Big 4 Corporate Finance vs Boutique Investment Bank

Hi everyone,

Recently I have graduated from a top Canadian MBA school, with a Major in IB. My long term goal is to work at a larger Canadian Investment Bank, such as RBC or CIBC, within their M&A groups. Through my MBA I have been able to establish long lasting connections within said groups that have informed me they would push my application once I got some deal experience, considering I have Audit experience and Private Equity Valuation experience.

As a result, I have been lucky to receive two full time offers:

  1. Big 4 Corporate Finance - I currently have an offer from a Big 4 for an associate role. From my understanding there is a lot of deal flow within the Big 4, so I believe that this would be a great experience coupled with the well identifiable name and reputation. I believe for Q1 2021 the total M&A deal value has been roughly 11-13Billion.

  2. An offer at an Elite Boutique Investment Bank - Currently I have an offer with a boutique IB for an analyst position, that does roughly 12-20 deals a year ranging all ranging from $50-500M. The bank has about 50-60 people, and are expecting a large inflow of deals over 2021. They also informed me that I could become an associate within 6 months as I get direct deal experience. Total deal flow is roughly $250M

I am currently on the fence as to which offer to accept. I am not worried about the job title, but rather what choice would allow me to advance to the larger Canadian IB Shops. Although the Big 4 CF would allow me to experience a lot of deals, my worry is that it is not looked upon favourably as compared to actual IB experience, which I would have if I took the boutique offer.

In your experiences/knowledge, what is the general view of Big 4 Corporate finance by actual Bankers, and in your opinion which would be the better stepping stone?

Appreciate the help.

 
Most Helpful

I worked at a Big 4 in CF so I will give you my perspective. While some of the less informed (prospects and interns) like to speak ill of Big 4 CF I will say that there are significant benefits that come with working for firms of that size. (1) You have endless resources; be it industry research or a deal structure tax question (just call up one of the tax partners) (2) global reach; Big 4 have endless relationships which is helpful when going to market, someone always has a contact somewhere so introductions are generally very warm (3) significant deal flow; the Big 4 operate in the middle market and if you look at league tables by number of deals completed the numbers speak for themselves. To address your question on how the industry views Big 4 CF, when I was at a Big 4 I was getting pinged a few times a week by HR and recruiters for opportunities across the board, BB, EB, MM, boutique. You will not be at a loss for opportunity when you want to lateral.

 

To be blunt if you haven't been receiving any inbound emails/calls via email or Linkedin that is essentially your answer regarding getting attention. HR and 3rd party recruiters generally aren't going to bother reaching out to people who don't already have IB experience, especially 3rd party recruiters, they're looking for a sure thing to put in front of a bank with the highest likelihood of a candidate landing so they can get their commission. However, I will say that if you do reach out to them you will get traction and see opportunities. Having a valuation background is a very transferable skillset for IB and having the brand name of a Big 4 is also a huge benefit, people lateral from valuation and TS into banking all the time, so if that is what your are looking to do it is very achievable. Given that you don't have IB experience though, you will need to be the one reaching out and doing the networking.

 

Like in most cases, I think the answer is it depends. While Big 4 gives you a more recognized brand, what you should know is that you won't expect to do a lot of modelling in a Big 4 CF group. I knew a few friends who worked at one of the Big 4 CF in Toronto, and a lot of their sell sides were smaller family owned businesses where the owner was looking to execute on a succession plan - modelling here was limited. With a boutique bank, you won't have the same breadth of resources that a KPMG or a Deloitte would have, but you would be expected to roll up your sleeves and could allow you to stand out in a more entrepreneurial environment. Also worth noting that depending on how the group is set up, CF at the Big 4 could span across debt / capital advisory, which in itself is quite light on the modelling. If you joined a boutique that did 12-20 deals per year, I think you would likely get a lot more reps in. Just make sure you do your research because there are some of the boutiques in Toronto that you wouldn't want to touch with a 10-foot pole. 

Somewhat anecdotal, but thought I'd flag it because a few posters above mentioned, but getting spammed a few times per week on LinkedIn by recruiters with opportunities doesn't mean anything (half the time recruiters just try to boil the ocean and InMail anyone in the same city as the opportunity and those with "investment banking" / "corporate finance" in their title). I think the post above was from someone in the US because EBs/BB's in Canada don't use HH's to find laterals. Similarly, a majority of the Big 5 lateral hires are done through referrals by juniors on the desk. You might get firms like Vlaad who would have a mandate to fill a one-off seat at a medium sized bank, but typically 95% of the Big 5 hires in Toronto are sourced through people on the floor referring their friends.

In terms of how bankers perceive folks from these shops, I don't really think one is viewed in a more positive light, all else equal. When bankers make lateral hires, they want someone who can hit the desk running, and if you can demonstrate you've accumulated the skills to be able to do the job, it won't matter if you worked at KPMG corporate finance or a NewPoint/Origin Merchant, etc...

 

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