Have offers from a few of the listed boutiques:
Lazard Greenhill Evercore HLHZ Perella Weinberg
Would be interested in the hours and overall work culture/environment at these firms.
Thanks.
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I've heard consistently, from multiple friends who work/worked there that Lazard has some of the toughest hours and one of the coldest, harshest work environments in the game --- no one above you will have any mercy whatsoever. That being said, it has perhaps the best name out of all those you listed (in my mind). No idea about the others really, though I see people on this site post that they really like it at Greenhill (nice people, slightly better hours, etc).
As Int'l Pymp says, LAZ has a rep for being a particularly brutal workplace. I have heard good things about both GHL and PWP from people who work there, in terms of both bearable hours and nice people. From the few people I know at EVR, it seems a bit colder and more impersonal, though I don't know that many people there so shouldn't comment too much. Don't know much about HLHZ.
Echo above comments on LAZ and GHL. Don't know much on PWP or EVR, but HLHZ depends on NY/LA. I have heard LA is a sweatshop, especially for restructuring. NY Restructuring is also supposedly brutal, although the slowdown in that side of the business could potentially lighten the load a bit. Also, have heard exit ops don't justify the hours and culture, relatively to the exit ops from the other shops (bar perhaps PWP which seems to be a step behind the others, maybe because they do a lot of direct promotes).
Just sayin', I had an info interview with someone at PWP NYC a few weeks ago, and he was by far the coldest banker I've ever talked to. With that being said, I know I shouldn't base my opinion on the firm off my experiences with one banker, but I was really taken aback.
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The worst analyst horror stories I know all come from Lazard. With that said, it is a great place to work if you want to learn a fking ton.
Everything I've heard about HLHZ (at least NY) is that its a lifestyle bank. I know 2 kids who worked there (one was there even in 2008-2009) and they said they would get at 7pm-8pm regularly and barely worked weekends. Of course this is anecdotal evidence from a very small sample size so take it with a grain of salt.
Evercore or Greenhill
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hahahaha
Wow, 120 hours. That's fucking brutal. I had my first 75 hour week last week and it was terrible. I can't even imagine 120.
HLHZ is not elite.
for rest hlhz is one of the top. But anyways, hlhz rest LA has a pretty good culture. Greenhill has good people. Not sure about evercore. PWP works you hard, but they pay a lot. Lazard is just brutal
HLHZ is definitely elite, although they may be known better for their fairness opinions. Anyways, I know an associate over at HLHZ and he is worked like a horse - he has mentioned to me that staying past 2 AM occurs more often than not. Keep in mind, that they are currently very busy and have alot in the pipeline. Futhermore, I hear the pay is quite generous.
are all these posts all based on one wallstreetoasis post from years back or from personal anecdotes/friends?
I met a guy from PWP through networking the city last week, very helpful and offered to drill me on technicals. He says that he sees Weinberg and Perella quite often. I was very impressed.
HLHZ I heard is pretty good too.
Why is Moelis & Co. not here? Did you apply to Moelis?
Evercore and Greenhill have more friendly cultures from what I hear from people working there. PWP also treats their analysts well (they only have 6 in NY) and Perella writes your business school recs personally. Not sure about overall culture but I hear they really take care of their analysts.
"although they may be known better for their fairness opinions. Anyways, I know an associate over at HLHZ and he is worked like a horse - he has mentioned to me that staying past 2 AM occurs more often than not. Keep in mind, that they are currently very busy and have alot in the pipeline. Futhermore, I hear the pay is quite generous."
That has nothing to do with anything. End ruling: not elite.
Evercore is top notch. Caveat is not every analyst gets top level deal experience. No matter how large the deal is (e.g. CenturyLink), there is still only 1 analyst on the deal, usually that person is not a first year. Know people who went to Warburg Pincus this past year also know people who went to no name PE.
Lazard needs to fix its hiring. Over half of the summers did not get return offers. Hot blonde (9 or 9.5 without beer goggles) in their first year class though.
HLHZ is not an elite boutique.....
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Wasn't Lazard the place where the MD's throw printers at analysts?
Evercore, straight up.
Alumni worked at Lazard. He said it was absolutely brutal. Their culture is super tough and the people don't give a crap. Having said that, the exit opps are quite good.
My mentor from early in my career is now a MD at Greenhill. He loves it there, and if he is an indication of the type of senior people they have there, it would be a great place to work. He's the single best person I ever met on Wall St - highly knowledgeable, great with clients and a genuinely good person.
?geez...who's throwing all the monkey shit
Wow someone's going ape shit on this topic
some monkey's got diarrhea and cant help throwing it on everyone hahahahaha
bump would like to reopen this thread
So how are the working hours at Houlihan Lokey? Cause I've heard some staying until very late and then I read here that people can also leave earlier? Is there a face time at Houlihan like at Lazard. And why is Lazard regarded as so tough, since I met people that claim that everyone there seems to be very friendly..
?
I think culture at Lazard greatly depends on the team. HL has no face time I think (but not entirely sure). Culture is claimed to be best on the street though.
I think culture at Lazard greatly depends on the team. HL has no face time I think (but not entirely sure). Culture is claimed to be best on the street though.
Culture and work at elite boutiques vs BB (Originally Posted: 08/18/2010)
For those knowledgeable, what are the differences in culture and actual work done between Elite M&A boutiques and coverage groups at a BB IB? Has anyone seen both sides?
i'll start things off with a basic list of what I've heard, but I could be off...
1) Lot less pitching at boutiques vs BB 2) More open culture and more tight-knit for boutiques vs. BB 3) Better hours (usually, depending on the firms) for boutiques 4) Less BS in general at boutiques - less pitching, fewer layers on a team, more deal-focused than client service-focused, more transparency, etc 5) Obviously more M&A work at an M&A boutique vs. a BB where you also do other products 6) Better name recognition and thus exit opps at a BB??
You know.... there is a reason why Lazard sends out 12'' dildos with their FT offers...
Who have you been talking to???
Better hours for boutiques??? Have you talked to anyone from Moelis, BX, etc (I'm assuming the answer is no since they wouldn't have time)
better hours huh..
for some westcoast shops yes
if you are talking about Moelis,BX, Lazard, you are in for a big surprise
You do more deal focused stuff as opposed to a lot client relationship pitching, which IMO is bs
boutiques ( the known ones) usually pay better too from what the numbers I heard across ( lazard might be an exception, I heard their numbers are low as hell but I can't confirm if it's true or not)
Also, you will do a lot more M&A stuff as opposed to capital market stuff ( most boutiques have rest and m&a team and that's it)
However, base don my personal experience, you also run the risk of being the one handling all the work (my last two nights were not fun at all...)
Are the analysts actually getting good modeling / M&A experience? Or are the boutiques just like secondary advisors with a lead BB handling all of the important stuff... I don't really understand how the boutiques have the capabilty to fully run the big deals that they all claim they've been on.
yeah dude, they are just secondary co-runners and underwriters on merger deals. their name is always in small print on the merger tombstone
analysts at elite boutiques just learn how to price equity bonds from the syndicated traders
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