Buy-Side vs M&A straight out of undergrad
(Chimp, 15
Points)
on 12/5/06 at 10:28pm
Buy-side (i.e. PE or Real Estate PE at BB firm) vs. M&A at BB straight out of undergrad (at analyst level)
Which do people think has the greater/better:
1) Prestige
2) Exit options
3) Compensation & work life balance
4) Overall package
Thanks!
M&A at BB. no brainer.
M&A at BB. no brainer.
Really?
Really? From what I understand BBs hire in very few people straight from undergrad into their private equity divisions. At my college only a few of the very top students got (and accepted) offers from BB private equity divisions.
I would say its more selective and prestigious than M&A which is far easier to get into straight from college. Exit options should be good as well as you've actually get buy-side experience.
Buy-Side any day of the
Buy-Side any day of the week, whether it be BB P.E. or Blackstone, KKR etc which are almost impossible to get into straight out of undergrad.
I would take BB M&A. I know
I would take BB M&A. I know it's hard to resist taking a PE job right now, down the road I think it'll be worth it.
Reasons:
1. Deal Flow: Probably the most important reason. Most of your learning comes from doing a lot of reps on a model, offering materials, etc. You'll find this more at a M&A/CorpFin rather than PE.
2. Training: BBs invest a crap load of time and money into analyst, and you can easily see the difference between analysts from lateraled from BBs with decent training and ones form boutqiues who had just "on-site" training.
3. Network: During analyst training, since it's a bigger pool, you'll develop a larger network of friends and contacts in CorpFin vs. PE right out of the gates.
getting into M&A right out
getting into M&A right out of undergrad straps you with a powerful brand very early on...it is a much better foundation to build your entire career on..
Just to clarify, the offer
Just to clarify, the offer to do PE/Real Estate PE is with a bulge bracket.
The deal flow would not be the same as M&A - i.e. do fewer+smaller deals but you would get the same training and networking opportunities as you are in a BB.
Re: Just to clarify, the offer
Just to clarify, the offer to do PE/Real Estate PE is with a bulge bracket.
The deal flow would not be the same as M&A - i.e. do fewer+smaller deals but you would get the same training and networking opportunities as you are in a BB.
I would jump at it, working in P.E. straight out of UG is an unbelievable opportunity. I have a friend who is working for GS's P.E. division straight out of UG. He's having a great time and the hours are not that rough for obvious reasons.
People overestimate the experience you get in M&A even at a BB.
I really wish I was in your position because I really want to do Real Estate PE anywhere regardless of size of the bank.
This is a very high level
This is a very high level and interesting thread.
It gets back to a similar question I posed here (which no one answered cause you guys are all bankers).
I had the same dilimea, sell side research or an undergrad analyst position at a buy side firm (a top kind of firm, with 200+ Bil AUM).
Everyone in the business said, go buyside if you can. Sure you get some networking and training, but who cares, if you can start at where everyone wants to go, why do you care? You are already at the best, and you can stay there, should you do well, as long as you want.
If you get a training program to boot (as I would at a BB equivelenet IM firm), then you'd be a fool to turn it down.
what do people think about
what do people think about this now? BB PE arm vs BB IBD?
bump
bump
wkc207 wrote: bump BB IBD
bump
BB IBD anyday, particularly if you're in a good group and top-tier BB.
buyside all the way, M&A is
buyside all the way, M&A is overrated. All you do is endless pitching ( if you do everything in house) or CIM or VDR or SOMETIMES MAYBE modeling. I am in a M&A shop fyi
if you are in a top group
if you are in a top group (aka high dealflow) and you are good then you'll be closing deals and not pitch all the time. a good analyst in top group should be able to close 3-5 deals in a 2 year period. THAT will set you for any exit you may want. Its deal experience that matters the most. From what i've seen BB PE do a lot of minority equity investments and very rare proper buyouts. Even if they do buyouts, you might be lucky to do 1, but I think thats not enough.
wamartinu wrote: if you are
if you are in a top group (aka high dealflow) and you are good then you'll be closing deals and not pitch all the time. a good analyst in top group should be able to close 3-5 deals in a 2 year period. THAT will set you for any exit you may want. Its deal experience that matters the most. From what i've seen BB PE do a lot of minority equity investments and very rare proper buyouts. Even if they do buyouts, you might be lucky to do 1, but I think thats not enough.
In terms of deal experience, in a BB PE group if the buy side deal dies in the last round, all the learning is already compeleted. All the due diligence is done, offer letter etc, the only part missing is admin process after the deal is done. Also monitoring existing portfolio companies is a very useful learning exprience, kind of like consulting type work.
In conclusion, although the number of deals you do is less, the experience/learning curve should be steeper in my opinion... please correct me if i am wrong?? would appreciate some input from professionals in the industry on this
what about GS PIA vs GS IBD
what about GS PIA vs GS IBD (assuming a good group)？
wkc207 wrote: wamartinu
buyside if you want to make
PE right now. I agree that
Buyside CFA wrote: PE right
Good question and good