Credit Suisse NY vs. Morgan Stanley LA vs. Lazard Chicago (Rx)
Hi WSO,
I basically received offers from all the offers listed above (Credit Suisse NY vs. Morgan Stanley LA vs. Lazard Chicago (Rx)) and need advice on making an educated decision.
MS has the brand name and is a generalist program; my favorite city is NY and I get to choose my group (FSG, M&A, LevFin, etc.); I really like the smaller size of boutique and my favorite division is restructuring.
What would be best is my long-term plan is to exit to a PE MF?
Quick background about me: Diversity, East Coast Target, 3.8+, few internships in corp. dev. and wealth management in freshman and sophomore.
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I would highly advise against Lazard Chicago. heard that office is a nightmare.
Honestly if you have the choice, go to Credit Suisse and take one of their top groups. Their Lev Fin (I think, someone correct me if it’s a different one) places very well into PE.
MS LA is a really solid office with a ton of deal flow but you will only be able to recruit West Coast, and not really be a strong candidate for MF. The MF tech teams will take TMT kids or top groups from NYC, and haven’t seen many people go to other MF groups (ex KKR).
source: currently at MS and know people across the firm and other banks
Can you expand on your comments on Laz RX Chicago? Thought they'd be a good group.
bump wondering more on Laz Chi culture.
Can i dm you about MS groups
correct me if anyone has better data points, but I don't think Lazard RX Chicago places well into MF PE. CS FSG places very well into MF PE historically, MS LA as well for WC PE
Well what are the data points that you do have?
If your end goal is PE, MS and Lazard are the safer bets. You’re right, you do get to choose your group at CS, but getting into the ones mentioned is not very easy, and CS has plenty of bad groups that will make recruiting more challenging. MS LA is a good team, good deal flow and exits have been solid. Probably trickier to move into tech MF roles, but recruiting for NY buyside roles won’t be that hard at all. Lazard Chicago I don’t know much about, but it’s Lazard and Rx so cant be bad as far as exits go.
What are these bad groups that you speak of?
I think at the end of the day you need to choose based on where you want to be and where you want to go. All the shops you listed are going to take you far if you’re prepared. CS NY will make it significantly easier to recruit for NY based PE (especially during on cycle). MS could be a good option if you want to stay on the west coast / are targeting tech PE. It’s really up to you and the culture fit imo.
I worked at one of the groups you listed for CS. I can only speak from my perspective there, but I had no problems getting looks from pretty much all the MFs, UMM and MM shops. Everyone in my group who wanted to exit was able to do so (those who stayed wanted to for fast track aso promotion). Many in my group placed into MFs and top UMM shops.
Agreed with what was said above. Was at CS as well before exiting to a MF. I would say roughly half the coverage / product groups will get great looks (FSG, M&A, TMT, Industrials) and half not so great (Retail, Healthcare, RE, FIG) and energy is kind of its own beast (does well with energy specific funds). However, any one of these non-RE / FIG groups should get you looks at almost all MFs and UMMs (FIG is fairly strong with FIG stuff, not sure about RE) and if you're a strong candidate you should have no problem getting looks. MS LA is strong for the west coast, but LA bankers for any non-LA PE job are at best considered only after NY / SF and maybe Chicago bankers. Don't know anything about Laz Chi but RX is hot right now
How confident are you in your region “hierarchy” so to speak? It seems that deal flow and the quality of the analyst are factors quite independent of the location of the group. If an analyst has quality brand name experience (applies to all 3) and has the other prerequisite stats (undergrad, GPA, scores), I’m not really sure why they would be discounted based location.
Its more a function of availability. Most top firms on the east coast have no need to fly out to meet west coast candidates since they're in NYC / can easily travel to NYC. In the midwest / west coast, firms always make the trip to NYC to meet candidates. LA is just out of the way and there are far fewer candidates, and generally the top candidates gravitate towards NYC / SF. Of course, if you're a super strong LA candidate and manage to get interviews where you are from doesn't matter. Its more a function of getting past HHs then getting to the interview
What do you think about the Leverage Finance group at CS NY, did they had good exit opps as well?
RE has been placing very well, several landing at BX, Apollo, KKR over past few years. New global head bringing in lots of deal flow
following
My sense is that CS Sponsors will offer you the best PE exits and the best technical skill set for the buy-side.
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