Reading resources for interview preparation
Core to cultivating commerical acumen in Corporate Finance is staying on top of the factors that are impacting markets and M&A trends. Thankfully, there is a wealth of resources that you can draw from, which are prepared by financial institutions, advisory firms, and professional bodies.
On this page we have curated a list of useful sources to find insights into what is shaping current and future deals. We have also included a few selected pieces on technical concepts worth studying before interviews.
The below links cover only a fraction of the content available – most large firms and financial institutions will have an “insights” page or similar, that may be worth exploring – see our “Business Insights” section below.
Please note these sources all link to external websites. While we endeavour to ensure that the links are up to date we cannot guarantee all links are current. Where relevant we have included the publication dates alongside each resource.
Macro insights
The latest views on the factors driving markets and investments in the UK and globally from some of the top financial institutions and advisory practices.
For interview preparation we would recommend reviewing and summarising two or three sources, which will provide a sufficient overview as there is a large degree of overlap between these reports. Some of these are in a report format which can be lengthy – in these cases the executive summary typically provides enough insight without needing to read the full report. Reviewing insights from a broad range of sources will help you to develop a more rounded view and more deep answer in an interview.
Advisory practices – Regional and global outlooks
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Q2 2023
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Deutsche Bank
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Deutsche Bank
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M&A trends
Trends and themes in the M&A market are influenced by a range of macroecnomic factors, and having an understanding of these will broaden your commercial awareness.
Examples of M&A trends and themes includes deal volumes, deal valuations, hot and cold sectors and industry consolidation. Macro factors are wide-ranging but can include inflation, interest rates, geo-politics, supply chain issues and many more. We discuss these topics in detail in our Corporate Finance Interview Playbook, which is aimed at interview preparation.
Due to the breadth of insights it provides, we recommend you review the Bain M&A outlook for 2023 (first link below) as it provides global coverage which can also be filtered by sector, geographical regions, hot topics and M&A themes.
CEO outlook
Each of the Big 4 firms carry out CEO surveys on an annual basis polling opinions on key trends and patterns in the global economy which impact their own decision making. This is an excellent source of information as it comes directly from CEOs who are responsible for running large businesses and making investment decisions.
We recommend reading at least one of these surveys for your interview preparation as it will complement previous reading on market outlook. We suggest giving preference to the most recent surveys available as these would capture more recent trends, developments and insights – we have ordered the sources below by their publication date.
Business insights
Most advisory firms and financial institutions have “insights” spanning different sectors, regions and themes. This can be a great source for general knowledge and also an additional source for M&A insights.
Technical concepts
Deal Completion Mechanisms
This is an excellent resource released by the professional accounting body ICAEW, which illustrates how to arrive at the final equity value for a transaction. It explains the EV to Equity Bridge, its accompanying adjustments and completion mechanisms.
Interview Playbook
Need more guidance on interview preparation? We have distilled down our advice on preparing for a Corporate Finance interview at top accountancy firms into a concise and actionable Playbook.
Meet the team
We are Corporate Finance professionals with experience practising in global accountancy firms across M&A, Valuations, Transaction Support and Financial Modelling. We are focussed on helping aspiring professionals start and grow their careers in Corporate Finance practice.
