Morgan Stanley Generalist vs Blackstone M&A
Hey guys, I'm considering full-time positions with Morgan Stanley IBD and Blackstone M&A. I think the consensus is that MS M&A would lead to a better experience and possibly better exit opportunities, but the MS offer is generalist only (group selection will happen later, and realistically it's not very likely that I'd get M&A).
Especially given the uncertainty about which specific MS IBD group I'd get, how would you guys compare MS with BX M&A if I'm hoping to go to PE or HBS/SBS after a couple years?
Thanks, appreciate the help.
BX will be better for both of those choices. MS would only be better if you were looking at F500 positions, or considering staying in banking long term.
I would go with Morgan Stanley for the bigger brand name. You'd be surprised at how much brand matters.
Only if you equate "bigger brand name" with the knowledge that your grandmother has heard of the name before.
PE headhunters will still hold MS investment banking experience in higher regard and will give you the time of the day more. Senior professionals at PE firms, especially those who don't keep up with what's going on in the investment banking industry, will also recognize MS more.
Then again, that has been my general feeling while recruiting for PE. Could be right or wrong. No need to be immature.
You're telling me senior professionals at PRIVATE EQUITY firms haven't heard of Blackstone? Right...
BX M&A guaranteed exit opps to mega-cap PE/HF after 2 years very transparent recruiting process for exit opps into buyside
Just to save you time, everyone here will say BX M&A. I would go with them.
BX. Get ready to work.
Both have top exits - BX will work you more.
Wow. Just... wow.
You don't need to have a statistics PhD to understand that you're naturally going to have significantly more representation from firms with anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000+ employees. Blackstone is a little over 1000 worldwide.
Let's break it down this way. BX M&A in New York has maybe 10 analysts per year, max. What % of those analysts are represented at cocktail events (or at least got invited)? I'd be you something close to 100%.
Ummm... yes? What kind of question is this? Why else would kids from the program be going to megacap PE or top HF? First of all, the Street is pretty small, and second of all, people in hiring positions on the buyside are entry-level monkeys getting their primary info from online forums. They have something called industry experience that kind of compensates.
Man, sometimes the level of logical reasoning (or lack thereof) simply astounds me.
Obviously both MS and BX have great franchises. Obviously both have great exit opps. But back to the OP, I'd say go with whatever culture you feel more at home at. I think for many, especially in today's environment, it'd be at a boutique firm. But maybe big firms are your thing.
You are missing my point. I was simply trying to demonstrate that MS is extremely well-represented and highly sought after during PE recruiting.
Still going to have to disagree with you there. I don't think BX's M&A practice is up there yet in prestige or marketability. You forget that the junior guys on the buyside may screen resumes or do initial interviewing, but the senior people (obviously) make the ultimate decisions. Which investment bank would resonate with them more? Which investment bank would be inherently more prestigious to them? Which investment bank has simply been around longer and carries more weight in name brand value? Morgan Stanley.
Again, there is no need to be rude, immature or calling people names. Let's try to keep the discussion civil.
Gotta agree with the above.
I have no idea what kind of chip killscallion has on his shoulder, but making blanket generalizations like "PE headhunters will still hold MS investment banking experience in higher regard and will give you the time of the day more" just shows you somebody who's trying to overcompensate.
Breaking news!!! Both places will be highly respected by recruiters!
Haha, it's futile arguing with somebody like you, so I'm not even going to try.
Looky here--it doesn't matter what your opinion is, nor mine for that matter, when it comes to reputation. The exit opps for each of these places speak for themselves. Period.
You do realize BX started as an advisory practice, right?
And the below is clearly revisionist history:
Unless we ignore what you said only a few posts above:
I really have a hard time picturing someone in PE refusing to "give (a BX M&A Analyst) the time of day."
1) You incorrectly assumed every word in every one of my posts was to demonstrate that MS is extremely well-represented and highly sought after during PE recruiting, when it specifically referred to the single sentence about cocktails.
2) I did not say someone in PE will "refuse" to "give (a BX M&A Analyst) the time of day". Please point out where that was stated.
This is turning into an argument about semantics, but you are making incorrect assumptions about (or purposefully exaggerating) my various points.
If you wish, for example, to argue that a recruiter will MORESO give the time of the day to a BX M&A analyst over a MS analyst, then say it, and I'll stick to my belief to the contrary.
At the end of the day, I was simply offering my opinion about reputation. Take it or leave it.
both have great exit opps
however, BX has 6-8 analysts in M&A every year. every single analyst places well
MS will have 60+ if not many more incoming analysts into its coverage groups... not every one of these analysts will place well... and not every analyst in MS M&A will place well either
BX M&A is not THAT good. I would choose Greenhill, Evercore, and Moelis over it. It has it's prestige from the Blackstone name but the real deals are BX PE, restructuring and GSO.
I would also take MS and GS over BX M&A. They have a name that extends beyond finance and a much broader alumni base. Honestly, from what I've heard from those working at BX PE, they usually doesn't take more than 1 BX M&A analyst if that. That alone should tell you something.
Oh, come on people. Enough of this my dck is bigger than your dck business. You really can't go wrong with any of these.
If I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure that there are 2 BX M&A analysts who just started with PE. Sure, it's not the entire class, but 20-20% ain't bad, especially when you have other folks going to Eton Park, Cerberus, Silver Lake, TPG, etc. And of course you wouldn't recruit from just one place, even if you wanted to. Diversity is good, yeah? ;)
And for what it's worth, my contacts told me that BX M&A/RR, along with GS and MS, were the first three firms reached out to for PE recruiting this year.
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