SG Cowen Case
SG Cowen was a distinctive investment bank because of its very focused approach. The bank, which emerged out of the acquisition of Cowen and Company by Société Général in 1998, focused on emerging growth companies in health care and technology industries. It was a boutique-sized firm with about 1,500 employees, but appreciated the benefit of access to its parent company’s balance sheet. SG Cowen relied on the in-depth knowledge collected through its equity research team, which was already highly regarded for its coverage of its focus industries. Above all things, the bank would remain a pointed emerging growth investment bank. The recruiting strategy employed by SG Cowen consisted of team captains at every school at which they recruited on campus, a group of ‘core business schools’. Professionals at the bank would often conduct ‘informational’ interviews in advance of first-round interviews to gauge enthusiasm of candidates and give them additional information about the firm. The firm’s recruiting strategy centered around focusing on the ‘next 15’ top schools after the top 10 business schools, which historically yielded recruitment of students in the middle of their class. At the next 15 top schools, the firm was hiring at the top of the class and the students tended to be more loyal. Another major advantage of their recruiting efforts was, in information sessions and interviews, SG Cowen professionals highlighted the benefits of being a boutique firm such as less bureaucracy small teams, more responsibility, and accelerated promotion. SG Cowen involved mostly junior professionals to conduct on-campus interviewing because they were more in touch with day-to-day concerns than seniors and could better assess the skills needed by an associate. Furthermore, it led to more selective endorsement of candidates because the junior bankers did not want to