Barclays vs Guggenheim IBD (New York)

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:

• bulge vs boutique
• culture (don't listen to people blindly telling you one has 'better culture' than the other unilaterally, take some time to reach out to analysts at both and ask about the culture at the groups you're interested in)
• What groups are you interested in? (TMT/HC(which is split into 3 different verticals at gugg) is stronger at gugg while P&U is stronger at barclays)

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.

Barclays just personally, but I'm also the kind of guy who would take GS over Laz/Moe

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 Most people on WSO are in fact prospects who repeat information from prior threads, which are outdated.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