Trending Content - Investment Banking Forum
Career Resources
WSO Free Modeling Series - Now Open Through
June 30, 2026
9 Free Financial Modeling Lessons
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
High Finance Applications
Guaranteed
Get at least one offer GUARANTEED
- 1:1 support
- 92% success rate
- 2,000+ mentor network
- Unlimited Live bootcamps
- AI for resume + LinkedIn
- Networking automation tools
- HireVue simulation tool
- Full course library
- Private Slack community
- 20hrs of mocks
- + much more...
Barclays will give you the better PE exits on average. TMT and HC at Gugg are top groups that exit very well, but also known to be sweatshops. If you know you can get TMT, don't care about the hours, and have a preference for boutique over BB, then pick Gugg. Otherwise, Barclays is the way to go.
Where have you heard that those groups are sweatshops? I've been recruiting for Gugg and am curious.
Here on WSO...so may not be the most accurate take. May not be that bad, but Barclays hours and culture are great (based on my conversations with interns -> directors). Note, "great" in IB still means workaholic for regular people.
Barclays hands down IMO, better hours/culture/exit ops on average.
From what I've heard, exits are similar at both and it's really going to depend on your work as an analyst and what group you're in so I would look at the group placement process for each firm. Comp is actually much higher at Gugg. If I were in your shoes I would just look at where you like the people the most and whether you would prefer an EB or BB experience. I've heard culture is good at both.
I would go Gugg. I’m sure exits would be similar, but comp will be much higher.
You'll get the same looks from headhunters at both so buyside exit opps should be a non-factor here.(That being said if you want to leave finance after your two years, Barclays's bigger brand may lead to more corpdev oppoertuities) I think the deciding factors should be:
HC is definitely stronger at Barclays
Wrong. Healthcare is most definitely stronger at Guggenheim. Healthcare is Alan Schwartz’s bread and butter
For securitized products focusing on esoterics (non-traditional asset classes), Gugg >> Barclays, and probably one of the best if not the best financial institution for it.
Are people actually saying pick Gugg over Barclays?
I’m not disagreeing just surprised. Thought Barclays would be a much better bet given their strong-all-around coverage groups, in-house modeling, and huge brand name.
Obviously Guggenheim is a respected boutique but I didn’t know that people would rather take them over Barclays.
Guggenheim also does all of the modeling in-house. Media, Healthcare, and Tech are where Guggenheim is ahead of Barclays, but I’d still choose Barclays for anything else. Maybe not industrials since the former co-heads of Industrials of Barclays did leave to Guggenheim recently.
Also, I have friends at both Guggenheim and Barclays and Guggenheim pays significantly higher at all levels. I’m talking about 70-130k bonus at Guggenheim vs 40-85k bonus at Barclays for analyst levels (first years-third tears). Older friend at Guggenheim that’s a first year associate got paid ~350k all in. At Barclays, you’re looking at around 250-275k all in first year associate.
That’s insane. Most of the time it feels like it’s better to be at a boutique no matter the case.
130k top bucket bonus plus 95k analyst base? Wow
The one area I thought Gugg would lack is in exits since they’re not as well-known as the BBs and 6 commonly referred EBs. But that impressive.
I also known they have a capital markets team which is less common for boutiques. I wonder how they perform
No idea where you're getting 130k from. Top bucket for first years is 85k, second bucket is 75k.
I mean my reasoning was that exits are likely to be similar between the two. I know people (not personally) that have exited to MF from both firms, but Gugg’s comp is just a lot better. Saw on a recent thread that the avg first year comp is 160-180k.
From this thread, people are saying that you can exit at the same places from either while getting paid a lot more at Gugg (could be $100k+ difference after 2 analyst years). For PE exits which is what OP asked for, I am sure the brand name difference won't mean much.
I feel like there’s more risk attached for Guggenheim if you don’t land TMT or healthcare
Barclays just personally, but I'm also the kind of guy who would take GS over Laz/Moe
Lol I think most would take GS over Laz/Moe.
Everyone would take GS over those lmao
Deleted
To each his own. The only ones I'd personally take over GS are EVC/PJT/CVP. Tbf, I myself don't have any experience w/ MOE culture, but from what I've heard, I would not want to work there.
Went to an undergrad bschool so know people at both banks. If you got an offer, congrats on two great shops. If you're just bored, you've wasted everyone's time. 1. Exit opps: I assume you'll be summering in 2021? You should be doing informationals with current first / second years to see where they're going. This site will be heavily biased against Gugg since it's a very new bank and exits have improved dramatically. Most people on WSO are in fact prospects who repeat information from prior threads, which are outdated. Exit opps are probably similar today and who knows what'll happen by fall 2022. A quick Google search shows that the past few cycles, Gugg kids have went on to MFs (Carlyle, General Atlantic, ECP, etc.) and UMMs (Welsh Carson, Catteron, THL, etc.). You can do the same Google search with Barclays and you'll probably get similar results. Do this research for yourself but try to get newer data - Exit opps depend on the quality of the analyst, can't stress this enough - Wanted to provide some general advice: pick a coverage group you're interested in. Don't pick P&U because you feel it's the strongest group at Barclays. P&U groups exit mainly to power buy-side shops and most people aren't interested in power. 2. Culture: From what I've heard from my friends, TMT is NOT a sweatshop at all. The group is very big and most people don't work that much (and I've seen firsthand that they have pretty good social lives). I would say Industrials and one of their three HC groups (forget which one) are sweatshops. At Barclays, Industrials and P&U work very long hours. I've heard great things about Consumer culture and bad things about tech media & telecom culture. Forget what was said about HC. These may be inaccurate, I'm hearing second-hand. 3. Pay: Easily Guggenheim. Probably your job will also be more secure due to Gugg's strong RX division Other questions: Summer return offer rates, preference for M&A vs. both M&A + Capital Raises, can you get the group you want
I think this is a good post and that Gugg is easily the best choice if you can get TMT somehow. For HC, I would actually lean Barclays to get the generalist experience across all verticals - recent exits from HC at Barclays include KKR, CD&R, Apax etc.
This would be a very tough decision for me because I would want the pay at Guggenheim but also prefer the culture at Barclays
Bump -- since this thread is 1.5 years old, any updated opinions on Gugg vs. Barclays?
Just one data point - but my friend chose Gugg over Barclays for SA22
Interesting, people at my target dont even look at Guggenheim
The Barclays picture is more aesthetic on LinkedIn. That is all you need to know.
the eagle is badass. But also, agree with everyone above that Barc has a great culture in comparison to the rest of the Street.
A first year associate at Guggenheim TMT will make more in cash comp than a first year VP at Barclays
Nemo nulla nemo est mollitia dignissimos sed quam. Omnis laudantium odit quod ducimus nihil cumque cumque. Repellat enim eius quo qui alias molestias quia. Ea consequatur culpa provident. Porro numquam dicta dolore. Explicabo aut sint reiciendis. Nemo suscipit consequatur voluptates illum enim est vel.
Odio quaerat magni soluta. Deserunt ut odio vel ullam quo quas nostrum fuga. In adipisci sed reprehenderit quia quia adipisci. Exercitationem molestiae vel atque repellendus. Consequuntur unde laborum illo molestiae alias et doloremque.
Accusamus nihil suscipit et qui. Nesciunt ab et consequatur officiis saepe. Optio non et quam praesentium minima enim aut ullam. Nostrum est ut delectus quia rerum ipsam. Provident facere quam quis quia omnis quas sit neque.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Commodi placeat hic voluptatibus blanditiis et exercitationem. Qui consequatur dolorem dolor assumenda sapiente. Soluta minima quia amet eum numquam. Aut provident reiciendis veritatis tempore velit expedita aut ab.
Nihil inventore praesentium nisi ducimus officia. Id dolor sunt libero qui amet minima. Sit dolore saepe ea.
Unde quia molestias fugiat quo delectus est. Consectetur laudantium illo soluta incidunt velit. Ea accusantium voluptas doloremque recusandae. Qui rerum deleniti reprehenderit eius non qui ut consequatur.
Quam aut cumque cupiditate ex minima. Commodi eos repellat nobis quos cum non qui amet. Et non quas labore sit debitis perspiciatis aut. Ipsam velit ab repudiandae iusto ea. Quod asperiores perspiciatis inventore nam et laboriosam quia.