Hi all, wanted to gather information on the best firms, specifically boutiques, for a long term career in banking. I genuinely find myself interested in staying on the sell side and was wondering what shops are seen as the best for associate and up (culture, development, pay etc). Any and all thoughts appreciated
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Probably CVP
Moelis, especially for WLB
Have seen quite a few people stay at PWP, culture is supposed to be good as well as pay
Not based on my experience interviewing with a couple of their groups... high churn...
Which in particular? I had the sense HC and RX were the sweatiest which in nature leads to better exits, worse WLB and higher churn.
WB, HW, CVP those firms with good cultures
Evercore. They’re basically like a bulge now. Have a very good equity research arm among other things.
Any of the EBs besides Lazard
CVP and Qatalyst for $$$
I could be wrong but I’ve heard a lot of MM banks are great for staying at. Slightly better WLB during Analyst years (unless ur in a very sweaty group). Once you hit Associate/ Vp you have a good life.
VP of my group works from home permanently, associate is really cool and understanding when stuff comes up, protected saturdays and light sundays if any.
Culture is also way better, not the hierarchy bullshit of big banks (might just be bc of smaller team). FaceTime isn’t huge if you are getting shit done and we all have fun and enjoy grinding it out
You aren't wrong. A good career bank isn't about taking home the biggest paycheck over time necessarily, but somewhere you won't get burned out from and leave. MMs pay as much as BBs and have better culture in general.
Usually the best answer is to BB or top MM and then go downmarket. I’ve seen it a lot, potentially with 1 or 2 stops in between. I knew a guy who went from lower tier BB to top MM to middle of the road MM. He got solid transaction experience at the BB and left as a VP with a promotion to director at the top MM and then hopped to the MM bank as an MD. I’ve seen all sorts of variations on this. The pressure tends to be lower at these places and there generally aren’t as many mouths to feed.
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