Dan Bruck ’14 is currently a Private Equity Associate at Cerberus Capital Management. He studied Financial Engineering at Binghamton, served as President of the Finance Society, and was on the Executive Board of the Dean’s Mentoring Program. Dan was one of the leaders in transforming the Finance Society into the club that it is today. We asked Dan some questions about his background, how he broke into Private Equity, and any advice he has for current students.
Q: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Could you give us a quick overview of how you broke into front office finance, and how you ended up at Cerberus?
Sure thing. I got involved in Finance Society early on because I realized that my degree would only get me so far. At Binghamton, you need to be involved with the Finance Society, and do their case competitions, in order to gain relevant skills and experiences.
After I participated in the Mergers and Acquisitions Competition and the Equity Research Competition, I focused on networking with alumni. This helped me get an internship at Brevet Capital during my sophomore summer. During my Junior year, I joined the Finance Society Executive Board and focused on recruiting for an Investment Banking internship for that summer. That summer I worked at Stifel in their Investment Banking division. I received a full-time offer from Stifel, but moved to Citi in their Media and Telecom Investment Banking Coverage Group. Investment Banking is very tough, but I was able to work on many interesting things, including the Time Warner Cable / Charter Communications deal. I then recruited for Private Equity positions, and landed at Cerberus Capital, focusing on distressed private equity opportunities.
Q: Why did you come to Binghamton?
I got into some other good schools, but I chose to come to Binghamton because the opportunities here are just as good, and it is very affordable. I felt like I would achieve all of my goals, but without graduating with $200,000 in student loans.
Q: What advice do you have for freshmen or sophomores who are interested in pursuing investment banking?
The most important thing to do is to get involved early and protect your GPA. If you don’t do the Mergers and Acquisitions Case Competition or the Equity Research Competition during your freshman or sophomore year, you are behind the curve. You need to attend the Finance Society meetings and learn these skills early in the process, so you can start effectively networking with alumni, and build up your resume.
The highest priorities during your first two years at Binghamton are to get involved, get good grades, while still having fun with your friends.
Q: You mentioned that GPA is important. What GPA are Investment Banks looking for?
GPA matters a lot, especially coming from Binghamton. You will have a lot of people looking at your resumes who are from Ivy League schools who have no idea how difficult Binghamton’s courses are. The closer you are to a 4.0 the better it makes you look, so keep your GPA as high as possible. I know this sounds harsh, but it is challenging to get opportunities if you have below a 3.7, barring truly remarkable circumstances and references.
Q: How should I go about looking for opportunities in front office finance?
Your best resources are upperclassmen and alumni. The upperclassmen you meet as a freshman or sophomore will be the ones recruiting you once you are a junior. Alumni that you connect with during events on campus or over cold calls will also be very willing to help you. Career Services is also a great resource, but it is tough to get a referral unless you know the upperclassman or the alumnus looking for a referral. This is why it is essential to get involved early on.
Q: What suggestions do you have on how to prep for interviews?
Getting involved in the Finance Society competitions, attending their workshops, and utilizing resources like Wall Street Prep models and the Wall Street Oasis interview guides are very important. You should start learning these things during your freshman year or early on in your sophomore year.
Q: What was your Investment Banking experience like?
Working in Investment Banking is extremely tough. You should be ready for very late nights and spontaneous weekend work during your analyst years. Your work/life balance gets marginally better over time, but it is still very challenging. In order to stay in Investment Banking for a long time you really have to enjoy the work you are doing. The money is not worth it if you hate the work you are doing.
Q: What is Private Equity like compared to Investment Banking? Can you provide more details about the transition?
Private equity is also an incredibly demanding career path, although I view it as more rewarding. As opposed to banking, which is essentially a mix of analytics and a sales role, private equity professionals get a chance to become intimately familiar with a companies' operations, and utilize their investor's judgement to make investment decisions on behalf of the fund's investors. There are still plenty of late nights and weekend work, but the ability to purchase, hold, operate and exit businesses is exponentially more interesting to me than the work I was doing in investment banking. The compensation is also meaningfully better, but at the end of the day, you still really need to love the job to be successful and happy with your career.