need help on Allen & Co.
IB
Tags:
(Baboon, 103
Points)
on 10/10/07 at 9:51pm
need major help regarding this firm, as there is no info online. what is the work like, people, lifestyle, hours, anyone else an analyst there? any help would be greatly appreciated; thanks.





bump
anyone that can help me with this; can't find anything real on this firm and don't personally know anyone who works here
Charlie Allen (son of
Charlie Allen (son of founder) told me that they didnt recruit straight out of undergrad. True story and not BSing. Mind telling me how that happened?
Also, their office is pimp.
Also, their office is pimp. Right on 5th in the Coca Cola building. Their office has a nice classic old school look and they have butlers that cater to your every whim at the push of a button.
Allen doesn't actively
Allen doesn't actively recruit out of undergrad but they do take interns (mostly kids of employees or family friends) and kids straight out of undergrad.
I think the main difference at Allen is that while dealflow may be a less than at a BB, the deals you are staffed on you will play a major part of. You'll be going to a lot of client meetings, doing a fair amount of the grunt work but also sharing in some of the client face time, you decide if that's good or bad. Also, there is no structured analyst training program so you may struggle a bit at first. Lifestyle is generally good, I think their analysts leave between 9PM and midnight usually. Ugradstudent is right about the office, it's very nice and there are butlers. It's sort of over the top.
There's about 30 M&A bankers and I don't think there's any intention of expanding, Allen is perfectly content where they are. Unfortunately their equity sales desk is practically non-existant and there's no research so you're almost guarunteed to never lead an IPO (at very most a right joint bookrunner position).
Honestly it's a great place if you want a good lifestyle, the people are nice, and you get a big role on deal teams. The location of the office kind of sucks in my opinion, having to wade through a sea of tourists on 5th Ave every morning. The downside to place like Allen is not alot of deals (better lifestyle, worse experience transactionally in my opinion), not super great exit opps (they expect you to stay on the partner track), and its a small firm so you may not get all the things a large BB with lots of overhead can afford (dedicated print center, prestech, etc.).
ugradstudent
i would not be desperate for finding out about the firm for kicks; clearly i am vying for an analyst position. however, i will not give the details of how this happened; no need. also, i am not straight out of undergrad, but i know for a fact that they will consider taking undergrads from wharton (and prob nowhere else). that said, thank you both greatly for the info you have provided.
do you know what an interview process would be like gametheory?
You don't know "over the
You don't know "over the top" until you've spent time at the offices of some of the mega-fund PE shops. At the end of the day, an investment bank still doesn't want its clients to see their fees spent on office furnishings; in PE, however, this is really more of a "merit badge" that reminds LPs about your previous returns.
Definitely. I've heard
Definitely. I've heard about the Sand Hill VC shops that have glass floors in lobbies with sharks underneath...
Interview process is probably a first round with the CFO, Kim Wieland, possibly with a banker. First round may get technical, possibly an oral M&A case study. Second rounds are meeting more people at the firm and fit. As for undergrad, the analyst I know is not from Wharton, but a non-Ivy target in the south.
Incorrect
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.
thanks so much
this is all so helpful; gametheory, how did you hear about the m&a case study? what are the details of such a case study? would it be possible for me to talk to you offline? again, thanks so much guys, all this help is so greatly appreciated.
the above post is correct.
the 2nd to last post is correct.
very helpful info
thanks everyone; anyone else? also, any more info on interviews?
Sure, shoot me a message.
Sure, shoot me a message.
bump
anyone else?