MO at BB vs. Big4 Financial Services Advisory
Heres the situation.
I have been working in a MO role at a BB bank in NYC, for 8 months since graduating from a non-target, but solid school. The group is drastically different from when I joined due to "restructuring" and poor mid level management. The group used to be a research/strategy group, writing reports and doing analytics for the FO, but has slowly been morphing into a group who tracks trends and changes in our bank to give reports to MO management.
I have an opportunity to join a Big4 Advisory group advising BB banks and major HF,AM firms on various issues from capital structures, valuations, restructuring issues, etc.. (you get the point).
I ultimately want to be a portfolio manager, but this is a long way off, obviously. I think the Big4 Advisory is a way to get more client/AM/HF exposure, which I desperately need.
I know there is a stigma with MO/BO that I dont want, but there is also a Big4 stigma (despite the fact that advisory is looked at more favorably than audit or tax). Which will help me out more for my long term goals: where I'm at or Big4 advisory?
What about BSchool.. which position would open more doors?
I also have been working for 8 months. I dont want build a resume that looks like I jump ship every 10 minutes
Im thinking advisory is the way to go but i need some additional insight. Please help me out if you have any knowledge on this. I'd appreciate serious but honest responses.
All the best guys.. thanks.
FO beats MO so I would go for the Big4. People get into top bschools from there, so dont worry. If you want to move into AM/HF and are exposed to it at the Big4 there you go.
Take Big 4 ! One of my alumni started off in a Big 4 firm advising AM firms and such, now he's a VP at Goldman AM, he lateralled after a couple years - says he leveraged the client relationships from his Big 4 stint
Sounds like an E&Y FSO Advisory type role.
Thanks for the help guys.
I just looked up EY FSO Advisory and while its not that role it does look quite similar. I agree with you there.
That being said.. any more/additional perspectives?
Thanks!
Sounds like it could be a valuation group, but there are a number of groups that claim to do these types of advisory activities. Make sure it involves actual valuation/modelling not just due diligence/accounting integration/financial reporting etc.
I can tell you that you are unlikely to get meaningful exposure to buyside front-office employees-the type of consulting the Big 4 provides, with the exception of one super-elite group at PwC that is getting phased out anyway, get limited exposure to the actual investment side. More likely is that you'll deal with large firm's back office accounting groups to provide marks on their illiquid investments. Client exposure in general depends on the group but usually starts at more of the manager level.
Big 4 place well into business school, especially if you make manager.
The Big 4 stigma is real, but is it bigger than the BO stigma? Tough to tell.
These roles place very well into middle-office valuation roles on the buyside, and moving to front-office banking/buy-side is possible, though not an easy/likely path from my experience.
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