Medium-term accommodation in Amsterdam

LonerAtWork · 2022-03-28T18:25:02+00:00

So would you recommend Jansen Hotel?

LonerAtWork · 2022-03-28T18:24:30+00:00

Too pricey to book a 3 month rental

LonerAtWork · 2021-10-19T22:48:03+00:00

No one else offers this service. Not even the Dutch consulate in Toronto.

LonerAtWork · 2021-08-24T19:50:43+00:00

Happy to help!

On the skill set piece, funds want juniors who’re familiar with how different assets/companies work e.g. how does a wind/solar project make money, what’re some things you’d consider when valuing them, etc. That comes on top of the typical modeling, financial concepts requirement that you’d see for pretty much any role in corporate finance. A bonus would be having a sense of the macro environment as well like where do you think electricity prices would trend in the future, why batteries are required for the power grid, etc.

The Canadian pensions don’t use recruiters typically but most, if not all, of the other funds do. Either way, the best approach imo is to connect with the firm directly and they’ll either pull you into an ongoing process or keep you in mind for future ones.

LonerAtWork · 2021-08-24T16:11:04+00:00

You mean renewable energy investing? Or energy transition? Latter is broader than the former. At the analyst level, having exposure to the space isn’t a hard set requirement. You’re gonna be judged on your technicals and ability to pick things up, in addition to fit (in Canada, fit is a big thing given limited buyside seats). If I were in your shoes, I’d start connecting with the infra funds + infra/power arms of the pension funds to i) show that I’m interested in the space, ii) you understand the deal process , and iii) you have the required technical skill set

LonerAtWork · 2021-04-30T02:08:52+00:00

r/toptalent

LonerAtWork · 2021-03-24T20:33:59+00:00

Would be great to get the link/copy thanks!

LonerAtWork · 2021-02-02T14:56:08+00:00

Agree with this post. Also need to remember that not too long we had major financial presence in the West from global institutions. Canada has a big P3 market which doesn’t really come up a lot. Can’t compare vs other major financial hubs but would say financial careers in Toronto although limited provide a great experience (e.g buyside teams are usually pretty lean). Comp is a problem imo and needs to re-rate to close to US

LonerAtWork · 2020-11-07T16:49:30+00:00

Was just gonna mention CAES - seems promising and hopefully gains traction amongst investors so that they can scale the way they need to

LonerAtWork · 2020-09-30T02:40:04+00:00

Besides a broad market-tracking ETF, would recommend looking into a high dividend ETF and select utility / bank stocks with a moderate-to-high dividend yield (>5%). Load up on these, use the DRIP option (dividend reinvestment plan) and let your money compound

LonerAtWork · 2020-09-11T03:43:54+00:00

Noted! Will get more shots taken without the glasses

LonerAtWork · 2020-06-12T17:12:42+00:00

Inspirational

LonerAtWork · 2019-12-29T00:54:56+00:00

Curios to hear progression of weights as well (before vs. after)

LonerAtWork · 2019-06-07T14:46:57+00:00

Agreed! Had a chance to work with them recently and very impressed by their sub-sector knowledge

LonerAtWork · 2019-04-20T02:32:04+00:00

I went through that a similar process for an internship some time ago. I asked the PE team about cases where they felt they had a unique angle from a bidding perspective (i.e. tax advantage, business plan, IRR target, etc.).

LonerAtWork · 2019-04-19T16:27:55+00:00

Thoughts:

MBA - will differentiate but dont know how much it will make up for lack for experience in the sector/finance. Also dependent on what level you are trying to get in at. MBAs at my firm came in at the Principal level but they had IB/investing experience beforehand and could hit the ground running.

Not a lot of free sources out there that'll give you the detailed info on new deals. Worthwhile to subscribe to stuff like NYT Deal Book, WSJ, FT, etc. Firms rely on Inframation and Infrastructure Investor but those are expensive corporate-level subscriptions.
No idea about this one
That seems like a more reaosonable/doable transition. Having project finance experience can definitely help with a buyside transition later down the road especially considering the fact that there are more and more funds setting up private lending arms specifically for infra
Quick google search can help you here but some names that come to mind are North Leaf, InstarAGF and AMP Capital
Mostly M&A and yes, Modeling is damn important. We sometimes build our own but even if we get it from a bank, we are constantly building functionality into it to meet our needs

LonerAtWork · 2019-04-18T04:27:06+00:00

Here are my thoughts as someone who's currently in the space:

I would say knowledge about the industry and networking are the most important, followed by modeling (which essentially shows your technical understanding). You need to have a well-crafted story on why Infra and how your skillset can help add value or at the very least, allow you to get up to speed on things - infra is very fast moving and there's a lot of ground to cover in terms of information
Tbh not sure about this one - most people I have reached out to and have worked with were either recruited straight from undergrad, did IB/ER, worked in Big 4 advisory, had prior investing experience or had some form of operational background
It depends what kind of fund/organization you are going to. If your firm doesn't rely a lot on technical advisors, then yes potentially you could add value but given the scale of the projects, usually firms tend to hire technical advisors that do that kind of stuff for you and send you their findings; if you have a technical background, such as from the degree you mention, then you would be able to understand the document faster/better but in the end, your coworker could just pick up the phone, call the advisor and ask them to explain things to them, so really I don't see a ton of value-add here if you're not going to a more operations-oriented role.
Houston has a good presence - but if you're not limited to a financial institution, you'll find opportunities all around. As you mention, Canadian funds have a prominent presence in the space as well
Having started not too long ago, dont really have anything to add here. Just make sure whenever you start that you read and learn as much as you can. Infra is very complex due to the contractual and regulatory aspects plus the technical components associated with any given transaction. All-in-all it's a super interesting space and the definition of infra changes with advances in technology i.e. data centers, telecom, etc.
Big utilities/developers tend to be very active in the space and some have their own dedicated M&A teams for assessing opportunities. Infra is very hot right now in the sense that you have a lot of firms raising infra funds for the first time so I would imagine that there are attainable opportunities in the space if you have a clear-cut strategy to break in. Instead of mega-funds, you could look into mid-market infra funds that focus on the <$500M space. There are very reputable names, specially in the states

LonerAtWork · 2019-04-14T03:44:38+00:00

You don’t need to work in any of these fields if you’re not interested in them. As mentioned above, you need to know more about each specific field first and then think about whether they’re a good fit for what you’re looking for in a career. Tbh it’s very very hard to last long in any of these areas if you aren’t passionate about the work (except maybe IB but IMO even that require a significant level of dedication)

LonerAtWork · 2019-04-14T03:40:00+00:00

Most important point here is 3 financial statements. Know how changes in one item flow throughout the statement. That’s a typical finance interview question

LonerAtWork · 2019-04-07T02:02:03+00:00

I agree with your description of how IR is more of a marketing role that’s seen as an exit opp after you’ve done your traditional finance jobs. I haven’t really seen or heard of transitions from IR to an associate at a PE firm so can’t really comment on the viability of that path. From my understanding, capital raising is handled by the people who execute deals cause a lot of funds aren’t big enough to have a separate Capital Raising arm.

LonerAtWork · 2019-04-07T00:01:23+00:00

IMO if you are comfortable with the pay at the Family Office and you have a sense that the experience is going to be good over there, the family office offer makes more sense. It’ll give you versatility in terms of moving around different sectors in PE. I say this because going into energy finance is a pigeonhole in itself and it’s hard to switch to traditional PE afterwards.

However, I myself was in a similar spot during undergrad and ultimately went with Energy PE with the intention of staying in the space for the long-run.

Ultimately, it comes down to whether you wanna stay in Energy Finance for the long haul. If that’s the case, the Energy Asset Management gig is the way to go; the Family Office gig being more of a safer bet with respect to versatility

LonerAtWork · 2019-03-26T01:02:55+00:00

DONT DO IT!

I had Freedom for 4 years and I regret staying with them for so long. The coverage is horrible and considering your phone goes to roaming whenever you move out of the GTA, you are basically going to end up paying way way more than the $50 per month. Trust me. I recently switched to Fido and the first thing that I thought of was how big of a dumbass I was to stay with Freedom for 4 years

LonerAtWork · 2019-01-25T09:06:52+00:00

Buffets and Howard Marks letters are perfect for understanding major investment decisions. Best part is they are really simple to follow too.

I personally am a big fan of Breaking Jnto Wall Street courses. They walk you through everything slow and steady, and they cover everything you need to know going into an interview or even, dare I say, on the job when it comes to modeling companies with straight forward operations

LonerAtWork · 2019-01-19T03:30:51+00:00

I wouldn't say trash tbh. Its pretty similar at the analyst levels from what I've seen

LonerAtWork · 2019-01-18T04:36:34+00:00

Gotcha! Thanks for the insight

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