Investment Banking Associate 1, Fund Placement

Solutions for Today’s Challenges. Vision for Tomorrow’s Opportunities. Join William Blair, the Premier Global Partnership.

Job Summary & Responsibilities:

• The William Blair Fund Placement team advises private market managers throughout the capital raising process.
• Transaction execution and the delivery of fundraising services to clients and prospects.
• Perform extensive fundraising advisory services and complete due diligence activities.
• Work closely with the project management and distribution teams to advance projects, gather necessary information, convey relevant investor updates and present findings to clients.
• Provide training and mentorship to less experienced staff.
• Provide advice to clients on fundraise strategy, structuring, timing, investors and legal terms.
• Utilize creative approaches to analyze and illustrate key fundraising concepts/messages.
• Carefully review and provide guidance to Analysts’ work.
• Demonstrate thorough knowledge of the various private market strategies.
• Assimilate information to perform insightful analyses.
• Anticipate potential deal issues and pass concerns through to team members in real time.
• Actively participate in development of all materials related to the fundraising process.
• Respond to prospective investor due diligence questions.
• Demonstrate an understanding of broader fundraising markets and potential implications to each client process.
• Manage fundraising process, including investor tracking and client communications.
• Engage, with analysts, in the development of marketing materials that highlight the competitive advantage of William Blair Private Capital Advisory.
• Actively participate in client meetings and internal discussions.
• Identify improvements to processes and propose solutions to complete tasks more efficiently.
• Take ownership of client relationships.
• Foster effective dialogue with finance and accounting staffs to facilitate processes.
• Anticipate needs and challenges and provide seamless solutions.
• Act as “on the job” trainer for analysts, providing constructive feedback.
• Focus on improving the quality of analyst and summer intern work product.
• Ensure senior team knows the valuable contributions of all team members.
• Ensure all activities are in compliance with applicable rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
• Additional responsibilities as requested.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree required.
• Prior fundraising, investor relations or private placement experience required.
• Prior investment banking experience preferred.
• Detail oriented with strong analytical abilities.
• Excellent writing, verbal and computer skills, including ability to create materials.
• Critical thinking with problem-solving skills.
• Ability to adapt to new tasks with little notice.
• Ability to manage expectations of senior bankers while working on multiple projects simultaneously.
• Effective leadership and coaching skills.
• Strong desire to win.
• Sound judgement.
• Deep, sophisticated understanding of private markets and the fundraising process.
• Commitment to satisfying internal and external customers.
• Travel required: approximately 10% to 30%.

About Our Firm:

William Blair strives to attract qualified candidates who specialize in investment banking, investment management, private wealth management, and other strategic resource groups. We are committed to empowering our colleagues to deliver client success and engage in our communities. Our firm has delivered trusted advice for nine decades, continuing to deepen our expertise and relationships across asset classes and markets throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. We provide advisory services, strategies, and solutions to meet clients’ evolving needs amid dynamic market conditions and varying industries. What sets us apart is that we are an independent partnership, with colleagues who have unique experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds. We empower our people to bring their best thinking so we can deliver the tailored, thoughtful work and problem‑solving abilities that our clients expect.

William Blair is an equal opportunity employer. It complies with all laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in employment practice because of race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, marital status, gender, age, national origin, sexual orientation, unfavorable discharge from the military service or on the basis of a physical or mental disability that is unrelated to the employee's ability to perform the duties of the job applied for.

Be aware of hiring scams: William Blair has clear processes and guidelines with regards to recruiting. We do not request personal financial information in connection with an employment application nor does William Blair extend any employment offers without first conducting an interview through one of its registered offices. William Blair does not use instant messaging services such as WhatsApp, Telegram, or iMessage as part of the recruiting or interviewing process.

Note to External Recruiters / Search Firms: William Blair does not accept unsolicited resumes and will not pay for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. Any unsolicited resumes received will not be considered as a valid submission.