EVR is not an EB
Since it's recruiting season and I think super days are wrapping up / people are weighing offers, sharing some considerations if you're looking at an EVR offer. Prob a bit late but think it's important info. EVR is absolutely no longer a boutique. It hasn't been for a while but think some students still really see it that way given what people are saying for their why EVR answers in interviews.
I remember hearing older students talk about valuing the generalist program, being able to work in purely M&A (with maybe a RX deal here and there), having small deal teams, and getting to work on big marquee deals but also smaller deals with more client exposure.
This is entirely group-specific - there are maybe a couple groups where you still work on a range of deal sizes, but many have ballooning deal teams rank with inefficiency. Idk if this is DEI hiring tbh but there's all these associates with like no skill set and no respect from other people so it's just a wasted body that everyone else has to pick up the slack for.
You also work way more on non-M&A than I was expecting. Again depends on the group but seems like everyone is staffed on some nonsense shareholder advisory thing (still not really even sure what this product is), some equities thing where EVR is like 5th seat, and/or a hella painful RX thing where the coverage teams only do annoying industry work like comps and marketing materials. They also just announced a sponsor M&A group which sounds like the beginning of separating out the M&A execution function from the coverage teams. This is probably the worst thing I've seen since starting but hopefully won't really impact the near future - more just a sign of where the firm is heading
Since things are so group-specific, also important to discuss the matching process. It's a total crapshoot and you basically are recruiting again except your resume matters way less and you kind of have to hope you got to work with a group during your internship. They make you go through matching like during graduation and finals so it's all virtual. I ended up in a bigger group and honestly seniors are not that accessible since there's so many people. Maybe not a bad thing though since some of my friends in smaller groups say their seniors have screamed at people on the floor. But yea there aren't really lifestyle groups left anyway (except alts) - my class is all generally grinding 90+ hour weeks. Have def had vacations completely disregarded and protected saturdays are more of a suggestion
Sounds like comp is good above analyst level but it seems like they care way more about associates and up. I'm probably looking at like a 60% bonus again in the summer based on where bonuses landed last year. Maybe a little higher since I think 2023 wasn't a great year... But we had comp day last week and A2s+ got ~80-100%+ and idk if that will really be what they give analysts - the last few years analysts have gotten more like 60%. Also they just gave our A2As like 60% for 2024 comp which you may have seen on the bonus thread. This all feels more bulge brackety, valuing the post-MBA recruits and being willing to churn analyst bodies out. I definitely was considering an A2A when I started but I've seen how ours gets cranked and it doesn't look fun. It also sounds like they're going to make bonus buckets wider spread - used to always just be like top/middle and they weren't that far apart.
There's been partner turnover which I think is kinda industry wide rn but it doesn't feel like a huge culture of promoting from within which I was surprised by. Also can't not mention the NY post article about the C&R guy. People still gossip about it here and there but the firm never formally addressed it internally which is kinda wild.
Idk I'm probably not super plugged into all the inner workings since I'm so junior but wanted to share these impressions for those weighing offers rn. At the end of the day it's a great name and many prob are still going to come out with decent experience, just doesn't feel like the place I was sold in college. I think I feel generally prepared for my next job but if I were deciding where to go today I would definitely bucket EVR with the other BBs - culturally and practically I think that's more where it is at this point. Would also consider how that determines how EVR wins mandates now too - we're competing more against BBs who have a balance sheet which is just something we don't have. A lot of the people are still really nice but sometimes it feels like they're just nice to your face but are actually really judgmental which is in some ways worse than just being straight with you
Thank you
Yet when I say it I get MS 🙄 https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/evercore-the-bulge-bracket
Our career center has been telling us this for a while lol
Ahh yes, DEI! The easy scapegoat these days.
Not to mention - coming straight out of the mouth of lower middle bucket analyst who self admitted getting paid 60% of base as bonus and not plugged in enough to understand how things work, thinks the associates are worthless but also getting paid a higher percent of much higher base. Maybe just maybe you getting stuck working on useless things cause you aren’t that good and might just have been a non DEI hire who happens to be below average - surely there are many we’ve known over the years
Which groups got seniors that yell at juniors beside IUR and tech? Also which groups have nice people besides alts?
bump
Evercore has always positioned itself as an independent investment bank rather than an elite boutique. The firm wants to emphasize its full-service capabilities, including restructuring, capital markets advisory, equity research, and even asset management. BUT it will never be like a bulge because it doesn’t have balance sheet…
The firm is looking for ways to differentiate from all the other shops out there. There are the super full service bulges out there, and there are the the pure play M&A EBs out there. Evercore’s trying to carve out a way in the middle. Whether it’s gonna work long term who knows, but from the many lenses that you touched on, Evercore is squarely in the middle. The firm pays above bulges but below many of the EBs. The firm like you said offer broader services than most of the EBs but not even close to what bulges offer (lev fin, massive trading divisions, DCM, corporate banking, credit cards, checking accounts, who uses GS Marcus? List goes on). The firm promotes some internally (more than lots of the EBs) but no where close to the internal mobility at GS or the like…I can go on.
I do think this could be the “best of both worlds” argument come in. I do think the cancellation of generalist summer program especially at the associate level is a huge loss for the candidates…but to your point, now the candidates need to actually know what group they are joining and can do more diligence ahead of time.
Good luck yall.
The Indian Associates in the NYC office. There's also a couple out in Menlo Park.
Wow are they annoying.
yay! blatant racism!!
can just tell from the vibe of linkedin who you are referring to (especially with respect to Menlo Park), but how are they annoying?
Former EVR analyst here. I think you’re spot on with a lot of this. I was unhappy with my experience and depressed by the end of my time there, but I have to say now that I’m on the buyside, I appreciate the Evercore analyst experience a lot more. Don’t get me wrong, it was HELL, and I was in one of those bigger groups (involuntarily) where deal teams were more stacked, a lot of non-M&A work was done, many hours felt wasted on those activist books, and the SMDs in my group did not know my name. But, reflecting back, I think Evercore set myself and other people in my year up for success in terms of skills and exits. The training you get is unmatched to other banks even though it doesn’t feel like it when you’re on the desk. There are definitely some idiots around the firm, but the vast majority are intelligent and highly ambitious. I’m at another firm now where the quality / intelligence level of the people I work with now are just so far below the quality of people I worked with at Evercore. The difference is astounding and something I miss frankly. Going to keep this vague, but I’m also in a position now where I am closely exposed to a large number of banking analysts from a variety of banks, and the lack of knowledge and training among analysts at other banks is embarrassing compared to what we get trained on / work on at Evercore as an analyst. The quality of the analyst work at other banks that I’ve seen would not fly with the seniors in my group at Evercore. I was worried I was very behind when I left Evercore because I didn’t think my experience as an analyst was strong in terms of deal experience or modeling, but I realized pretty quickly that I got way more out of the experience than my peers at top BBs who closed massive megacap M&A deals during their analyst years. I think Evercore is really falling off as a bank as a whole, but I think it is still a top (or THE top frankly) analyst program on the street. The training / experience you get will prepare you for the buyside (even though it doesn’t feel like it when you’re in it). Exits are top tier - you can get an interview at basically 95% of buyside shops regardless of your group. And this might just be a me thing, but people in industry seem genuinely impressed when I say I worked at Evercore - people perceive EVR analysts positively surprisingly. Also, side note, if you ever talk to an activist investor, they’ll always be intrigued by hearing about your Evercore activism projects / opinions on Bill. I once wow’d an activist PM by walking through Bill’s activist vulnerability framework - so not all was lost from working on those SDSA coverage books. 🥲
Another side note, on the ex Consumer Head - not sure why the firm would ever address that. Feel like the consensus view / understanding at this point is that it was a false rumor circulated by that psycho MD who lateraled (iykyk) and had a vendetta against AT and the VP. Personal take, but I just cannot imagine a world where the accused VP affair partner would ever touch AT lol.
Did this positive perception of EVR analysts extend to product groups like ECM/PCM/PCA/shareholder advisory as well?
bump
hey man, this was a great rundown — would you be opening to PMing and chatting more about this?
Well, do you want to be at Guggenheim, the so called up and coming EB? Every single bank has a problem, maybe excluding Qatalyst. Moelis? A glorified MM shop. Lazard? Lowest pay and declining EB. Greenhill? Is this an EB anymore? PWP? Do they stack up with real EBs? PJT M&A? Well, it's not RSSG. Yeah, maybe Evercore is not CVP but I don't know where the 'ideal' experience would be possible at. Even people shit on CVP for not having good exits lmao.
At this point I'd argue that CVP and PWP are the last standing "true" EBs, where they simultaneously have the scale to serve clients globally across industry sectors but at the same time remain as "pure advisors" focused on providing strategic advisory primarily to corporates.
CVP is a consulting firm and PWP isn't elite enough. That leaves FTP as the last true EB.
140k base (btw)
"No lifestyle groups" - at Evercore. WTF. If you wanted lifestyle then go join DB or Stephens or some other shit shop. Miss me with dumb comments like this.
Secondly - I honestly don't understand how bankers don't get the model. So I'll make it simple:
DO NOT JOIN A JEF /EVR / CVP/ LAZ / IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO RANK UP TO MD.
Join at MD. They don't want to develop talent. A lucky few will make it but that's not the model. They want VPs and Directors doing execution for rainmaker MDs. They don't want you building your coverage and certainly won't support you to do that.
Can you elaborate? Moelis and PWP seems like they have some mentorship, but why do you think the firms you mentioned aren't? Also, what about PJT M&A?
That's why MOE and PWP were not on the list.
It usually comes down to 3 things as to why:
EBs are great for early years and PE exits. It's far harder to go An->MD there. At places like JEF it's almost impossible and there are very few (as a %) promotes from D to MD.
Moelis and PWP also have less of an eat-what-you-kill comp structure at the senior level. Moelis ties a big part of senior comp to overall group and firm performance, and PWP's comp structure is truly black box (and senior management actually do care about the intangibles like 'collaboration' and 'senior collegiality' and tie it to comp), so it disincentivizes cutthroat behavior among seniors.
You seem knowledgeable on this. Thoughts on Rothschild for ranking up?
Heavily congested at the top. Not easy.
This has been said ad nauseum years ago. EVR's fall from grace by being dragged down by nontargets and DEI cannon fodder has been well known.
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/seeing-evercor…
Hey - fascinated by what you said, what do you mean by internal mobility at Goldman?
Will they move you around / let you move around at-will wherever your talents are a best fit?
Can anyone speak to which groups within M&A are the best at the firm these days? Mainly curious about Tech vs Media vs Healthcare. Interested to know about the most recent culture, prestige, hours, exits. Will be recruiting for the firm next year at b-school but want to hear both the analyst and associate side
Completely agree, also left as fast as possible once I got something worth leaving for. In my honest opinion I still think it depends on the group you get placed into. If you join a bigger group please be prepared for a lot of non-M&A work, wide skill disparity between associates and vps (partners and mds too), a lot of minuscule deal work the partners don’t prioritize as much (reasonable given a lower fee). What this will create for you on the day to day is a terrible mba associate who doesn’t do anything, a VP who makes you do more than you need cause they don’t understand what’s going on, and an MD / partner who doesn’t give a shit, and you’re grinding till early AM on something that doesn’t matter.
I will concede that groups that develop you / are better still exist (media, alts, insurance), smart people are there who can be good mentors, exits are stil top tier, and I still got good deal exposure time to time, but definitely seems like my peers at other select EBs are getting better experience. At this point you might as well join a top BB that knows where they stand / play, (and your bonus numbers won’t be anything massively different, maybe even lower in some cases). Definitely a different story than what I was told in college.
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