PEP Flashcards
What have you heard about PEP and why do you want to work for us
Storied history, founders who have been there for more than 20 years since the start. Gateway - access to a lot of different markets and industries. Also the most growth in FUM.
What’s your work style?
Really independent. Love diving into a problem, solving it, and then coming up for air afterwards to discuss and bounce off my conclusions with others for feedback.
Very much do first, think about it, and discuss later
Why are you the best person for the role
I have strong analytical skills, a very diverse knowledge base, curiosity - won’t rest until I solve it
What are your weaknesses / areas for learning / development
My main development area is the softer skills. As I develop further in my career, its going to become increasingly important to develop my network and improve to ability to originate deals. In the past I haven’t really focused on this - deals given to me and then I assess whether to proceed
Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership skills
A time at Moelis when we were working on a transaction, one of the juniors under me helped with a piece of analysis and he’d gone in the wrong direction. It was a tight timeframe and I needed to get him back on the right path, so I sat down with him and walked through the analysis he’d done - tried to understand where he was coming from, the rationale that he had. A lot of what he had done was correct and good work that we could use, helped him to understand where he went wrong and how to fix it
What are you looking for in a team / culture?
I’ve always gravitated towards small entrepreneurial teams where you feel like you are building a business together. That’s the kind of environment I like, where you get a lot of exposure to a lot of different things, and there’s a pretty flat structure
Tell me about the culture at Moelis / Ellerston, how it differed, what you liked about each
I’ve always gravitated towards small entrepreneurial teams , and both companies fit that bill. You get a lot of exposure to a lot different things, there’s a lot of independence and no micro managing.
Why private equity vs. public equity?
Poor governance structures in public equity. In private you create more alignment between the shareholder and company, and can both use your expertise to drive an outcome.
In public, I also felt like I only scratced the surface and wanted more detail to properly understand a business
What is your greatest professional achievement?
My greatest achievement was the work I did for Linx Cargo Care. They didn’t know what was going on in their business, they were losing a lot of money and wanted to know how to fix it. I drove the analysis for the deal, worked closely with both management and operations teams to pick apart the business at a granular level and understand the contracts / products that weren’t profitable and reshape the business through an insolvency process.
Tell me about a time you made a mistake
Tell me about a time you failed
Early in my career I was given a task to do, I didn’t know how to do it and I spent quite a long time spinning my wheels and trying to figure it out on my own. I ultimately presented it to my boss and it was wrong, sat down and went through it and it was simple and I overcomplicated things. Learned that it’s usually much easier to talk through things first if you’re not sure and not be afraid to ask questions.
Are you risk-averse or risk-seeking
I’m pretty averse, I’m to take risk when its well calculated / I’ve done a lot of work to back my investment thesis, and there’s also a good margin of safety priced in
What do you like least about your current job?
Foxtel: Politics and buearacracy
Ellerston- early stage deals; not as much to sink your teeth into. Hard to get convicton on an investment thesis
Moelis: Lack of direct influence in deals (backseat driver), only get to see middle part of deal
How would your boss and coworkers describe you?
Highly analytical and independent. Always have my head in the clouds thinking about a problem, and can even sometimes be a bit obsessive. I don’t like to put problems down until I solve them
What motivates you
I’m driven by my desire to keep learning and developing. I really enjoy getting to meet founders and work with them along their journey and want to be a part of that
What are your career aspirations. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I aspire to eventually be a portfolio manager. Over the next 5 years I want to continue moving towards that goal. I want to continue to learn and evolve my investment rationale and process, learn from others how they approach investments, a key area for my development is on the deal origination side.
