❗Alvarez & Marsal: the Elmer Fudd or Gaston of the Consulting Market?
Alvarez & Marsal is making serious waves in the Transaction Advisory space with a strategic initiative to poach “hundreds” of Partners and staff from the Big Four accounting firms. Over the past year, the firm has seen great success in attracting senior talent, not just from the Big 4, but also from the likes of the MBB.
Co-founder Bryan Marsal likened the firm’s eagerness to a “hungry dog outside a butcher’s shop window,” as it seeks to leverage the current upheaval and strategic uncertainty among its rivals.
A recent article from the Financial Times has mentioned that A&M is set to announce a significant hire: six senior Deal Advisers from KPMG, including Preston Parker, the Global Head of KPMG’s Integration and Separation practice. Parker will spearhead a new business at A&M focused on M&A work for US and multinational companies.
This move is part of A&M's broader strategy to expand its corporate M&A capabilities, traditionally dominated by private equity deals - from having recent conversation in the market, this strategy makes sense, as pipeline focuses for many consulting firms are being dominated by the corporate sphere, rather than in PE.
With an ambitious goal to hire hundreds of partners and staff over the next five years, A&M aims to attract talent frustrated by the constraints of working within Big Four firms, particularly due to the increasing regulatory scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest between audit and consulting work.
A&M’s aggressive expansion strategy is also a countercyclical bet. Despite a current slowdown in M&A activity, Parker believes the transaction markets will rebound strongly by 2025. The firm is positioning itself to be ready to seize the opportunity when the market picks up. This hiring strategy is being adopted by many firms in the market this year - targeting firms/teams that would otherwise be difficult to poach.
With the current expansion success and market penetration being seen by A&M over the past few years, I am intrigued to see how this strategy further develops - are we seeing Gaston or Elmer Fudd?
#Consulting #MandA #BigFour #AlvarezAndMarsal #CorporateStrategy #TalentAcquisition
Partner, Chief Legal Officer, Chief Compliance Officer at Siris Capital Group
1moWell done, Marc (and MLA)! Congratulations!!