Ask any AEO student what they want to do as a career, and there is a significant chance that they will reply “Investment Banking.” After all, a quick Google search of “First Year Investment Banking Analyst Income” is convincing enough for many. Of course, doing the work of an investment banker has an exceptionally high barrier to entry. Countless hours of interview prep, stellar grades, and a flawless interview are necessary ingredients to procure even a summer internship.
Luckily for all Western students with a passion for finance, Emerald Advisors is smashing through that barrier like a wrecking ball! This debut club is already making waves on campus with its innovative approach. As a student-run, pro-bono advisory firm for mergers and acquisitions, Emerald Advisors provides students, from first year to Ivey, the opportunity to advise on real-world facilitation of complex M&A deals.
I had the honour of interviewing Adam Seaton and Kalen Peterson, the Co-Founders and Co-Presidents of Emerald Advisors. Both Adam and Kalen entered their HBA1 year in September and have skillfully balanced the formation of this club with a transformative stage of their academics. Last year, they noticed a gap in Western's leading finance clubs, which focused primarily on public equities and the stock market. This emphasis didn't align with their goals of exploring company valuation and M&A. Recognizing this, they decided to take action, and thus, Emerald Advisors was born.
The executive team at Emerald runs extensive educational sessions for club members, so prerequisite financial knowledge is not required to join. Nonetheless, the most valuable education comes from applying these skills to valuate and market actual companies in the current economic landscape. In that sense, Emerald Advisors is comparable to a year-long exercise of Ivey’s signature case-based learning method, but with implications extending far beyond the classroom.
Intuition suggests that being a university club might hinder Emerald's ability to secure contracts with bona fide companies. However, this status offers a distinct advantage over many firms providing similar services: Emerald will work for free. Adam emphasized, “There’s a very unique market of small to medium-sized businesses that don’t have enough capital to pay investment banking retainer fees. That’s Emerald’s niche.”
Regarding the specific process of a project at Emerald, they couldn’t go into detail for this interview, as all club members are required to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements before accessing client materials—how cool is that?
As a general overview of the process, Emerald Advisors expertly leverages the Ivey alumni network to identify both sell-side and buy-side clients. For buy-side clients, the club conducts valuations for companies their clients are considering acquiring and creates one-pagers or teasers to highlight those companies. On the sell-side, they develop teasers for the company and circulate them to potential buy-side partners. It is important to note that all materials are fully created in-house by Emerald members. If interest is generated, Emerald will facilitate the transition to the negotiation phase between the companies. This mutualistic approach allows the club to gain invaluable real-world experience while providing companies with high-quality, risk-free work—essentially acting as a retainer service.
This method of obtaining deal flow is a sustainable process, and they have already seen incredible success in Emerald's inaugural year. As a result, Adam and Kalen are confident that the club will thrive for years to come. Adam expressed his vision, stating, “I want to be working ten years from now and have someone message me that they're part of the club we started.”
Kalen and Adam highlighted the crucial role their upper-year mentors played during their AEO years in achieving success, and they are committed to paying that forward. In fact, the structure of the club is designed to foster collaboration and genuine relationships. Emerald Advisors has two HBA M&A heads who oversee five HBA associates, with each associate leading a team of five analysts, who range from first year to HBA1. Adam and Kalen believe that this setup promotes cooperation and bonding far more effectively than a club with 50 general members and just a few executives. Kalen stated, “The community is what matters most. We don’t want a competitive environment among each other, but an environment where everyone builds off each other to be successful.”
If you're even considering a career in investment banking, then Emerald Advisors is the club for you. At the very least, it will eliminate the smoke and mirrors of the field, providing you with a comprehensive understanding that will help you make a more informed decision about your career path. However, if your experience solidifies your interest in the field, you'll gain valuable hands-on experience to add to your resume long before your competition starts searching for “What is a DCF?” on YouTube.