Your Opportunity as an Associate in Merchant Banking

An overview of this programme’s objectives and how you can benefit

Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) seeks to attract and retain the most talented and innovative individuals from across our industry.  We take pride in placing Associates in essential business areas and allowing them to become fully integrated into their groups. We make a commitment to promote our Associates' career development, enabling qualified individuals to grow within our organization. MSIM's workforce is diverse in experience and background, but uniform in reflecting our standards of integrity and excellence.

Investment Management is a key business for Morgan Stanley, making this an especially exciting time to be a part of MSIM and to experience our entrepreneurial environment.

The Associate Programme in Merchant Banking
How the program works and the day-to-day experience you can expect

The Merchant Banking Division leverages the Morgan Stanley network and brand to generate ideas, harness relationships, create investment opportunities, and deliver superior returns for our investors. Merchant Banking sponsors traditional private equity funds, infrastructure-focused funds, and one of the industry-leading real estate investing platforms globally.

Infrastructure

As part of Morgan Stanley's Merchant Banking franchise, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure (MSI) targets investments in infrastructure on a global basis. Infrastructure is emerging as a distinct alternative asset class that serves as a complement to real estate and traditional private equity investments. Infrastructure assets are long-term investments associated with providing essential public goods and services to societies across the globe. MSI believes that underlying trends in infrastructure-related sectors, including fundamental global supply and demand dynamics, provide a significant opportunity for generating attractive risk-adjusted returns with low volatility and low correlation to other asset classes. Most of MSI's investments are large, direct equity stakes in portfolio companies, with the Asset Manager and other senior MSI professionals working together with the management teams of these companies to support their business. 

Private Equity

Morgan Stanley Private Equity (MSPE) is the firm's primary business for investing in large and middle-market private equity transactions globally. MSPE's team of investment professionals brings significant expertise in structuring complex financial transactions and a dedication to partnering with entrepreneurial management teams.

Morgan Stanley has a long and successful history of private equity investing. Since 1985, the firm has invested over $6 billion in private equity transactions on a global basis.

With offices in New York, London, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo, MSPE seeks out the most attractive investment opportunities around the world and combines a global approach with in-depth local market and industry knowledge. Morgan Stanley's extensive business relationships and global network of resources afford both our private equity team and our portfolio companies unparalleled access to leading corporations and management teams.

Real Estate Investing

Morgan Stanley Real Estate consists of three major global businesses: Investing, Banking and Lending. Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing is one of the largest Real Estate managers globally. Since 1991, Morgan Stanley Real Estate has acquired $ 173.5 billion of real estate assets worldwide and currently manages $70.4 billion in real estate assets on behalf of its clients. A complete range of market-leading investment banking services for real estate clients include advice on strategy, mergers, acquisitions and restructurings, as well as underwriting public and private debt and equity financings. As a global leader in real estate lending, Morgan Stanley has offered approximately $210.9 billion of CMBS through the capital markets since 1997, including $44.9 billion in 2007.

During the three-year programme, you will typically work on a variety of transactions and take on significant responsibility for delivering specific elements. From analysing new acquisition opportunities to helping manage the investment portfolio, you will play an important role on teams that include senior professionals who will encourage you to go beyond the numbers and think creatively. Amongst your wide-ranging responsibilities:

• Gathering and synthesising financial and operating information about potential investment opportunities and industries
• Creating financial models
• Performing financial analysis, strategic business analysis and detailed industry research
• Contributing to team discussions and client meetings
• Providing rapid and accurate market judgments to colleagues and clients
• Preparing and delivering partner presentations in a clear and compelling manner
• Acting as a mentor and role model to Analysts

Developing Your Career
What you can anticipate as you make progress and after completing the program

Senior management takes a keen interest in your progress as an Associate and will look to you for fresh perspectives and new ideas. You will be encouraged to take on responsibility quickly with a view to developing your career. As an Associate, you will be exposed to every aspect of Merchant Banking as you work directly with experienced financial / strategic decision makers and partners in the industry. To help in this process, you will typically be assigned a "buddy" and a mentor who will act as your confidants and provide you with on-going advice and support.

Additional training throughout the year may take the form of market and strategic updates, group overviews and case studies. We also support you in taking language classes and financial examinations, such as Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Financial Services Authority (FSA) qualifications, where necessary.

Regional Programme Locations

We hire candidates for positions throughout the EMEA region. Although the majority of our opportunities are in London, we have a limited number of positions in the following locations:

Paris, Frankfurt, Milan and Madrid

Is Merchant Banking Right for You?
A checklist to help you decide if you have the skills and temperament for this area

• You have strong analytical and numerical skills that put you at ease with financial data and financial modeling.
• You are driven to achieve results and will push yourself to perform well under pressure and against tight deadlines.
• You are a committed team player with the ability to manage a wide range of responsibilities.
• You can articulate complex ideas simply and summarise them effectively in your speaking and writing.
• You are committed to excellence in your work and maintain high professional and ethical standards.
• You thrive in an environment that encourages innovation and entrepreneurial thinking.

Selection Process

Selected applicants will meet with Investment Banking and Merchant Banking professionals through a series of interviews, followed by a full day of assessment at our London office. The assessment will involve in-depth interviews, group and individual exercises and a numerical reasoning test.

How to Apply

The Merchant Banking EMEA hiring process is centralised out of our London office and via our Investment Banking online application form. To submit your application, please apply online via our website.

Deadlines

Hiring for our full-time positions is primarily completed through our Summer Associate Programme, however, further opportunities may arise, so we strongly advise visiting our website on a regular basis to verify the full-time opportunities available.