"The Pulse" -- #121 / First SA 2027 App Openings

Recruiting Timeline:

Banking:

Where We’re At:

• SA 2027: Still no apps open here yet. Continue to pound the pavement on networking, RBC should open any day now. However, the Buyside is getting active so check the section below for some Buyside SA 2027 openings

• SA 2026: GLC and Citizens opened apps this week. 129 firms are recruiting for SA 2026. This will be the final week of tracking Banking SA 2026 as the SA 2027 season is here

• FT 2026: FT Partners, AQ Technology Partners, BNP, and more opened their apps. 61 firms are actively recruiting for FT 2026. We will continue tracking FT 2026 through November  

• 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 2026 recruiting season received offers!

New SA 2027 Applications:

• None

New SA 2026 Applications:

• GLC: Restructuring boutique (SA 2026)

• Citizens: Regional bank (SA 2026)

New FT 2026 Applications:

• FT Partners: Fintech-focused boutique (FT 2026)

• AQ Technology Partners: Boutique Tech M&A (FT 2026)

• BNP Paribas: Large French bank (FT 2026)

• Hennepin Partners: Boutique M&A (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:

• Still a little ways to go here. Smaller, boutique firms will continue to release applications into the winter. Larger firms will have their processes wrapped up by mid-October.

SA 2026 released apps:

• Harbor - Consulting Intern (SA 2026)

SA 2027 released apps:

• None

FT 2026 released apps:

• Harbor - Associate Consultant (FT 2026)

• Highland Strategy Group - Associate Consultant (FT 2026)

• Mars & Co - Associate Consultant (FT 2026)

• EY Parthenon - Associate (FT 2026)

Buyside:

Where We’re At:

• SA 2027: Harris Associates, Riverside Company, and Graham Partners all kicked off SA 2027 recruiting! There are currently 3 buyside firms actively recruiting. Regarding buyside recruiting, spray and pray is not nearly as effective of a strategy—you need to be intentional with your search. Understanding the differences between private equity, private credit, venture capital, and hedge funds is a good first step

• SA 2026: Strategic Investment Group, JLL, Millenium Management, and more opened their apps this week. Currently, 149 buyside firms are recruiting for SA 2026 seats. This is the final week of tracking buyside SA 2026 roles. 

New SA 2027 released apps:

• Harris Associates: Buyside ER (SA 2027)

• Riverside Company: LMM PE (SA 2027)

• Graham Partners: LMM PE, two-year program (SA 2027)

• KKR: SA 2027 Opportunities Webinar (SA 2027)

New SA 2026 released apps:

• Strategic Investment Group: Investment intern (SA 2026)

• Ascentris: REPE (SA 2026)

• JLL: RE Capital Markets (SA 2026)

• Rockefeller Capital Management: Investment intern (SA 2026)

• Millenium Management: Quant (SA 2026)

• Kairos: REPE (SA 2026)

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

• Interview tips for specific companies

• 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 121st update today.

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

To get access to the database and the weekly updates, you make a one-time investment of $50 Credit Card / Debit Card: (ThePulsePrep 25% SALE—Stripe.com) that grants you annual access to the updated database (please reach out for additional payment options). If you don’t find our services helpful, we simply ask for feedback on an area we can improve upon and will refund your $50.

This is a small investment for a huge payout when you secure your dream offer!

Premium Database——>Database for banking, consulting and buyside roles | The Pulse 

Market Update: 

End of Quarterly Reporting?

Quarterly reporting has been around in the U.S. for a long time, and it actually came out of a crisis. After the stock market crash in 1929 and the mess of the Great Depression, lawmakers decided companies needed to be way more transparent about their finances.

Investors had been flying blind, and shady accounting practices made things worse. So the rules were set up to make public companies share their numbers on a regular schedule. That’s how we ended up with four reports a year.

If companies have to check in every three months, it’s harder for them to cover up problems, and investors can make smarter decisions about where to put their money.

Recently, Trump has suggested that companies shouldn’t have to go through all the hassle of filing reports four times a year. Instead, he wants them to do it twice. His reasoning is that quarterly reporting is expensive and distracting.

Trump argues that if the schedule were cut in half, companies could focus more on long-term goals instead of short-term numbers. Plenty of other countries actually already use semiannual reporting, so the U.S. wouldn’t be doing something unheard of.

Getting rid of quarterly reports has plenty of negatives. They serve as progress reports for investors to make sure everyone, not just insiders, knows how a company is doing. Without them, investors might go half a year without any real updates. That means if a company has a bad stretch, nobody finds out until months later, and when the truth does come out, the stock price could swing hard.

For many investors, quarterly reports are one of the few reliable windows into a company’s financial health. Take those away, and Wall Street insiders have an even bigger advantage.

And then there’s the issue of fraud. The whole point of quarterly reporting in the first place was to stop companies from hiding shit.

Every few months, a company has to show where it’s at. If you remove half those reporting requirements, there’s a lot more room for shady stuff to slip by. Executives could push losses into the future, stretch revenue across longer periods, or massage their numbers to make things look better than they really are. Technically, companies are still supposed to disclose “big events” right away, but those rules are fuzzy and full of loopholes. Fewer mandatory reports could make it easier to bend the truth.

On one hand, cutting back on reports could save companies money and give them room to plan for the future. On the other hand, it risks leaving investors in the dark and creating more opportunities for fraud. 

Quarterly reporting exists because history proved we need regular check-ins to keep markets honest. Whether moving to semiannual updates is a smart modernization or a dangerous rollback is what’s being debated. My personal opinion is that it’s not black and white, but generally speaking, more information = more market efficiency (& less fraud).

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

Walk Me Through the 3 Financial Statements

This is one of the most common questions to be asked in any entry level interview for investment banking, management consulting, and private equity.

It's really simple, but some people have a tough time visualizing it.

So, Rover (dog) will take you along his journey walking through '3 Statement Town' (see the visual and description below) 🐕

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-Rover starts at Revenue Road at the top of Income Statement neighborhood. He ultimately wants to end up at Equity Alley at the bottom of Balance Sheet neighborhood 🛑 

-Rover's first stop is Net Income Avenue at the bottom of Income Statement neighborhood. Along the way, he passes by the Expenses tree to take a leak 🌳 

-The end of Net Income Avenue leads into Cash Flow Statement neighborhood. Rover eats some Net Income treats 🍖 

-As Rover moves to Cash Street he passes by his friends: Cash Flow from Operations Owl, Cash Flow from Investing Iguana, and Cash Flow from Financing Frog 🐸 

-At the bottom of Cash Flow Statement neighborhood is Cash Street. The end of Cash Street bleeds into the top of Balance Sheet neighborhood 🏘️

-Balance Sheet neighborhood is divided by the North side (Assets) and the South side (Liabilities & Equity). These neighborhoods are identical in size and must always match each other 🏡 🏡 

-Rover wraps up his day at Equity Alley to quickly shit out the Net Income treats and take a nap 💩 

*Quick Recap*

-Start with Revenue, take out Expenses to derive Net Income. Net Income is the top line of the Cash Flow Statement. Sum up CFFO, CFFI, and CFFF to arrive at net cash. Net cash is the top of the Balance Sheet in the Assets section. Net Income flows into the Equity portion of the Liabilities & Equity side of the Balance Sheet to balance things out

Going Forward:

We Want to Meet Your Club

We want to partner with your club / organization to prepare your members for summer 2027 investment banking and consulting recruiting. In the past, we have partnered with clubs across UPenn, UMich, UVA, UCLA, and more.

Please shoot an email to [email protected] to set up a time to meet!

Please reach out to us with any questions about recruiting or if you’re interested in meeting the team! ([email protected])

We are happy to chat, review resumes, or help set up a coaching session.

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The Pulse

“The Pulse” #121