What are the best Bulge brackets (pay & WLB wise) same with Elite Boutiques.
Which ones would be the best to join after a year at a middle market bank?
Trending Content - Investment Banking Forum
Career Resources
WSO Free Modeling Series - Now Open Through
August 31, 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...
Deleted
Past WLB is not a good indication of future The situation can change very rapidly if you have a few people trying to make the push to MD, new drives to capture additional market share or mandates from a few unreasonable clients.
Your best bet is to work for group heads who are reasonable and accommodative and set the tone from the top down. Not 100% correlation, but from what I've seen, the best indicator is a group where everyone associate + is in stable committed relationships and the mid level people/seniors have families.
I mean if not past WLB, what else would you base culture on?
Read my second paragraph…
Last sentence is spot on. You can always tell and its usually the difference between getting those Sunday morning emails from an MD and not.
NGMI is a bank you should look into
---
.
All of the EBs have pretty good cultures
EVR has an overall good culture. CVP has the best Pay. PJT is a little sweaty, but it's a top shop. PWP has smart and nice people. Moelis is working on improving WLB, but their bonuses certainly help.
Definitely, so EBs are the way to go you think?
Mostly yes, unless you get a solid group like TMT/FIG/M&A at a GS/MS/JPM (note: GS doesn’t have an M&A team, and BBs don’t have Rx teams).Also consider pay, experience, culture across YOUR options.
Lmao, I'll give you dorks the scoop because I feel generous.
BB: JPMorgan pays the highest, by a mile. Also known to be a good lifestyle. Goldman is second in line pay-wise but has very lenient hours. Gave their analysts MASSIVE payouts after the GS13 scandal (they also fired the guy that touched all those analysts)
EBs: Stifel and Raymond James are top tier in the pay department but are sweatshops. William Blair is an absolute sweatshop and pays the lowest of all MM. Jefferies is a bit below street but again, they're lifestyle is a lot better then the others.
This seems totally incorrect given JPM hasn't even matched raises that other bulges gave 8-10 months ago?
This is just not true at all gtfo
Deleted
BofA is historically the highest paying BB and generally has good to great culture. Some groups are sweatshops though (REGL, HC esp.)
Centerview Partners is highest paying EB. Others like Qatalyst, LionTree, PJT Partners pay really well too. Generally, the EBs pay better than BBs, but are usually across-the-board sweatshops.
Dude holy fuck stop shilling BofA so much on this forum, I read any positive comment about the bank and I see your stupid fucking username attached to it. Why do you care so much? They are an amazing bank and a fantastic place to start your career but you reek so much insecurity trying to justify why it’s the best bank ever, seriously chill out
Lol anonymous salty analyst. It's not my fault they are the highest paying BB and are great in many respects. Just stating facts.
Now go realign those logos thx.
Vero autem veniam dicta harum ipsa nobis. Aperiam qui hic dolorem autem numquam excepturi. Rem voluptatem itaque quod ipsa libero harum.
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...
Expedita voluptatibus ut ipsa nam maiores molestiae. Non mollitia officiis natus dolor dolorem quae. Tenetur dolore voluptatem praesentium.
Aspernatur laborum expedita sit sunt. Ut suscipit iusto est ut omnis nobis quis. Numquam molestiae reiciendis accusamus veritatis. Sed molestias et excepturi atque rerum perferendis ad. Omnis provident sunt in ab omnis ipsam. Ea rerum magni quae nulla doloremque omnis minus.