Freshman summer options
I'm a freshman (international student) taking a 3 year course at a target in EU. I struck out in spring weeks, no offers, due to a combination of factors, and now have a few different options for summer internships this year, all in a regional office in Central/Eastern Europe:
1. No-name Boutique/LMM IB shop, mostly working with firms 5-10m EBITDA but more likely to see deals close and learn a lot about the M&A process. The main problem I have with this is the boutique having essentially 0 brand value.
2. TAS at PWC/EY, M&A Lead advisory team, bigger deals but quite likely to never see a deal close or even go live during a 3 month internship. However, brand name is a plus and TAS is a feeder into IB, even though it's a small office.
3. LMM PE fund with ~200m in AUM. Partners aren't former bankers, but have seen previous freshman interns from here get London top BB IBD internships the following summer with no other relevant experience.
The main issue I'm facing is I don't know what's most valuable to London BBs; Brand name? Deal exposure? The fact that the PE fund has previous interns with successful recruitment seasons is a big plus in my book too (have been unable to find the same level of outcomes for people with the Boutique IB option). The fact that whatever I'm doing I'll be in a pretty irrelevant geography I assume is a big minus compared to domestic LSE/Oxbridge students who can intern in London too.
Need some advice here so I can set myself up as best as I can for SA 2026, especially since I have no other real relevant experience (some accounting and in two decent finance clubs), don't speak a key EU language (French/German), and recruiting seems to be egregiously competitive as of late. Thanks.
Boutique IB or TAS. Deal experience or brand name is good - you shouldn’t even be considering the pe shop. I’m leaning towards TAS though
I would say Lead Advisory > TAS > Boutique IB > LMM PE. Lead Advisory / TAS and boutique IB will give you a better shot at deal experience with LA/TAS having a better brand name.
Moelis loves their ppl with big 4 background (secret hack)
Not sure what this is about, could you elaborate? Moelis would be great since I'm very interested in RX for personal reasons.
I’m honestly so sorry dude, I hate to be this guy, but I feel like someone owes you the truth. I think you are cooked and I don’t even know if it is worth pressing on any more. I’m sorry brother. I wish you luck on this treacherous journey.
Not sure why you're losing it over 'Prospect in IB' asking a straightforward question, I'm sure you'll figure it all out eventually
Not sure how dense you gotta be to not see the humor in an obviously troll comment lmao
I'd take them in this order:
Hi TechBanking, thanks a lot for the advice. From my understanding, the TAS M&A Lead advisory team, which is where I should be getting placed, operates very similarly to an IB M&A group, at least in that region. Unlike the boutique (which is still on the old retainer business model since deal fees are so small), the partner/division head at this specific Big 4 firm comes from a London bank and he’s implemented a model more similar to BB/EBs in London, mostly targeting bigger deals (at least the biggest in the region) for larger fees but presumably worse deal flow. Not sure how useful the firm doing bigger deals would be for me if I never get to see a deal close though.
For the PE shop, I’ve already reached out to the analysts that worked there and did well, have gotten replies, so if that was for networking purposes I’m not sure how much it’ll help (especially given that these are Analysts/max associates, and referrals, at least from my understanding, don’t do a lot in London unless coming from seniors). However, the shop raised a new fund recently so should have some decent work to do and might make for a good learning experience.
Given that (new) info, I’m leaning slightly towards Boutique IB > TAS > PE. Curious if you’d agree. Thanks!
Great responses, and you are totally on top of this. I know well how certain markets operate, but a lot of countries have very different rules and other factors that can determine what's best. Where do you ultimately want to work? Sounds like London? As I said earlier, deal reps is ideal...just not sure you will get that in TAS. I don't think you'd have a long term problem with any of these options. The boutique sounds like a good option, not knowing the firms or the region well I'd say go with your gut instinct. Would the boutique hire you long term if you want to stay in-country?
I definitely would want to move out of my country and work in London; parents are paying basically as much money as they can afford for my degree, so I need way higher earnings than what I’d make back home for that investment to pay off. Dubai is also an option I’m considering even though career-wise it’s very likely to pigeon-hole me in MENA/APAC, but I’m not very familiar with how recruiting works there.
If you’d be willing to help out, I’d be more than happy to DM you more details about my profile and the firms in question. Thanks again for the advice.
Also, kudos to your parents! Sounds like you have a supportiive family, which is great.
Feel free to do so, and I'll give the best I can. I get the feeling that you are more E. Europe vs Benelux, etc. I know the second region a lot, which is what I think of as C. Europe, plus Ger/Aus/CHV better as I haven't worked in E. Europe.
DM'd you.
I think LMM PE or Boutique IB would be fine. You should learn another euro language though. Where is your home country?
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