EB vs BB - long term and exits
Currently deliberating on whether to join a BB or an EB. I know that EBs like Lazard perform better than low tier BBs, however, firm performance doesn't always correlate to the best career for myself.
Is it harder to make MD at an EB? I'm doing OK now but don't have to confidence to say I will definitely make it. I've heard many stories of people with top BB offers joining EBs and that EBs have more driven and talented people.
Also, are the exit opportunities at a bank like Houlihan/Baird on par with BBs?
Gonna ignore the first part because there's a thousand posts on here about that (the answer is it just comes down to personal preference and what you value) but for
Also, are the exit opportunities at a bank like Houlihan/Baird on par with BBs?
Sort of, depends what you want. HL and Baird are good banks, but they obviously are not on the level of GS/MS/JPM. Or BAML/Barclays. You could maybe make a claim that they are similar/better than UBS/DB, but that could be a whole post that people on here would fight about.
Unless you are at HL RX, you are not getting to a MF from a MM bank. You will probably end up at a solid MMPE firm, maybe a UMM PE firm if you're good. At a BB, you have a chance at MF (but not a good one), and a chance at a UMM PE firm (but still not a great chance), and a good shot at MMPE. The most common exit from a BB is MMPE, and the most common exit from somewhere like HL is still MMPE, so in that sense the exit ops are comparable. The difference is probably that the best analysts at a BB might go to KKR, the upper middle bucket analyst might end up at a good UMM (somewhere like GTCR for example), the middle of the road goes to MMPE, the mediocre one goes to MMPE, and the shittiest analyst goes and does something else. At a top MM firm, the best analyst might go to a UMM shop like GTCR, and the rest might end up at some mix of MM and LMM PE. Lots of people at MM firms also stay on A2A. So unless you plan on being the absolute best and trying to go to Blackstone, chances are a BB and a MM will get you to the same place.