McKinsey’s Clients Require a Range of Services

The key to corporate finance consulting is to put together a team of generalists for the client, according to Jay Brandimarte, associate principal at McKinsey.

We expect all of our people to be strategic consultants first and corporate finance practitioners second, Brandimarte, ’99, told students at a presentation November 17 at the Hyde Park Center. Its not like we go out as a separate team and do a stand-alone piece of work.

McKinsey has broadened the functional expertise it provides clients, which means the firm seeks to hire people with broad backgrounds. It’s important that all of our consultants are well-rounded and not just focused entirely on corporate finance, he said. Theres somewhat of a misperception that were looking for ex-bankers, but thats not the case.

Asked how the recent spate of corporate scandals has affected corporate finance, Brandimarte characterized the effect as totally neutral since it hasn’t really affected how firms think about strategy. Still, he conceded, there are a lot fewer deals getting done. Part of that has to do with valuations in general, but I think that boards and CEOs are a lot more diligent. Theres a lot more caution and a lot less willingness to just pay anything to get a deal done.

 

Jenn Goddu