Morgan Stanley Equity Research or Macquarie Investment Banking?
I am an undergraduate with summer offers at Morgan Stanley equity research and Macquarie investment bank. I'm not sure which career path I want to pursue. Which option would do a better job of keeping my options open and putting me in a good place (both for full-time recruitment if I don't get a full time offer, or 2 years out of school if I get a job there)? Which would be a better overall experience? How strong is MS at ER and Macquarie at IB? Thanks for the help.
Regardless of which you want to pursue full-time (ER or IBD), I would take the MS offer.
MS, hands down. Possible to stay in research after, which is great, or network into another side of the firm if that's what interests you.
MS Research
MS Research handsdown.
why is no one saying Macquarie?
For all that said MS, why? I have friends who have told me that going into research will pigeon-hole my career, and that for summer internships the position matters more than the firm. In other words, it's easier to transfer from one bank to another in a single department (for example Macquarie IB to MS IB), than from one department to another within a bank (such as MS ER to MS IB).
Actually doing IB is a leg up, yes. However, it's not that hard to spin a reason for wanting to do IB after EQR since they'll probably listen to anything that validates their own choice. EQR is definitely similar enough that you can leverage the MS brand to get into an IB in the Fall.
If you want to do IB full time, go with Macquarie. IB experience > No IB experience. And, trust me, you can get into a top bank IB after a summer at a place like Mac.
^ but if you cant get a BB offer and you're stuck with macq IB, you're screwed. take MS.
By the same logic, if you can't get a BB offer and you're stuck with MS ER when you want to do IBD, you're screwed too.
also true, but at least with MS ER you could go to a hedge fund. what are you going to do with macq ib? lateral after a year to a BB? useless/
Is Macquarie IBD really that bad? It seems like they're a growing player in the US.
No, they're not that bad. The level of prestige whoring on this forum is just mind-boggling.
I think Macquarie pays their SAs pretty generously---relocation + 70k pro-rated + overtime
Pretty sure MS pays their SAs about the same.
If you want to do MM IB and MM PE, then go with Macquarie. BUT if you want anything to do with a megafund (either PE or HF), go with MS. If you like research you can stay and go to major hedge fund after a couple years. If you don't you can network internally for IB (or something else) for FT and land at a major PE fund afterward. Going to Macquarie will make it much tougher to do that. That's not to say that Macquarie isn't a great firm--it's just that MS is MS.
I find it somewhat amusing that all first four posters are prospective monkeys. Don't take it personally guys, but as you grow older and gain some real-life experience, I think you will realize that what you do matters a lot more than at which firm you do it. Firm prestige plays a lot smaller role in life than you'd think... After the massive layoffs that hit Macquarie in early 2009, several of our analysts got offers from firms like Blackstone and Evercore. Believe it or not, if I was given an offer to take their spot today, I wouldn't do it - and I'm not bitter about working at Macquarie by any means. I just think the laid-back Australian culture, much shorter hours, working on principal deals, and a possiblity of a long-time career (MacBank is not a 2-and-out program; vast majority of analysts at Macquarie get promoted directly to associates) are all a much better fit for me than Evercore or Blackstone. Do what you think suits you best and don't worry about Vault prestige rankings - you'll do yourself a huge favor. I'm not saying Macquarie would be a better choice for everybody; but don't say "MS hands down" if all you know about Macquarie is that it's an Australian bank...
Disclaimer: I work at Macquarie. I never bothered submitting an application with MS research when they interviewed at my school.
I'd go with MS ER:
1) I have a couple of friends who've worked in MS ER. Very demanding, all-star culture, but they learned a ton and had great exit ops.
2) I also have friends who worked in IBD at MacQ, and some that still work there. The whole 'laid back culture' pitch is bullshit. These guys worked as hard as any banking analysts I've seen. One of my friends recalls bitterly a laid back Aussie MD telling him at a recruiting dinner they didn't bother wasting time with pitch books. That was lying hubris - even the best banks have to pitch for deals, and my friends spent plenty of time working on the books. IBD at MacQ is IBD.
3) My impression is that MacQ doesn't have a very disciplined long-term strategy. They over-extended in the US, laid off tons of people, and now they seem to be hiring heavily again. Worked with one guy who got fired less than 1 year out of school in late-winter/early Spring 2009....and by fall 2009, they're back at his school recruiting. Where is the sane executive who understands the cost of attrition?
One caveat I'll throw out is that your job security isn't guaranteed anywhere - especially in research. Good luck!
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