TruWater Advisory Hiring! Full Time Investment Banking Senior Associate - Manager in Federal Territory - Ricebowl

Job Location

KL, Malaysia (3-4 days week in the office)

Target Start Date

1st December

About TruWater

We are a boutique sell-side M&A advisory for tech and marketing services founders across APAC, based in Singapore. TruWater Advisory was founded by an ex-BCG consultant who previously ran the APAC Practice of a regional M&A firm. 

We’ve only been around for 18 months, but we’ve completed three transactions, these include the sale of Total eBiz Solutions to Accenture (Avanade) and the sale of Heroleads to Havas. We have a number of live pipeline of sell-side mandates across Singapore, Australia and Southeast Asia.

The Role

We're looking for a Senior Associate to join us as one of our first hires. You'll be in the room with founders early, running live mandates, and shaping how we do things as we grow.

You'll work directly with our co-founders at every stage of the deal, from the first conversation with a founder about whether now is the right time to sell, through to negotiating the final terms with a buyer. 

What You'll Do

• Run financial analysis, valuation, and modelling for sell-side mandates, including comparable company, and precedent transaction analysis
• Build marketing materials (e.g., teasers, information memorandums) and buyer-facing materials that do justice to a founder's business
• Research and map buyer universes across APAC and beyond, and lead early-stage outreach to strategic and financial acquirers
• Use AI tools to speed up buyer research, first drafts of materials, and the early passes on financial analysis, so more of your time goes into judgment calls and client conversations rather than manual grunt work
• Manage the due diligence process end to end, coordinating between founders, buyers, lawyers, accountants, and other advisors 
• Sit in on management meetings and negotiations, and start owning parts of the buyer and founder relationship directly rather than working purely behind the scenes
• Keep deals moving, flagging issues early and bringing solutions rather than just problems
• Contribute to how we build the firm itself: our processes, our positioning, our point of view on the markets we cover

Who You Are

• 2-5 years in strategy consulting (MBB or strong tier-2), Big 4 corporate finance, investment banking, transaction services or corporate development
• Exceptional candidates with 5-9 years experience will be considered for Manager role
• Self-directed. Small firm, no infrastructure to hide behind
• Strong financial modelling and valuation skills, genuine comfort with financial statements and valuation; you don’t need hand-holding on a three-statement model
• Strong written communicator: your materials go in front of founders and acquirers unedited
• Comfortable working with AI tools (e.g. Claude, Claude Cowork) as part of your daily workflow, not just aware that they exist. 
• A track record of working directly with clients, not just producing analysis for someone more senior to present
• A degree in finance, accounting, economics, or a related field
• Based in Malaysia, with the flexibility to travel in the region as mandates require

Good to have, not essential:

• CFA, ACCA, CA, or equivalent qualification
• Existing exposure to, or a network within, B2B software, tech services, or marketing services