Chose Evercore over GS & MS for Full Time - Did I make the right choice?
Pretty much self-explanatory title. I did my summer at Evercore as a summer MBA associate and accepted the full-time offer.
I know this may sound crazy given that I've already put much thought behind my banking options and talked to a lot of folks at pretty much all banks, but I've recently been questioned from my senior personal mentors in finance (40+ years old with who have been out of touch with recent banking trends) why I chose Evercore over Goldman (TMT) and Morgan Stanley (Generalist). Their logic simply is that the big banks are the way to go and because they are "top". I do see where they're coming from, but think their views may be seriously outdated... Also keep in mind that I am based in the US (my Evercore offer also NYC) while my mentors are from Europe and Asia Pacific.
Bottom line, did I fxxx up with my choice? Almost every current banker on the street that I talk to in NYC tells me that it's almost a no-brainer to choose Evercore over these banks. The only ones that advocate over Evercore are 2 JPM bankers (I have 0 interest in JPM).
For you folks working in IB and PE in NYC (or even London), what are your thoughts? Did I make the right call? I intend to stay in finance (and hopefully high finance) for a long time with no desire to exit to corporate development. I do love everything about Evercore, but am a little concerned with brand value outside the US.
No, Evercore is phenomenal and I would likely take an offer there over any other bank. Had a friend that worked there, and I've worked with them on the corp dev side on a deal - they are great.
Don’t look back. You’re joining possibly the best platform any banker can join. Banking today isn’t banking in 2000. Trust me when I say there are a boat full of bankers at GS MS who’d lateral to Evercore if given the offers. I know plenty who easily chose Evercore over the other banks. Congrats.
I would make the same decision but I'm not as good a candidate so I don't have to worry about it.
I was at MS/GS and I tried to lateral to EVR. The pay delta is almost 75k-100k a year, no joke
evercore is the better platform today and now in the US. Different story internationally but can’t go wrong here
I was post-MBA at MS M&A. Honestly, all great platforms. It won't make any incremental difference to your career.
The only thing is that BB could provide more optionality internally career wise. I've known people to switch groups internally from M&A to coverage after they realized that M&A was not for them. I personally got pretty worn out by the hours and when I was planning my exit, I was able to explore internal options in our capital markets group (LevFin) and other divisions across the firm (investment management). You still need to be qualified to get the job, but it's a lot easier to get the job internally than coming from the outside. This is not a "selling point" that BBs make candidates aware of, for obvious reasons, but I think it's incredibly valuable and was ama big factor in my decision to go to MS.
May I ask the reasons why you chose Evercore over Goldman, MS? There are pros and cons to any of the three and I'm curious what your reasoning was.
Sorry that we're not all in the position to turn down GS & MS for Evercore...
Pay is higher at Evercore, culture is generally great, you might as well get paid as much as possible for slaving away, especially if the name of the firm is as great and maybe even better than some BBs. There is a high demand for working at PJT/Evercore because of pay/culture/learning and exit opportunities.
Worst case scenario, you can easily lateral to another firm but if you like your group there is no reason to do so imo.
Congrats!
If you are staying in finance EVR is a no-brainer. Much smaller yet better for your personal development in IB than MS and GS. The pay gap is there because EVR is a no-BS culture, and the Goldman discount is still a thing for some reason (even when MS is better diversified, killing Menlo Park game, and no huge fines/scandals). From my experience, you will also be able to utilize EVR alumni much easier for MF PE as the levels of connections are tighter. Right now with DJ D-Sol behind the deck I'd even take MS over GS for the long run.
IB and PE is looking to capitalize on the more recent financial engineering since IPOs are probably down until 2024; like SPACs (although not that new and probably won't stay as hot for long). GS was killing it along with Citi, CS, and even DB. Evercore just made a good senior hiring there, and I think that it's an example where EVR can also switch gears quickly. You might bubble up quicker to get that exposure at EVR than at GS, where at senior levels stuff can get political.
I am a former Evercore M&A in a "top" group from a deal flow perspective. Be prepared that the quality of talent, deal flow and culture will vary dramatically group to group at Evercore, which is understandable given how quickly the firm is growing. If you want to have a career in banking, you should be prepared / willing to dedicate your time to a group that does well and pushes you. When I worked across or alongside bankers at GS/MS on deals, it was obvious that their associate / VP level folks were a cut above most of the laymen at my firm.
EVR has (or had) a generalist starting program so everyone worked across the firm before dedicating. You could see a real discrepancy in talent in how sharp, intuitive and experienced some bankers were in certain groups, and how much others were not. On average perhaps Evercore talent is higher (more likely at the analyst level vs the associate level), but the discrepancy is very wide. Maybe this is not noticeable as an intern / first year analyst or associate, but it becomes very, very obvious once you get in some reps.
I have worked across people in GS/MS (not to mention have a dozen friends still in banking at both firms) and my personal view is that their talent is >>> the bottom half of Evercore. Again, not sure I would have made this statement when I was an intern but certainly became apparent 6-mos into the job.
Let me know if you want further color.