Choosing Between Firms
Hey guys I recently got offers from National Securities, a boutique bank out in NYC, and the Hovde Group, a boutique in Chicago, and I was wondering if anyone had insight on their relative reputations in the industry. Hovde Group works exclusively with FIGs and my grasp of the accounting and valuation practices associated with FIGs is a little shaky so overall I would feel more comfortable going with National Securities. Thoughts?
Who has better deal flow? In either case, you might consider trying to lateral after you start.
My two cents, is that National Securities does a bit of co-manager equity work (which is really not going to give you much experience). Hovde may be FIG-oriented, but looking at league tables, I'm showing Hovde at 13 deals for ~$380mm of deal value, and National Securities at 0 deals (search criteria: ThomsonOne, target or acquiror advisor, 1/1/2014-present). Even if I expand the search to all deals since 1985, I am seeing 8 deals by National Securities (vs 222 for Hovde). I really don't know much about either, but National Securities looks like a typical equity research boutique. I'm sure they do good work, but even on their website their most recent M&A deal is from 2013, and their most recent fairness opinion (which isn't the same as advising on a deal) is 2010. At the end of the day, this type of firm gets investment banking revenue as a by-product of its research coverage. Which may very well be a lucrative business model, but not great for an analyst looking to build skills and experience. Hovde looks like more of a full-service middle market FIG investment bank.
If you completely hate the idea of FIG, then consider National Securities. But I think Hovde presents clear advantages if you want exposure to M&A. Which would likely be important if you are looking to lateral.
Thanks a lot for your input! I really appreciate you taking a look into it, but when I take a look into the "Recent Transactions" and "Completed Deals" on the respective company websites, National completed 16 deals in 2015 and Hovde has completed 11 so far with the majority of National's deals being capital formations. Am I looking at this wrong?
P.S. I would post the links for your convenience but I currently don't have enough rep on WSO
The deal counts I cited are for M&A only. I did this because M&A experience is typically what people aim for in an analyst experience.
i didn't look into Hovde but NS's deals are weighted toward co-manager roles (and almost all capital raises, as others have alluded to). If you aren't familiar with what it means to be a co-manager, know that it's not really where you want to be as a junior guy looking for experience. Here's a link with some of the roles in an IPO:
https://books.google.com/books?id=oGf-f6jIZvoC&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=lead…
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