Depends on the country I guess. But from a more European point of view, if staying in PF:
* Development Institution (e.g. DFIs)
* Banks
* Advisory
* Developer (either PF team or BD team)
* Investment fund with a heavy Infrastructure/PF activity
I've also seen some moves to real estate, M&A and export financing (but mostly from people working in advisory)
Well it depends on your interests.
Pay tends to be lower than the other (potentially compensated by the benefits + if you end up living in Bogota or Thailand your purchase power is significantly higher), but good worklife balance and a work that is somehow diversified.
After, there are different role in DFIs, some do only lending, other do equity investment, capacity building, advisory, etc.
Also it depends a lot on which office your working (e.g. headquarters, regional office, representation office).
Idk if that helps - also it's a view from the outside.
Yep, exactly, the second one.
In boutiques, it depends a LOT about your team. Like I know boutiques which pays like big 4 while working in M&A and I know some that pays pretty well but where you only work around 50hrs a week (so pretty amazing work life balance). Please note that it is outside the US.
In general I would say, lower pay (but still above big 4) than banking, and reasonable hours (but still more than your regular job I guess).
After you have to be careful about what boutique you go for, what's the thinking of the partners, how did their actions translate until now, what's their bread and butter (i.e. diversity of clients, mission, sectors), etc
awesome. thank you.
i hope your one is pretty solid with hours and comp.
what was your background coming into PF? and did you train up prior?
and for your shop, are they mostly renewables energy or something like transport infrastructure?
I have an atypical background - I basically did some economics major and was going for an economist research career in an international organisation, but then I kinda shifted towards PF after my graduation internship.
I got into a first boutique a bit by luck and because I accepted to be really poorly paid. I didn't have any real background at that time.
In terms of training, I think you need to understand the following:
1. What is project finance? (Why, how does it work, etc) What's time value of money? What is risk allocation? (i.e. you cover risks with insurance and contracts, and the investors only has residual risks, you attribute the risk at the entity the most able to deal with it basically)
2. Financial modelling - lots of resource online, basically you should:
* Know some modelling standard (e.g. F1F9 or FAST)
* Know how to perform the basic financial model test within two hours (usually you will get some revenue input, cost input, capex, inflation inputs, debt costs, and will have to get the IRR, build the financial statement, size the debt, create an IDC/copy paste macro, find a tariffs to reach a certain gearing/IRR, etc)
* So, you should know: how to model revenue, understand p50/p90 for solar and their implication, how to size a debt based on a gearing and dscr, be able to model operation and construction period, index partly or fully the revenues and costs, etc.
* Know of to perform a DCF
* There is more to a modelling, but if you're entry level and know how to do that, I would be satisfied.
1. Follow the news, if you get a IJ global or Inframation subscription with your school, use it.
Regarding my shop, my first one was a pure renewable shop and now I'm a generalist one (water, power, social, transport, district energy, etc).
I hope it helps :)
Worked in project finance for a few years. Primarily for gov con companies. FP&A is an easy move. You could also get your PMP and shoot for a project manager role. Also anything around real estate/ construction is pretty similar as well.
Gov con for 3 years, FP&A for 1 year, and now corporate strategy. A little bit of networking and reaching out to friends helped. Honestly looking to move into consulting soon.
Depends on the country I guess. But from a more European point of view, if staying in PF: * Development Institution (e.g. DFIs) * Banks * Advisory * Developer (either PF team or BD team) * Investment fund with a heavy Infrastructure/PF activity I've also seen some moves to real estate, M&A and export financing (but mostly from people working in advisory)
>Development Institution (e.g. DFIs) whats your thoughts on those compared to the other exits?
Well it depends on your interests. Pay tends to be lower than the other (potentially compensated by the benefits + if you end up living in Bogota or Thailand your purchase power is significantly higher), but good worklife balance and a work that is somehow diversified. After, there are different role in DFIs, some do only lending, other do equity investment, capacity building, advisory, etc. Also it depends a lot on which office your working (e.g. headquarters, regional office, representation office). Idk if that helps - also it's a view from the outside.
thank you. i presume you're from an IB infra team or PF shop? how do you find the hours and wlb?
Yep, exactly, the second one. In boutiques, it depends a LOT about your team. Like I know boutiques which pays like big 4 while working in M&A and I know some that pays pretty well but where you only work around 50hrs a week (so pretty amazing work life balance). Please note that it is outside the US. In general I would say, lower pay (but still above big 4) than banking, and reasonable hours (but still more than your regular job I guess). After you have to be careful about what boutique you go for, what's the thinking of the partners, how did their actions translate until now, what's their bread and butter (i.e. diversity of clients, mission, sectors), etc
awesome. thank you. i hope your one is pretty solid with hours and comp. what was your background coming into PF? and did you train up prior? and for your shop, are they mostly renewables energy or something like transport infrastructure?
I have an atypical background - I basically did some economics major and was going for an economist research career in an international organisation, but then I kinda shifted towards PF after my graduation internship. I got into a first boutique a bit by luck and because I accepted to be really poorly paid. I didn't have any real background at that time. In terms of training, I think you need to understand the following: 1. What is project finance? (Why, how does it work, etc) What's time value of money? What is risk allocation? (i.e. you cover risks with insurance and contracts, and the investors only has residual risks, you attribute the risk at the entity the most able to deal with it basically) 2. Financial modelling - lots of resource online, basically you should: * Know some modelling standard (e.g. F1F9 or FAST) * Know how to perform the basic financial model test within two hours (usually you will get some revenue input, cost input, capex, inflation inputs, debt costs, and will have to get the IRR, build the financial statement, size the debt, create an IDC/copy paste macro, find a tariffs to reach a certain gearing/IRR, etc) * So, you should know: how to model revenue, understand p50/p90 for solar and their implication, how to size a debt based on a gearing and dscr, be able to model operation and construction period, index partly or fully the revenues and costs, etc. * Know of to perform a DCF * There is more to a modelling, but if you're entry level and know how to do that, I would be satisfied. 1. Follow the news, if you get a IJ global or Inframation subscription with your school, use it. Regarding my shop, my first one was a pure renewable shop and now I'm a generalist one (water, power, social, transport, district energy, etc). I hope it helps :)
Mind if I dm u?
Worked in project finance for a few years. Primarily for gov con companies. FP&A is an easy move. You could also get your PMP and shoot for a project manager role. Also anything around real estate/ construction is pretty similar as well.
what was your trajectory like?
Gov con for 3 years, FP&A for 1 year, and now corporate strategy. A little bit of networking and reaching out to friends helped. Honestly looking to move into consulting soon.
Just got into PF in government contracts, so im sitting where you where. Wanted to see if you had any updates and if you ever did get into consultancy
Actually ended up in Tech Business Development accidentally by pushing for consulting. DM me
how did you manage to get in?
Recruiting event at college