élite boutique vs bulge brackets
(Senior Orangutan, 394
Points)
on 8/4/12 at 3:00am
You hear during the recession many of the top boutiques did very well with restructuring work, issues about whether or not Citi/BAML would survive, etc. Are the elite boutiques going to be strong going forward in terms of deal flow, exits, overall experience? Is taking Lazard or Evercore over citi or baml (or even over a GS/ms) still reasonable today? Haven't seen too many analysts at either of those two at the top PE firms, but that could just be a size issue.
hmm i thought that
hmm i thought that Laz/Evercore was always pretty much >>> Citi/BAML
id def take Laz over both anytime
Aww, OP, look at you, putting
Aww, OP, look at you, putting the accent aigu on the E and everything...
hmm i thought that Laz/Evercore was always pretty much >>> Citi/BAML
id def take Laz over both anytime
This. Although you can't go wrong with any of them...
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Previously: management consulting, investment banking
Honestly, all else being
Honestly, all else being equal (which it's not), I don't understand why you would take BB (especially a BB not doing too well, i.e. C, UBS, BoA) over elite boutique.
CHItizen: Honestly, all else
Honestly, all else being equal (which it's not), I don't understand why you would take BB (especially a BB not doing too well, i.e. C, UBS, BoA) over elite boutique.
because college kids usually don't know any better and go for the "name". Bank of America, Citi etc are the household names
Bobb: CHItizen: Honestly,
Honestly, all else being equal (which it's not), I don't understand why you would take BB (especially a BB not doing too well, i.e. C, UBS, BoA) over elite boutique.
because college kids usually don't know any better and go for the "name". Bank of America, Citi etc are the household names
Pretty sure saying you work at LAZ or EVR has a prestige multiple of 100.0x compared with the others listed above.
"An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows."
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Vontropnats: Bobb: CHItiz
Honestly, all else being equal (which it's not), I don't understand why you would take BB (especially a BB not doing too well, i.e. C, UBS, BoA) over elite boutique.
because college kids usually don't know any better and go for the "name". Bank of America, Citi etc are the household names
Pretty sure saying you work at LAZ or EVR has a prestige multiple of 100.0x compared with the others listed above.
Talking to some random girl you meet at a bar, she will have no idea who LAZ or EVR are.
Just look at the majority of the posts on this site, kids come in asking questions like this all the time. Not saying its right, but its the way it is
lols
lols
Don't forget Greenhill and
Don't forget Greenhill and Moelis...
Bobb: Vontropnats: Bobb:
Honestly, all else being equal (which it's not), I don't understand why you would take BB (especially a BB not doing too well, i.e. C, UBS, BoA) over elite boutique.
because college kids usually don't know any better and go for the "name". Bank of America, Citi etc are the household names
Pretty sure saying you work at LAZ or EVR has a prestige multiple of 100.0x compared with the others listed above.
Talking to some random girl you meet at a bar, she will have no idea who LAZ or EVR are.
Just look at the majority of the posts on this site, kids come in asking questions like this all the time. Not saying its right, but its the way it is
And telling a random girl at a bar that you work at BofA makes her assume you're a teller. Sad that that's the way it is.
"An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Check out my blog!
It's all about exit opps, and
It's all about exit opps, and the exit opps at citi/baml blow hard. Chances are you'll be working at some shitty MM PE shop after your 2 years
"And telling a random girl at
"And telling a random girl at a bar that you work at BofA makes her assume you're a teller. Sad that that's the way it is."
HAHAHA
AstonMartin: It's all about
It's all about exit opps, and the exit opps at citi/baml blow hard. Chances are you'll be working at some shitty MM PE shop after your 2 years
This is incorrect. Also, the majority of people who know what they are talking about, i.e. those who have worked in banking don't want to go to Mega Funds... the kids who are at home whispering KKR and Blackstone into their pillows at night aren't the same kids getting killed in the office all day every day. You get to a point where you don't want to leave to go to a firm where you work more hours than you are working in banking for a bit of a pay increase. There isn't anything shitty about working at a middle market PE shop. The majority of kids in banking who get PE offers at all will work in a middle market shop. Do you know why? KKR will probably hire 4-5 kids this year out of all banks. Good luck. If you kids thought getting a banking offer was hard, now think about the fact that of all the analysts out there, you've probably got around 400-500 PE offers for all the kids out there who want to work in PE. You do the math.
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rufiolove: AstonMartin: It'
It's all about exit opps, and the exit opps at citi/baml blow hard. Chances are you'll be working at some shitty MM PE shop after your 2 years
This is incorrect. Also, the majority of people who know what they are talking about, i.e. those who have worked in banking don't want to go to Mega Funds... the kids who are at home whispering KKR and Blackstone into their pillows at night aren't the same kids getting killed in the office all day every day. You get to a point where you don't want to leave to go to a firm where you work more hours than you are working in banking for a bit of a pay increase. There isn't anything shitty about working at a middle market PE shop. The majority of kids in banking who get PE offers at all will work in a middle market shop. Do you know why? KKR will probably hire 4-5 kids this year out of all banks. Good luck. If you kids thought getting a banking offer was hard, now think about the fact that of all the analysts out there, you've probably got around 400-500 PE offers for all the kids out there who want to work in PE. You do the math.
This. I have a college friend who moved to a megafund after his 2 years and is absolutely miserable. He hated banking after 2 years and was really torn weather to accept the offer or go for better quality of life at a MM PE firm. He was sucked into the prestige.
acrew09: rufiolove: Aston
It's all about exit opps, and the exit opps at citi/baml blow hard. Chances are you'll be working at some shitty MM PE shop after your 2 years
This is incorrect. Also, the majority of people who know what they are talking about, i.e. those who have worked in banking don't want to go to Mega Funds... the kids who are at home whispering KKR and Blackstone into their pillows at night aren't the same kids getting killed in the office all day every day. You get to a point where you don't want to leave to go to a firm where you work more hours than you are working in banking for a bit of a pay increase. There isn't anything shitty about working at a middle market PE shop. The majority of kids in banking who get PE offers at all will work in a middle market shop. Do you know why? KKR will probably hire 4-5 kids this year out of all banks. Good luck. If you kids thought getting a banking offer was hard, now think about the fact that of all the analysts out there, you've probably got around 400-500 PE offers for all the kids out there who want to work in PE. You do the math.
This. I have a college friend who moved to a megafund after his 2 years and is absolutely miserable. He hated banking after 2 years and was really torn weather to accept the offer or go for better quality of life at a MM PE firm. He was sucked into the prestige.
What's important is that the top shops have relatively comparable hours and give you the OPTION to go to a megafund if you so choose. You also have an easier time getting into solid MM shops. Furthermore, if you decide to go the HF route, it's almost required that you're at a prestigious firm... we don't have the time or resources to look at a broad spectrum of candidates, so we have to rely on the quality inferred by one's school and group/bank. Finally, the kids in top groups--even the ones that suck--end up with decent placement across the board. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part they're taken care of. You absolutely can't say the same for the mid-tier and below.
I know people at megacap PE that are very happy and those in MM that are miserable. Different strokes for different folks. Do whatever makes you happy, within limits. Name brands stick with you for life. You could be a complete idiot, but having gone to Harvard provides you with a permanent halo effect. If you're extremely motivated and focused on your career, why wouldn't you give yourself every advantage possible?
See my WSO Blog
My point was not that
My point was not that megafund > MM, but rather that analysts at Citi do not get the same recruiting opportunities. When it recruiting season rolls around, the first round of interviews that headhunters set up will always be with analysts at the top groups. From what I've seen, this usually includes GS/MS (definitely not all the industry groups), Evercore, BX, Greenhill, etc. It's like IBD recruiting all over again, and you definitely want to be in those "target" groups. I might have met one or two from Citi or BAML, but they were the clear minority and might have had good personal connections.
That's not to say everyone in the early round interviews go to megafunds, and I personally know people who have chosen MM PE, hedge funds, etc., but it was not because they did not have a chance to go to a megafund.
It's all about exit opps, and the exit opps at citi/baml blow hard. Chances are you'll be working at some shitty MM PE shop after your 2 years
This is incorrect. Also, the majority of people who know what they are talking about, i.e. those who have worked in banking don't want to go to Mega Funds... the kids who are at home whispering KKR and Blackstone into their pillows at night aren't the same kids getting killed in the office all day every day. You get to a point where you don't want to leave to go to a firm where you work more hours than you are working in banking for a bit of a pay increase. There isn't anything shitty about working at a middle market PE shop. The majority of kids in banking who get PE offers at all will work in a middle market shop. Do you know why? KKR will probably hire 4-5 kids this year out of all banks. Good luck. If you kids thought getting a banking offer was hard, now think about the fact that of all the analysts out there, you've probably got around 400-500 PE offers for all the kids out there who want to work in PE. You do the math.
Vontropnats: Bobb: Vontro
Bobb: Vontropnats: Bobb:
Laz over Citi for sure. Laz
When I read threads like
This.