Boutique IB has no requirements for Series exams for analysts, red flag?

At a 15 person boutique focused on M&A and capital raising in the LMM.

Noticed that past analysts as well as myself aren't required to take any series exams. Is this a red flag? Meaning I'll be put on back office work mostly and non IB matters or am I reading into this wrong? My job description includes modelling, drafting pitch materials and marketing presentations, interacting with clients, performing company and industry due diligence.

I thought everyone had to take these exams before 6 months into the job. 

16 Comments
 

Not a red flag, just a sign that there isn’t a formal training program like you would see at a BB or EB. The reason why those banks require those exams early is because their programs have more structure. I think the only thing this means for you from a FINRA standpoint is that you won’t be able to send marketing materials (CIM, teaser, etc.) to third parties UNLESS YOU LOOP IN YOUR MD (or someone else who has all of their exams done). This is pretty much fine because CCing your superiors is something that you would be doing on the analyst level anyway.

 

i dont believe lazard requires it either. Honestly a waste in compliance fees if the analysts are just gonna hop in 2 years anyway

 

It kinda is a red flag unless it's one of the banks you often see on this forum, many mentioned above already. Botton line is: Besides the exceptions, Banks that require licenses > Banks that don't >>> No job

 

Some limp slob at an unregistered boutique can't wait to throw MS? keep hiding behind the curtain just the way you are treated during actual interviews.

 

Thx intern, keep up the input as it's valuable to us. (news flash: it's not)

 
Most Helpful

What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I'll have you know I graduated top of my SA class in Northwestern Mutual, and I've been involved in numerous sales calls with my family and friends. I am trained in finance and I've been certified in every version of Excel. You are nothing to me but just another bottom bucket analyst. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of IT professionals across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your career. You're fucking dead, kid. I can have your boss call you anywhere, anytime, and I can do a DCF in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my keyboard. Not only am I extensively trained in Capital IQ, but I have access to the entire arsenal of incoming Summer Analysts and I will use it to its full extent to spam your inbox asking you for a coffee chat, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little "clever" comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit comments all over your models and you will drown in it. You're fucking dead, kiddo.

 

You don’t need to be licensed unless you are advising on a transaction with publicly traded securities as they don’t have to be run through a FINRA broker dealer. Most boutiques focuses on MM or LMM or doing M&A advisory or capital raising for privately held companies selling to PE funds, so series isn’t needed. I think the gray area is if you’re representing a private company on the sell side and a public company is the acquirer.

 

Velit soluta expedita quaerat ipsum magnam. Qui eos earum rerum modi unde natus aspernatur. Pariatur eius aliquam impedit accusamus.

Necessitatibus sed placeat assumenda at. Est perferendis nisi ut error. Tempora deserunt nihil dolor voluptate illum id nam. Sit commodi architecto sint.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”