: Corporate Finance Real Estate Valuation
Minimum Eligibility:CFA/CA/MBA
CTC- 4.5 -5 LPA
Mandatory Skills:
- Strong understanding of valuation methodologies (income, market and cost approaches) – or in other words learning financial modeling
- Command over accounting and financial statements analysis- Part of financial modelling course
- Knowledge of relevant respective local GAAP or IFRS standards – CFA level 1 usually teaches this, MBA Candidates might have to brush up
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills — Strong business writing and verbal communication skills
- Advanced knowledge of MS Office (specifically, MS Excel, MS Word, and MS PowerPoint)
- Command in using research databases such as Costar, RCA, Argus, etc.- This is I think optional, you wont get rejected because of thsi
Primary Responsibilities Include:
- Independently prepare/update valuation models and reports for various types of real estate properties
- Set up the fully integrated valuation models and prepare majority section of report based on property documents/models and inputs provided by the engagement team
- Review third party valuation/management reports for reasonableness
- Perform market research to understand real estate geography specify dynamics
- Stay updated on current business, economic and regulatory developments relevant to our clients — Review the work of/guide team members
- Build strong professional relationship with onshore teams through project work
Interview Process: 3 rounds
- Hr Round: Basic questions on personality
- Technical Written: Discounted cash flow analysis, precedent transaction analysis, trading comparable, How would value a company?, How would you build or calculate a discount rate (WACC) for your model?
- Technical Face to face: You would be asked questions on valuation again and some general questions related to you, how would your profile add value
Ernest & Young
Designation: Analyst – Strategy & Transactions – Lead Advisory
Minimum Eligibility: CA / MBA / Graduate degree with an exceptional academic background
Key Skills:
- Identified of deal issues, assessing their impact on the transaction (valuation etc.) and
advising on ways to address the issues - Conducted analysis of transaction risks and ways to mitigate them
- Understanding transaction structure and basis it advised on structuring issues
CTC: 4.5 -6 LPA
Interview Process: 3 rounds
- aptitude test consisting of Quant, VARC, DILR and excel
- Ratios and basic finance questions in round 2
- Hr round consist of questions on your fit. So read a lot of E&Y Culture and policies to answer this well
Daloopa- Noida
Daloopa although listed out as a software company, provides softer as a service in finance. It has started fairly recently in 2019 by a U.S Based hedge fund- Point 72. Primarliy we feel this is just an off shore set up for lowering costs, nevertheless it creates jobs.
Designation: Equity Research Analyst
Minimum Eligibility: MBA
CTC: 3.5 LPA
Minimum Skills:
- Should be highly proficient in MS Office (especially Excel)
- Highly attentive to even the smallest details
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Highly passionate about equity research/financial modeling and self-driven.
Interview Process:
- Round 1: Usually a financial analysis test : Total of 190 MCQ questions
- Attention to detail: 40 questions
- Reasoning:30 Questions
- Excel Test: 30 Questions
- Finance Questions:90 Questions
2 Hrs test, which is done with web cam monitoring
Job Responsibilities:
• Building and updating financial models
• Sourcing data from financial databases
• Analyze financial data and records of companies
• Provide quality data and analysis to make the research process more efficient and robust • Presenting research output in presentation format
• Any other ad hoc research
Additional Information –
• Annual CTC will be in between 3.6(Fixed – 3.0 LPA, Variable – 60K Annual) to 4.2 (Fixed – 3.6 LPA Variable – 60K Annual) will depend on your test result and feedback from interviewer.
• Occasional US Shift for 3-4 weeks once in quarter on rotational basis (only for employees working in earnings teams) additional night sift allowance will be paid/Cab and Meal facilities for night shifts.
• Medical Insurance cover for INR 1 Lakh.
• Shift Times: General – 9 AM to 6 PM, Monday to Friday, if anyone working on weekend then will be paid according to salary.
• 25 Annual leaves and 10 Holidays.
Acquity Knowledge Partner
The company was founded in 2003, which is headquartered in London. In revenue terms, the company is pretty solid company to start your career. The company provides research, analytics and business intelligence solutions to the financial services sector.
Designation: Analyst
Eligibility: MBA (Finance) / CFA / CA (CPA equivalent)
Minimum Skills:
- Strong understanding of calculating IRR and various valuation techniques like DCF, Peer multiple- Basically financial modeling
- Excel Proficiency: Data Look up, Pivot Table, Cell referencing , conditional operators
Interview Process: 2 Rounds of interview
- Round 1: Technical Finance questions based on ratios and financial statements
- Round 2:Situation based questions, financial ratios, Valuation based questions
Primary Responsibilities:
- To complete the financial analysis and projection modelling for ongoing monitoring of the high yield loans for an UK based commercial bank
- Analysing and spreading the historical financial statements in excel
- Analysis of financial statements including Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement (incl. Free cash flow, funds from operations) of public and private companies
- Going through the supplementary schedules, notes and MD&A for the detailed breakups and normalizing the financial statements for exceptional items to arrive at the true profitability figures
- Strong understanding of financial projections based on management guidance, company budget and consensus estimates. This will include creating various scenarios like management case, sponsor case, upside and downside case etc.
- Analyze the operating metrics to project the major line items like Revenues, EBITDA etc.
- Preparing detailed capital structure and debt amortization schedules (tranche wise) including pro forma adjustment for the acquisition. Candidate should have strong understanding of various classes of debt (secured/unsecured/subordinated) and financing options used by the borrower for the deal
- Analyzing the pro forma credit metrics like total leverage, interest coverage, fixed charge coverage etc.
- Analyzing the financial covenants applicable to the borrower
- Strong understanding of calculating IRR and various valuation techniques like DCF, Peer multiple
- Responsible for delivering 100% quality
- Meeting strict deadlines and ability to work under pressure
- Ability to work individually and in the team
- Update reporting manager on the tasks in hand, completed on a regular basis
Gallagher and Mohan
Gallagher & Mohan is a Real Estate Knowledge Process Outsourcing based out of India. Providing services in Real state analysis,real estate accounting and valuation.
Designation :Real Estate Valuation Analyst
Eligibility: MBA/CFA/B.com
Expected CTC: 5-6 LPA
Minimum Skills & Knowledge:
Requirements – Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities :
- strong command of the local real estate markets and business, with a good understanding of macro trends and historical perspective.
- Research skills: The bulk of the real estate analyst job involves data collection and analysis; hence they must possess strong data collection, validation, and auditing skills.
- Analytical skills and problem-solving abilities: They require high- level analytical skills to run financial models as well as analyze all aspects of the local real estate markets and exposure to ARGUS is a plus.
- They must be proficient in the use of Excel, SUM, Average, SUMIF, PMI, NPV, IRR, VLOOKUP, RUNDOWN, PV, Index Match Match, IF(MIN, MIN), IF(VLOOKUP), HLOOKUP, SUMPRODUCT, and more.
Interview Process: 2 Rounds
- 1st Round: Case study Real estate- Build Financial model from scratch- this case study can be challenging for even the good students. You need to brush up on some real estate valuation terminologies before attempting this. Things like cap rate, Net operating income, cash on cash return, etc should be brushed up
- 2nd Round: This is a technical face to face, with situation-based questions and finance concepts
Primary Responsibilities:
- Track and analyze all aspects of the local commercial real estate market.
- Responsible for analyzing and creating reports on the local real estate
- market and regional economy with respect to employment statistics,
- major company activities, industry trends, and demographics that
- affect the local real estate market.
- Prepare and present reports to Clients and Management.
- Serve as a market “expert” with extensive detailed knowledge of the
- macro and micro factors affecting the market.
- Proactively leverage on knowledge from research for products, client
- projects, and business development efforts.
Conclusion on Preparation for Interview
These are very focussed jobs where any finance candidate from Delhi area can try to get start in finance. I would highly recommend everyone to learn financial modelling.
Mentor Me Careers offers a highly specialised cores focusing on the above job profiles with interview cases which are replicas of real interview
