"The Pulse" -- #107 / M&A Dealmaking Update

Recruiting Timeline:

Banking:

Where We’re At:

• SA 2027: No new updates here—won’t see anything here until September

• SA 2026: M&T Bank, Fireclay Partners, and Clearsight Advisors (reopen) opened their apps. 105 firms are recruiting for SA 2026

• FT 2026: Clearsight Advisors opened its app. 3 firms are actively recruiting for FT 2026  

• If you need some interview support or just need a place to vent, check out our Coaching Program: Coaching for banking, consulting, and buyside recruiting | The Pulse. 95%+ of those coached for the summer 2025 recruiting season received offers!

New SA 2026 Applications:

• M&T Bank: Regional bank (SA 2026)

• Fireclay Partners: Kansas City boutique (SA 2026)

• Clearsight Advisors: D.C.-based boutique (SA 2026)

New FT 2026 Applications:

• Clearsight Advisors: D.C.-based boutique (FT 2026)

See below to gain access to our premium database, updated weekly, which houses the application processes for over 300+ banks/consulting/buyside firms! Gain an edge over everyone else by not having to spend countless hours tracking applications and deadlines.

Consulting:

Where We’re At:

• BCG was the latest firm to release its summer and full-time Associate roles. Applications will continue to be released throughout the summer.

SA 2026 released apps:

• BCG - Summer Associate (SA 2026)

FT 2026 released apps:

• BCG - Full-time Associate (FT 2026)

Buyside:

Where We’re At:

• SA 2026: Abdiel Capital and Rosenblatt Securities opened their apps this week. Currently 107 buyside firms are recruiting for SA 2026 seats 

New SA 2026 released apps:

• Abdiel Capital: $3bn AUM L/S HF (SA 2026)

• Rosenblatt Securities: TMT Equity Research (SA 2026)

The database is updated weekly and contains 300+ Investment Banking and Consulting internships/full-time positions along with:

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• Interview prep material

• Applications and deadlines linked so that you can apply with one click

• Insider information about the application process

• Professionals to network with

• Buyside deadlines, interview prep, and people to network with for the sweatiest of students

We send the updated dataset every week with the latest banking and consulting job postings. We released our 107th update today.

Students we have been helping have already landed roles at Blackstone, Goldman, J.P. Morgan, Jefferies, Citi, and Solomon.

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Market Update:

M&A Dealmaking Update

There hasn’t been much optimism regarding M&A dealmaking after the liberation day tariffs were announced on April 2nd. As previously discussed, the tariffs have such strong implications on business operations and profitability that firms won’t ink deals until there is additional clarity on tariffs and their effects on firms’ bottom lines.

Even though 2025 was predicted to be a huge year for dealmaking due to Fed rate cuts decreasing borrowing costs and increasing acquisitions, that is not the way the cookie has crumbled.

There have been no rate cuts so far in 2025, and the Fed Funds rate remains at 4.25-4.50%. This is a stark contrast to the low-interest rate era that basically lasted from 2008 to 2022.

As inflation concerns linger due to tariff-related price increases, expectations for the number of rate cuts in 2025 have scaled back. Market consensus now expects 1–2 cuts in 2025—markets are leaning toward one cut, with a second remaining a possibility.

Another potential inflation driver is the Israel-Iran conflict, which has unfolded over the last week. Rising oil prices could increase inflation numbers and potentially contribute to delayed rate cuts.

All that to say that there have been lots of factors contributing to a tough deal-making environment. But the numbers aren’t nearly as bad as you’d expect.

As seen above, there have been almost $750 billion worth of M&A deals, outpacing both 2023 and 2024 but falling well short of 2021. This is pretty wild, but when you dig into the story behind the numbers, there are a few key insights.

First, the value of deals is up, but the number of deals completed is down. This means that some big deals are happening–a few examples being Google’s purchase of Wiz for $32 billion and Charter’s purchase of Cox for $21.9 billion. There have been more than 10 deals for companies with price tags of over $10 billion. Not bad for a shitty year.

Second, not all industries have seen the same success this year. Industries that are highly impacted by tariffs have seen less dealmaking. It’s no surprise that PE firms are nervous to buy businesses when their margins could get cut in half. The industrials and technology sectors have fared pretty well through all the chaos and remain desirable targets for acquisition.

Lastly, AI and AI-related investments are, of course, extremely popular. There are a large number of firms that have focused extremely heavily on investing in AI and the infrastructure needed to support it (such as data centers).

It’s honestly kind of funny because there are so many AI companies out there that seem to use the word AI to make their companies appear sexier and more desirable for investment.

We will see how 2025 ends up. Tariffs and global conflict are not typically strong drivers for business investment, but things are not as bad as they might appear.

Disclosure: Nothing written here is financial advice or should be used for investment decisions.

2027 Oncycle Private Equity Associate Recruiting Update

Apollo Global Management, Inc. and General Atlantic just delayed their 2027 recruiting efforts.

They’re calling the oncycle timeline unreasonable for students. I largely agree with this statement.

Recruiting for a job 2 years in advance is aggressive…especially when you’ve barely worked in the job you have. However, there are some of the positives to Oncycle Recruiting:

1. Accelerated interview timelines = less of a time suck for the candidate ✅

^offcycle processes can take 3-6 weeks. Interviews every single week. While cranking 70-80 hour weeks at the bank.

2. Recruiting while training = easier interviews✅

^technical oncycle interviews aren’t as detailed as offcycle. Also, you’re doing a ton of modeling prep during banking training.

On the desk, you could go months without digging into models if you’re stuck on pitches / not in a modeling group.

My advice?

Double dip. Recruit to better yourself. No one else. Be selfish. ✅

If you want to do oncycle, then do it!

Recruit for whatever funds are still participating.

You can take an offer and then recruit for Apollo Global Management, Inc. when their process opens.

Quasi shitty thing to do, but you should seize the opportunities you want.

Your employer doesn’t give you notice when they’re about to fire you. At the end of the day, it’s just a job.

We wrote extensively about oncycle vs. offcycle here: How The Process Works | The Pulse Part 2: Buyside Associate Recruiting

Going Forward:

You Got a Job?

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“The Pulse” #107

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