Rick McCreary returns to TD Securities with experience on gold

TD Securities investment Banking

Banking Investment / November 17, 2016

What is your experience in your current role and who do you connect with?

Investment banking gives me the opportunity to wake up and feel charged about what each and every day holds. This is because of the uniqueness of my group and my terrific colleagues. TD Securities' Financial Sponsors group is a hybrid coverage-product group. Not only do we actively cover Canadian and U.S. private equity firms and identify ways we can help them and their portfolio companies, but we also work very closely with other coverage groups, providing perspectives on how a private equity firm may look at a particular opportunity.

Like all other coverage groups, we work with our internal partners within various product groups, such as Leveraged Finance, M&A, Credit, and Equity and Debt Capital Markets, to ensure we give our clients the best advice possible. I feel privileged to work closely with a wide spectrum of people within the firm and engage in direct dialogue with our breadth of clients, from partners at global private equity firms to the executives of leading companies.

What are the main strengths and skills you rely on to be successful in your role?

Although strong technical and analytical skills serve as important backbones in investment banking, my success is ultimately driven by less tangible qualities, namely attention to detail, teamwork, and an orientation towards long-term thinking.

I rely on attention to detail to produce work that is well thought through, quadruple checking it to ensure it's free of errors. In terms of teamwork, virtually all the work we do is team-oriented in nature. As such, building strong, collegial relationships with my own team as well as members of other teams makes the workplace more enjoyable and brings out the best in people. Given the intense demands of the job, it's possible for junior professionals to become less-focused at times. Long-term thinking helps provide perspective and a goalpost to help orient myself.

What made you choose TD Securities?

My decision to join TD Securities came down to two considerations: the firm's reputation and its culture. When I initially joined TD Securities in 2008, I was drawn to the firm's reputation as a leading investment bank, its status as a trusted advisor among leading North American companies, and its ability to attract best-in-class senior talent. This ensured that not only was I learning from the best people, but I was also getting the best transaction experience.

When I re-joined TD Securities in 2014, the uniqueness of the firm's culture played a more significant role in my decision. I have been privileged with the unique opportunity to work at other leading companies and I can say for certain that TD's culture is in a league of its own. TD Securities has cultivated a unique culture that is competitive externally and supportive internally. The culture is equal parts humble, hardworking, and committed to constant improvement.

You work closely with your team on intense projects. How important are your colleagues?

The importance of my colleagues cannot be overstated. They have helped define my experience at TD Securities just as much, if not more so, than the transactions I have been involved with. We put in a great deal of effort to cultivate a culture of openness, support, and learning, where individuals feel like everyone on their team is committed to their success and development. Given the intense nature of the job and the long hours, a familial bond is created among colleagues that often extends beyond the boundaries of the office. It's not atypical for us to vacation together and attend the important milestones of one another's lives. We take recruiting exceptionally seriously and put a lot of time to make sure we recruit future colleagues that fit with our culture.

What advice would you offer students interested in securing an Analyst role within Investment Banking?

Successful investment banking analysts are able to display an effective combination of technical finance skills and proactivity.

Technical finance skills go beyond memorizing formulas or answers to typical questions. They show themselves in the candidate's ability to break-down complex or atypical questions into their basic fundamentals. It's very important for candidates to dedicate themselves to understanding the core principles behind valuation methodologies and their various components.

As for proactivity, it always helps to have as many champions in a firm as possible. Actively networking and reaching out to various TD Securities representatives to become better acquainted goes a long way.

Source: www.tdsecurities.com