Would a social capital trader short BB IBD, go long elite boutique? 
(Senior Baboon, 200
Points)
on 2/4/12 at 1:51am
Curious: Given the 70% bonus cuts across the board and the shrinking market, are bulge brackets worth it? Do bulge bracket bankers still hold the "damn it feels good to be a banker" vibe? Can they even place well into traditional exit opps in two years? Are elite boutique bankers gonna crush, or are Eboutiques gonna drop their pay to match street?
haha, well, that would have
haha, well, that would have been the play 3-4 years ago. Might be a bit late to jump in now. At the end of the day people care about exit opps and cross-industry prestige. There's a perception that BBs are better for these things (whether justified or not), and despite all the commotion about top boutiques in recent years, the attitude among junior bankers has not really changed. So I say HOLD elite boutiques.
Regarding business flow, are boutiques gonna continue eating BB market share? Do they have more capacity or are they maxxed out? Hard to tell. Depends partially on firms' needs for financing for M&A transactions