<p>Would someone please explain the difference between the two? It seems, from the valuation side of things, that the two are the same.</p>
<p>i-banking is financial advisory, you advise companies on M&A, how to issue debt/equity, go public... you are on the sell-side, which means you sell securities to investors
private equity is investing/buy-side, you invest money you have raised and the firm's partners' money in companies with growth potential. you are on the buy-side, which means you buy securities as an investor. additionally, private equity firms are sometimes involved in the management of their portfolio companies.</p>
<p>an i-banking analyst/associate's work is almost all valuation/models and presenting them in powerpoint.
a private equity analyst/associate's work includes that and also involves a dose of analysis that is similar to consulting (market structure analysis, competitor analysis...). the balance between that type of work and modeling will depend on the firm.</p>
<p>i-banking involves long hours pretty consistently.
private equity hours tend to vary depending on the stage of a deal.</p>
<p>i-banking recruits students directly from college.
some private equity firms have started doing the same, but most require 2+ years of i-banking or consulting experience.</p>
<p>hope this helps</p>
<p>buyside vs sellside</p>
<p>But it's not a clear buyside/sellside distinction like equity research. In IB, your main purpose is to advise clients vs in PE, your main purpose is to make investments.</p>
<p>PE can includes various types of businesses or funds including venture capital, hedge and LBO. The LBO guys are currently reinventing their businesses due to the credit markets.</p>
<p>"The LBO guys are currently reinventing their businesses due to the credit markets."</p>
<p>Maybe they should consider something more, ahhh, likely to result in improving the economy and society. Like dog-catching.</p>
<p>"Maybe they should consider something more, ahhh, likely to result in improving the economy and society. Like dog-catching."</p>
<p>Or they could, ahhh, stick to providing growth capital to companies that need it, and, emmmm, in the case of mega-buyouts, enable the concentration of ownership in the hands of management thus solving conflicts of interest related to the dispersion of shareholders and executives.</p>
<p>But yeah, I'm sure dog-catching adds more value.</p>
<p>
[quote]
But it's not a clear buyside/sellside distinction like equity research.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Equity research can be buy side and sell side. It depends whether you are working in a firm selling your research to others or advising your in house own portfolio managers/traders.</p>