Associate Director, M&A Advisory - Financial Services

Interpath is a financial advisory business with a broad range of specialisms, established to provide our professionals with an agile, independent, and conflict‑free environment to excel. We support our clients in creating, defending, preserving, sustaining, and growing value through the business cycle, serving both regional SMEs and large, complex multi‑national organisations.

The Financial Services M&A Advisory team is well connected in the industry, with businesses, banks, Private Equity, and diversified funds providing a broad sector coverage with a proven track record of helping lending platforms, banks, fintech, servicers, loan brokers, and other related companies. The team has ambitions to extend coverage to other sub‑sectors such as asset & wealth managers and insurance companies.

The core service offering of the Financial Services M&A team are:

• sell‑side mandates and buy‑side advice on mergers and acquisitions,
• strategic advice to clients, and
• equity raises and structured equity trades (i.e., structured notes / preference shares).

We pride ourselves in being highly responsive to our clients, providing outstanding advice, and working as a seamless, cross service‑line team where beneficial to our clients. We are seeing significant opportunities in the market (UK and in certain European jurisdictions) where we are well positioned, have strong industry knowledge and technical know‑how to originate and execute deals – as such we are rapidly building and growing our Financial Services M&A Advisory team and seeking an Associate Director, who will gain significant exposure and participate proactively to originate, drive business development, help senior colleagues in executing deals, perform sector analysis and contribute towards team building.

The candidate will play a key role in the execution of M&A transactions. Working closely with the senior team members, the candidate will contribute to each stage of the transaction process – from initial pitch and financial modelling to drafting IMs, project management, deal structuring and execution.

Day-to-day Tasks

• Managing and assisting in the origination and execution of M&A transactions in Financial Services.
• Candidates will have significant responsibilities and would be expected to work on multiple deals at the same time.
• Performing financial analysis, strategic business analysis and detailed industry research.
• Assessing large and complex data sets and providing insights to clients and colleagues.
• Overseeing and supporting the preparation of data and marketing materials to support a transaction process.
• Preparing and delivering client presentations in a clear and compelling manner.
• Supporting and coordinating Due Diligence processes.
• Acquire and maintain up to date knowledge of buyers, sellers, our services, risk, and competitors.
• Managing junior colleagues and ensuring their work is thoroughly reviewed and guidance (on the job learning) provided.
• Efficient use of databases and other research tools.
• Market research and analysis of different industry verticals.
• Stay informed about market developments, industry best practices, and regulatory changes affecting M&A transactions.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams within the firm.

Candidates will have direct exposure to all seniority levels internally, as well as direct client contact.

Requirements

• Direct M&A experience - this could have been gained in M&A advisory, investment banking or in corporate development roles.
• Experience in the Financial Services sector is a must.
• Preference for candidates that have experience in banking / lending / speciality finance and not only pure Wealth / Asset Management / Broking experience (can have both). Experience in Insurance is a plus.
• Knowledge of assessing and analysing loan data tapes will be considered a plus.
• Excellent financial knowledge (accounting and company valuation) and understanding of financial statements. This will be tested during the hiring process including a financial modelling exercise.
• Excellent financial modelling ability – note this skill will be tested via a case study. It will be a core responsibility to be able to build high quality Excel models from scratch.
• Ability to assess and analyse large and complex data sets in Excel (is a must) or using other tools such as Power Bi.
• Entrepreneurial spirit with the ability to contribute own ideas and work autonomously.
• Drive, enthusiasm, creativity and excellent interpersonal skills.
• Strong multi-tasking and time management skills.
• Capable of working under pressure and in a context of shifting priorities.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills – both verbal and written, which will be tested.
• High attention to detail.
• Strong academic background and results.
• Proficiency in the use of Excel, Power Point, Word and Outlook.
• Experience with financial databases such as Capital IQ, Pitchbook and MergerMarket is desirable.
• Proficiency (both written and spoken) in English.