Meet Amandine - GLBA Graduate

Tell us a little bit about your role and background as part of the Graduate Programme? 

I am currently an analyst in the TMT Industry Group team. I first joined the bank as a summer intern in 2022, spending two months in Leveraged Finance, before returning in July 2023 as part of the rotational graduate programme following the full-time conversion process at the end of the summer internship. 

With the rest of my graduate cohort, we spent the first month of the programme studying to pass the CISI Level 3 Capital Markets Certificate exams (better known as FCA exams), which tested our understanding of UK Regulations, Financial Securities and Derivatives, and the second month undergoing technical training. Both overseen by Fitch Learning, one of the UK’s leading training providers, these two steps were exceptionally useful in allowing us to be operational from day one when joining our first rotations in September, having learned, and more importantly practised key accounting and financial modelling, financial securities, macro-economics, credit and FX-related concepts.

Following this, I returned to Leverage Finance for my first seven-month rotation, originating, executing, and syndicating Leverage Buyout financing and refinancing deals. The team is sector-agnostic, which allowed me to work on and learn from topics ranging from Payments Solutions and Audio Mixing Consoles to Vitamins and Artificial Grass.  

I then moved to the TMT Industry Group as part of my second rotation, which provides M&A and ECM advisory to large cap clients in Technology, Media, and Telecom. Gaining more experience in the equity side of investment banking as well as in the TMT sector, which LBO does not cover, has been an incredibly complementary experience which allowed me to develop a robust fundamental understanding of both debt and equity-related structuring and analysis. 

What would a ‘normal’ day look like for someone in your role? 

A great aspect of this role is that there is no set routine, so a ‘normal’ day is hard to describe. This however makes for a role that is never boring, given the wide range of pitching and execution projects and their respective timelines, and the various stages of executions one may be working on. 

Nevertheless, frequent tasks I undertake on a daily basis include:

Working on client pitches, notably doing excel modelling to determine the valuation of target companies and explore various structuring options. A lot of scenario analysis is involved in identifying the option best suited to the client’s goals (which for example vary widely between Private Equity clients, Strategic Acquirers or even IPO candidates) and financing capabilities. The same is then done in greater detail for execution mandates as part of the advisory service the team provides.

Carrying out market and targeted research on market size, market share, industry trends, competitive advantages, and customer trends to develop investment theses for clients and forecast an M&A or IPO target’s growth opportunities and cash flow generation accurately.

Carrying out various screening exercises to identify and discuss potential M&A bolt-on targets or potential buyers, depending on whether the client is seeking to sell or acquire assets.

Working on various stages of execution mandates, including coordinating daily client and co-advisor interactions, producing information materials (including Information Memoranda, Capital Markets Day presentations and Investment Committee presentations for clients and investors), coordinating and assisting in investor outreach and Q&A processes, and much more. 

What has been the single most important thing you have learnt so far in your job?

One crucial lesson I have learned as a junior in my first year of banking has been to never hesitate to accept and tackle a new task, no matter how daunting it initially seems. While this means repeatedly stepping outside of your comfort zone, it is the best way to learn as fast as possible, by not shying away from tackling all the harder yet fundamental skills early on and putting a lot of practice into them. At Societe Generale, team members, both at junior and senior level, are always supportive and willing to help and teach new joiners and challenging yourself with new learning opportunities is a great way to benefit from this – knowing you can always ask for guidance if you get stuck and start to expand your 'toolkit'. 

Finally, any tips for anyone who’d like to apply for a similar role in GLBA? 

For summer internship applications, which are the first step to eventually joining the graduate programme, the most useful and crucial step is to spend time understanding the main product lines in investment banking, even at a simplified and outside-in level. The application process can be challenging if you are not truly interested and informed about the industry, but regularly keeping up with noteworthy news in the industry, getting involved with Investment Banking or Investment Research student-run groups or societies, and attending networking events can be a very insightful and interesting process, and will truly help you convincingly explain your motivations and master the market awareness questions at the interview stage. Building on this, meeting as many people as possible, through university or company-run networking events as well as simply reaching out for a chat with people through LinkedIn, is also an incredibly helpful opportunity to discuss with recruiters and team members, helping the recruitment teams to build a personal connection to your profile amidst the numerous applications they receive. SG hosts annual networking events, in particular a Women in Banking event which I have attended for the last three years, which has always been a great way to meet and speak with both senior and junior bankers in various teams and learn more about their roles.