Morgan Stanley OR Perella Weinberg...

Hi guys,
Just got 2 offers
one at MS doing real estate private equity
the other at Perella M&A analyst
can't decide right now
personally like MS, but also like doing pure M&A at the same time...
please give your thoughts! cheers!

 

Real Estate is very niche. I'd go perella all day as well. They are as elite as you can be.

"Look, you're my best friend, so don't take this the wrong way. In twenty years, if you're still livin' here, comin' over to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin' construction, I'll fuckin' kill you. That's not a threat, that's a fact.
 
Jiu:
oh, forgot to mention, they are both for summer internship. so will the name of MS give me an edge to land an even better IBD/M&A full time offer? thanks!

I think you answered your own question. I personally would go with MS (given you have a somewhat decent shot at a FT offer), but if your ultimate goal is IBD / M&A, this is a no brainer.

 

If you're not 100% committed to real estate than PWP is the way to go to keep as many doors open as possible. In fact you can potentially get offers from better real estate shops during FT recruiting with PW on your resume.

 

Thanks all guys! I was actually expecting some sort of debating... but it seems you all prefer PWP than MS I think I know what to do now... really appreciate your opinions!

 
G.M.Trevelyan:
Look, the above posters are probably those who've never landed an FT let alone a SA position.

It would greatly help people add more weight to what you say if you get Certified User status. Otherwise, there's no reason to believe you're anything other than a college kid either (even if your responses do sound solid). Pat/WSO have an exceptional (read: perfect, as far as I'm aware) track record of keeping their CU's anonymous.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

Hear my opinion for what it's worth. I'm at a top BB, and if I was in your shoes and had the forward perspective that I have now with my 2+ yrs of experience in banking, I would pick the MS opportunity for a couple of reasons:

  • you have a summer stint, and if you want to move laterally, you can position yourself well for a M&A group at Morgan
  • you will be getting solid experience and have buy-side deal experience on your resume, which will make you very marketable
  • PWP is highly regarded, but, it would be hard to switch to a FT position at a BB (if that's what you want to do) because most of the full-time class is comprised of interns (most banks target a 90% conversion rate)
 
Best Response
ibanker12:
Hear my opinion for what it's worth. I'm at a top BB, and if I was in your shoes and had the forward perspective that I have now with my 2+ yrs of experience in banking, I would pick the MS opportunity for a couple of reasons:
  • you have a summer stint, and if you want to move laterally, you can position yourself well for a M&A group at Morgan
  • you will be getting solid experience and have buy-side deal experience on your resume, which will make you very marketable
  • PWP is highly regarded, but, it would be hard to switch to a FT position at a BB (if that's what you want to do) because most of the full-time class is comprised of interns (most banks target a 90% conversion rate)

Not sure if the third point is relevant, but the first two are very true. Consider that MS REPE is ridiculously fierce and very well regarded across the street, and doing a summer internship there will open doors to many top non-real estate opportunities at elite boutiques, other top groups at MS (you will get preference for remaining spots after summer analysts are hired), and GS/JPM industry groups. I'd argue that just like how GS FIG (top FIG group on the street) does not pigeonhole, a MS REPE internship will not pigeonhole you into real estate FT. Having such an elite group on your resume will open up many non-RE doors that will get you much better opportunities than PWP.

 

I forgot to caveat my comment only applies assuming their is a FT spot after ur summer stint (you should ask). If so, I would go to MS, if you want to go to a mega-fund down the road.

Regarding someone's comment about "how she wokld be getting buyside experience" in the group: she will because she will be involved with due-diligence, attend and be involved with preparing investment memos for committees and working with existing portfolio companies - these are skillets that she can market for top groups at GS/MS/JPM.

 

@ibanker12: It's safe to assume there's at least a FT offer at the end but if the conversation rate is the same as last summer it would be ugly.

Additionally don't you think that the difference between how real estate is valued is a negative in that regard?

As a real estate person - I've always been told that RE is always viewed as niche for that particular reason - and that the skillset is rarely seen as transferable.

 

Thanks for the above posts! just also wondering if you guys have a rough idea what is the conversion rate from SA to FT at both places? I think from what you said above, I cant really go wrong with picking either one in terms of firm reputation and experience; but maybe the only criteria I can look at is the conversion rate... Cheers!

 

Omg don't drink perella Kool aid. Much overrated. Know friends who worked there: 1) horrible buy side exits. No hedge fund exits at all. And only small pe shops. No structured recruiting. 2) mba placement is getting worse by the year. No way joe perella is going to write you a rec letter. You barely get to talk to him. 3) sweatshop hours and some douchebags. MS anything will get you better recognition outside the industry.

 
northdakota:
Omg don't drink perella Kool aid. Much overrated. Know friends who worked there: 1) horrible buy side exits. No hedge fund exits at all. And only small pe shops. No structured recruiting. 2) mba placement is getting worse by the year. No way joe perella is going to write you a rec letter. You barely get to talk to him. 3) sweatshop hours and some douchebags. MS anything will get you better recognition outside the industry.

This.

I worked at a BB and if this was a FT gig and you wanted M&A, go with Perella.

But as a summer, I'd go with MS.

 

I'm an incoming summer associate at pwp. My thoughts are 1) it is a small firm with a small class, thus u won't have as many ppl going to a megafund if that's your goal. Historically the handful that exited went to quality PE/VC , however I have heard the firm looks for stability and doesn't necessarily fully support buyside exit ops 2) this is false. upon receiving my offer on my sell day I spent an hr in joe perella's office just talking about anything. he is busy but if he can take the time for incoming summers I'm sure you can get to know him during summer. 3) sweatshop hrs and douchebaggery will be prevalent anywhere.

 

@Contrarian

2) Sell day is called sell day for a reason. These are bankers btw, aka professional salesmen. I never really cared for the honeymoon period with any firm after I got my offers. Try going into Perella's office when you start working and see if that will rub your directors/MDs the wrong way. And try slipping in a few words with him when you are in conference. My original point was Perella will write you rec letters for biz schools 3 years ago when the firm had 20 ppl. Now not a chance. He himself is a great businessman and a very nice person. But the firm is at a position where it's big enough that there are enough people btw you and him.
Also bear in mind that PWP and a few other smaller shops are very fairness opinions heavy in their deal flow.

These said. PWP has a good name and you won't go wrong career wise. But MS's name will bring recruiters and its long-established network and alum outside the firm will benefit you in ways you don't realize now. Especially you are only a summer. I know people from MS RE who transited into mega funds.

 

I still think that I really need more advice... so i just listed what i like and i dont like about each option. please give your thoughts... good things about MS: brand name, good network of ppl, probably better exit opps? bad things about MS: dont really want to narrow myself into real estate PE at such an early stage... good things about PWP: potential better deal exposure (smaller deal team), the work is pure M&A bad things about PWP: outside of the finance industry, probably the brand name is not as big as MS I also like the ppl at both places, so culture is not an issue here. what are you thoughts?

Many thanks!

 
Jiu:
I still think that I really need more advice... so i just listed what i like and i dont like about each option. please give your thoughts... good things about MS: brand name, good network of ppl, probably better exit opps? bad things about MS: dont really want to narrow myself into real estate PE at such an early stage... good things about PWP: potential better deal exposure (smaller deal team), the work is pure M&A bad things about PWP: outside of the finance industry, probably the brand name is not as big as MS I also like the ppl at both places, so culture is not an issue here. what are you thoughts?

Many thanks!

U just repeated the question in your first post.

If you can't make this decision yourself, nobody else can help you especially following the 20+ trailing comments.

 

Final thought: Given banks are filling their FT programs with their summer interns - I think it becomes risky to turn down PWP. In the event that you aren't able to get a FT offer elsewhere.

However, if you do pick MS we'd love to have you as an active contributor down in the RE forum.

 
- you have a summer stint, and if you want to move laterally, you can position yourself well for a M&A group at Morgan

Don't pick MS just to try and lateral into the M&A group for FT. The chances of that happening are slim to none. Other groups are possible though, but even outside M&A lateraling from SA to a different FT group isn't always that easy.

 

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