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EVR=MOE>PWP>DUC>GHL for Rx imo. Given Ducera was built out by ex PWP and Greenhill folks, pretty sharp and well connected in the distressed space. LA office recently poached several HL Rx bankers at the junior and mid level. If you want to be a career Rx banker and die young, could be a great place. If culture matters, take any of the above over Ducera.
I wouldn’t put Ducera above Moelis/Evercore, but the folks at Ducera have crushed it from inception and it’s absolutely a firm on the rise and considered an EB. Would put Ducera RX above Greenhill RX. Ducera’s still small but they punch above their weight in the RX space for sure, and the firm has begun getting the recognition it deserves in terms of exit opps at the junior level. I do agree with the comment above that culture leaves something to be desired for, but I think that’s more in terms of WLB. They absolutely grind juniors to the bone there, but I haven’t heard any horror stories about seniors being dicks/unreasonable to juniors. Definitely a place to work really, REALLY hard, and I would say it’s worth it if you can bear the work.
Not sure why I’m getting MS for this comment. I have a good friend who went through Ducera’s analyst program and I’m basing my comment on his experience. If anyone has any legitimate counterpoints, list them. Otherwise I’ll just assume it’s salty GHL interns throwing crap
Evercore RX guy here, and I have friends at both Ducera and Greenhill RX. Personally, I'd argue that Greenhill RX is still a better junior experience overall. From the perspective of a junior, you should be taking the biggest name possible without sacrificing too much experience and personal wellbeing. Greenhill RX will open up far more doors, especially if you have any interest in buy-side (Greenhill punches above its weight class for exits because they have an institutional 2-and-out culture and supporting analysts in leaving). Greenhill RX is pretty sweaty as well, but Ducera is materially sweatier, and at the end of the day Greenhill RX is no slouch in terms of deal flow so you'll still get a good analyst experience.
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Greenhill's core senior team led by Augustine is definitely legit in the space. Also, for their size, they've been doing decently in terms of deal flow (checked reorg league tables and they're roughly where Ducera is, and off the top of my head I know they were involved in NAC and also do a lot of advisory work for Carlyle and Apollo with portco RX/distressed M&A/recaps). You also have to keep in mind that Greenhill RX is roughly the same size if not smaller than Ducera, so deal flow per head is still comparable.
Also, from the junior perspective, optionality/brand name is just as important if not more important than deal experience, and Greenhill beats out Ducera by quite a margin there.
I think they had a lender group in LATAM Air iirc
Laughing at all these pissy Greenhill analysts throwing MS at the thought of Ducera being a better bank, even though it’s true (and will become more and more evident in the next couple years as GHL continues to fall down the league tables)
Following this quite a bit later - what have you heard in terms of culture. Have heard WLB leaves something to be desired, but are you saying juniors are consistently working 80-90 hours plus a week?
Ducera was #17 in the league tables in 2022 and greenhill was even worse, not even in top 10 IMO
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I.. do work in RX tho.. this is from Reorg's 2022 tables don't shit on me intern
An associate from there DM'd me on LinkedIn during my summer analyst stint to poach me for FT. Hopped on an "introductory call" and she immediately started grilling me about niche Rx technicals and asking why my gpa is so low (I had a 3.5 at the time). Just bad vibes, red flags everywhere. Going to a BB now instead
Lol this sounds like a fake story.
I interviewed there years back. This sounds spot on.
i wish i made this up dude lol
Delete
Tbh man it sounds like you u just weren’t prepared
This sounds spot on. Very similar to my interview experience.
Ducera is the below all of those listed and is definitely not an EB. Most juniors there are from non-targets and non-traditional IB backgrounds, which isn't end-all-be-all but says something.
Not in the same universe as PWP/EVR/MOCO. Ducera does basically all creditor mandates, while those guys won't touch creditor stuff unless its for a big deal.
I'd still choose Greenhill over them any day given how bad the Ducera culture is. Despite Greenhill's decline, it still has name recognition and is a well-known investment bank (whereas nobody except credit people know Ducera). Additionally, GHL RX is still solid, Neil Augustine leads it who is very respected in the space.
Those rankings comparing fees / deal wins aren't super helpful since so many RX deals aren't public and won't be included.
I’m no ducera shill, but to your point on non traditional backgrounds. Ducera purposely markets themselves towards that since Michael Cramer himself didn’t come from the greatest background. It’s the idea of finding the guy with the largest chip on the shoulder and cranking him.
they generally have really tough interviews, relative to the SA level, which require you to know your stuff. If you can make it through 8 or ten interviews, they’ll take you regardless of your background.
By saying those guys don’t go after creditor mandates unless it’s a big deal shows you know nothing about rx. One peak into the Reorg advisor database and you’ll see those names listed on a ton of creditor mandates on smaller cap stacks.
pepsi
Pay is very high
What is the pay roughly for first year at Ducera ? More than the top EB?
Per a friend - first years this year got 110k base, 90-110 bonus range. Definitely not "more than top EB"
Can you ask what signing bonus was?
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