BankerAdvisor is the trusted review site for investment banking and M&A advisory services. Our mission is to help buyers make better decisions when evaluating and selecting investment banking and M&A advisory services by focusing on content quality from credible reviewers.

The importance of feedback on business reputations has exploded in recent years starting with consumer areas and moving to the enterprise space with examples such as Amazon, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Capterra, Glassdoor. We have shifted from a world where brands talk to the market to where clients share and prospects listen. Since investment banking is a very large market, we believe that a peer review ecosystem can provide significant value to prospective buyers of investment banking and M&A advisory services as they navigate the selection process.

As an experienced CFO and board member, I have had the opportunity to participate in dozens of transactions ranging from IPOs, spin offs, acquisitions, venture capital financings, public mergers, PIPEs, etc. From my positive experiences with many bulge bracket and boutique firm, I have concluded the following:

A Challenging and Hurried Process

As a young CFO with limited experience, I was over my head in the banker selection processes, negotiating engagement letters while attempting to determine the varying strengths of a handful investment banks referred by service providers to participate in the beauty contest. This was a challenging and hurried process based on limited information for such an important engagement.

Trusted and Credible Peers are the Best Source

As a battle-field promoted CFO early in my career, I was forced to networking with peer CFOs to get advice from peers on operational areas that were new to me. I quickly learned the value of building relationships with trusted peers and sharing information among a network. We hope to provide similar value on scaled level to our community.

Authentication is Crucial

The stakes are high for the selection of an investment banking service provider and ensuring that the reviewer is verifiable and credible is paramount. As a result, we are using in a two-step verification process of LinkedIn and email to validate a user’s identity. Every reviewer is authenticated and every review is vetted by our research team prior to being published.

Depth of insight outweighs volume

The more complex the service is, the more important that depth of feedback matters. We have provided a robust platform for providing feedback on a number of areas in order to encourage comprehensive feedback on the engagement experience.

Industry Sector Focus is More Important Now Than Ever

Industry sector focus was always an important differentiator among investment banks that seems to have grown in importance. The pace of change seems to have accelerated in all industries and the ability for firms to remain current on trends has become increasingly more challenging.

Active Advisors with Recent Track Records Standout

Markets cycles change, industry sectors evolve, managing directors change firms or retire, and new investment banks emerge as bankers strike out on their own. As a result, the strength and focus of firms shifts over time. It is imperative to monitor these changing market dynamics to understand which firms are most active and demonstrate a successful track record in your industry sector. These firms will have greater insight about your sector and access to the current buyer and investor contacts that matter.

We are excited to launch our beta and welcome feedback from early supporters. We look forward to sharing our progress with you.

Do you have any questions?

Mike Casey