need help on Allen & Co.

All this information is slightly off. They definitely take out of undergrad, and they definitely take analysts outside of Penn. I know for a fact that there are Harvard, Duke and even kids from U. Wisconsin.

expand and clarify this question and do a search of the forums

there is nothing in the archives on them that being said they dont hire analysts (only associates and above)

they hire analysts...just not on a formal basis as most analysts come from referrals from within the firm...

solid media banking firm with a whose who list of clients in the space.

their "analysts" get associate titles...all 3 of them

didnt know that...thanks for the clarification

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They do hire analysts, but most if not all of them are lateral hires. They tend to refer to the junior bankers as the junior support team. Either way, it's still structured (an MBA grad will be more senior than pre-MBA regardless of title).

Anyway, without babbling too much...great firm, good people, very tight knit. Great lifestyle, too. It's a good place if you want to do banking as a career, in my opinion. Office isn't in the best location (too many tourists and crowded for me) but the pay is well above street for the most part.

Extremely hard to get into becuase their M&A team is only about 35 people and they are not looking to expand, only replace losses. Do you have an interview with them?

You need a connection.

to kamilbas: get a job in a Media group at a BB then try to lateral after a few years (after you find a connection, of course)

Unfortunately I doubt Allen will hire you straight out of school with no experience and noone to vouch for your technical abilities. Maybe if you summered somewhere with someone who had a connection (for example, an associate I know in DB Lev Fin did a summer at Allen). It's definitely possible to lateral there after a year or two somewhere else, though. Just keep your eye out for their job postings or send them your resume (probably not the best option, but they don't take calls).

I do have some personal contacts within the firm but am neither in the position nor do I feel it's appropriate to refer anyone. They are looking to fill an analyst role, though...

Does anyone know if Allen hires summer interns.

yeah, but u can only get a job via connection. the interns don't get training and mostly do total bitchwork (getting coffee, photocopying, etc.) and its really not that great of a learning experience. I go to a target and one my fraternity brothers interned there (current senior).

Conversion rate for Allen SA to FT is very low, had a buddy last year who didn't get a return offer.

do u happen to know the numbers?

Do you have offers at these firms or are you in the process? Allen&Co has different positions for SA hire.

If you can get into a solid group at DB go there.

offers to both, but generalist offer at DB (so unsure)

id do allen

Allen & Co. is the Qatalyst Partners of the media space.

Allen & Co for US, DB for Europe

Stay away from Allen & Co for SA. They don't really see it as a hiring tool. Almost all of their "summer analysts" are relationship hires, the training is a joke and they work maybe 1/2 of typical investment banking analyst hours.

Know someone who spent a summer there. No offer. Had trouble landing even MM FT interviews.

Allen & Co is involved on high visibility deals like Facebook, Zynga, and LinkedIn. DB was not involved in a single one of these deals. It is a smaller boutique but they have some serious connections in that space.

Could be a great spot to land...not a bad sector to get some exposure to so early in your career

I wouldn't go off one person's account that Allen won't convert to a FT position, but definitely worth asking that firm how many ppl get FT offers.

From what I heard, Allen usually has about a dozen summers (relationships, favors) for 3-5 full-times spots. I'd be very wary of doing a summer there, although full-time it's an awesome position.

Well it depends if you want to work in a BB or a small boutique of a lower class than Moelis.

Hiring at Allen & Co. is looked at more long-term. DB is your typically structured 2-and-out.

If this was full-time definitely Allen & Co, but it seems like it's risky for SA =/ Ask the company regarding class sizes to confirm what's being said here is true?

if you're interested in career banking or moving to mid-market PE/ corp dev/ VC in media tech, Allen & Co might be a good option. It's a pretty lean and mean shop w/o a website last I remember. But it has low visibility outside of the industry. If you don't get on a Facebook/Zynga or whatever deal after 2-3 years then you might find yourself in a hole, trying to get out. Go on LinkedIn and scan where former Allen&co analysts end up.

On the other hand, DB is a 2-and-out structure but could be considered a lower-quality opportunity from the perspective of pay (only by a little) and maybe culture depending on who you talk to. I know someone who SA'ed there and hated it so much she got a FT offer but left the firm on account of the culture. But DB has higher visibility across industries, and you will still have a shot at megafunds and other good exits. Even if you just do middle-market deals at DB and never get on a huge $2 billion+ deal, you'll at least have a recognizable brand name on your resume.

If you wanna interview with megafund PE (Bain Cap, Blackstone etc.) senior year, DB is probably a better bet. However, I suspect an opportunity at Allen&Co may be more unique from a b-school admissions point of view, depending on what you work on there.

If you don't wanna be a career banker (and this is the assumption if you haven't done banking, b/c honestly it sucks), then the overall verdict,: DB for SA, get an offer and try to recruit with GS/MS/JPM/BarCap/CS senior year and better-known elite boutiques, Lazard, Evercore etc. But it's a tough call since the Allen&Co opportunity is pretty cool

I really think you should take the DB offer. Although their top people are incredibly well connected, Allen & Co is not a good place for junior bankers. A lot of the kids who spend a summer there didn't get SA offers anywhere else. The person I know said no one from her class got an offer for FT and only 1 extremely qualified person got an offer in the previous two years or something ridiculous like that. They might be expanding this year, but overall based on what I heard it seemed like she had a pretty sh*tty, stressfree (not a good thing in banking) summer experience.

The low SA to FT conversion rate mentioned above is true. However, if you are confident in yourself, I think you should take Allen & Company.

Take DB..... in this market, the better chance you get at securing a FT offer, the better. Why would want to join a firm for just 2 months, and not get an offer to return (or have a very low chance)?

Get the DB FT offer during summer, then interview around during FT... plenty of banks that are better than Allen...

thanks for the feedback guys.

i hear allen is taking more of an initiative to really develop their SA program and has been targeting schools for recruiting. can anyone confirm if they have seen allen around their campuses?

in terms of exit oppss, does allen have a strong enough brand name to be recognized by mba programs, pe/vc/hf?

echoing what others have said, allen doesnt really hire from the SA pool. I would go with DB

for what it's worth, every LinkedIn Allen & Co profile I've seen has been a senior who transferred in from industry / elsewhere.

^ thanks for the insights. do you mind if i ask where you got this info?

wsonewbie, in terms of what you learn as an intern and the conversion rate Rooster is absolutely right. However, like he said, life is incredible at Allen & Company. Again, if you have the balls to challenge that horrid conversion rate, go for it since FT at Allen is AMAZING.

^Forgot to mention, for FT, the pay is BELOW street.

is SA recruiting for Allen and co. over? Or through relationship hire can you get it anytime?

I'm aware that Allen is recruiting at a few select schools.

Lol at your inability to search coupled with your focus on prestige in highschool.

Mediocre troll is mediocre.

No longer in high school. Just updated my name to reflect that. Thanks for the monkey shit 9_9

You exemplify everything that is wrong with this forum. Kids just being obsessed with "prestige."

Your lack of ability to use google is pretty well developed because it took you longer to post this question than it would to search, but yes, they are an absolute top notch m&a boutique in media and entertainment. I think they did whatsapp.

Cool story bro

OP, are you part of that whole Yale thing?

A friend of a friend works there. As of two months ago they were still really busy, 100+ hrs. Very good shop from what I could tell. I know they recruit UG from Penn but not sure if they are hiring now. Not sure of exit opps.

100+ hours is a gross exaggeration. I interviewed there and the hours were described to me as 9AM to 9PM-Midnight.

Allen & Company is, indeed, very secretive (know senior MD who namedrops like nothing else). I thought about applying for FT after my SA at a european M&A/Restructuring boutique in New York (guess), nut decided it may be a better place later on, not to start a career.

That said, I know for a fact they recruit at rutgers and notre dame; I don't know about Upenn seems like an odd fit. I believe they ahd about 10 summer analysts this past summer and their rate for SAs is well below street (800 approx)

I like it alot tho; senior MD is a very cool dude