Hey guys, I received an offer from FT Partners recently and currently trying to decide whether I should take the offer or go with my other offers.
Would appreciate any insight to their reputation, culture, comp, and exit ops. I am hoping to exit into corp. dev, but is that possible from FT? And what type of PE shops do they typically exit into?
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It is a great place if you are fine with receiving a coin and a handshake instead of a bonus.
Did they really get that INSTEAD of a bonus?
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Hey not OP but I'm currently in a situation where I'm weighing offers from FTP SF, Cowen NY, Stifel NY, and Guggenheim ATL, and was just wondering how FTP ranks in this group of firms. I understand that Guggenheim is likely a no-brainer but I should note during the whole interview process and post-interview networking with the office I really felt like I didn't mesh with the group's culture.
Gug is the obvious choice. Also, col in Atl is super low so if they lay you nyc wages, you’re all set.
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Id probably go Guggenheim ATL. Factoring in COL you will make significantly more. and obviously I'm biased but you could always try to switch to Barclays ATL, I work closely with those guys and they seem quite happy, good MDs, good deal flow.
How long did it take for you to hear back about an offer for FT Partners after your final round?
The average tenure for an employee there is 0.8 years (per LinkedIn) and it has a big reputation for being a toxic sweatshop. Claims have been made in other forums that FTP has improved its culture but the numbers still show high turnover relative to other banks.
That said, FTP has been yielding solid deal flow recently (hence the sweatiness) so it is likely better than many LMM firms on deal experience perspective.
However, FTP is also more niche than other MM firms so your most notable exits will likely gravitate to the Fintech industry (either buyside or corporate dev). You are unlikely to get looks from MFs or UMM firms without nepotistic-caliber connections.
In the case that you are gunning for PE (broad roles outside of fintech), working at FTP would be a solid stepping stone for trying to lateral to a BB or EB (which obviously give you the best looks for PE).
Also, with any bank, location helps too. Not sure which office your offer is for but your exits will probably be a bit broader coming from NYC office than SF office (although SF will have an edge for upward mobility since it’s FTP’s HQ, as well as fintech exits)
Bottom line: If you have no other offers lined up, take it 10/10. Just know you’re going to be worked to the bone for less than BB/EB caliber exits, but probably better than LMM exits. If you have another MM offer, I would base the decision off of culture and location.
How were their analyst bonuses this season?
Complete sweatshop but you will learn a ton. I cover Fintech at my firm and have considered lateralling over because of the mandates they get to work on but the fact that it's such a sweatshop has deterred me.
Currently weighing offers from FTP NYC, Nomura, Stifel and Baird Chicago. Would love some insight on how these rank as I would plan on going to the best one
Where are Stifel and Nomura (presumably not Greentech) out of? + SA/FT?
My impression (Now an AN2 at a top MM in NYC) is Baird Chicago > Stifel > Nomura = FTP NYC. I've heard terrible things about the culture at Baird Chicago though, as well as at FTP NYC. Don't know a whole lot about the culture at Nomura, but I know some analysts at Stifel NYC and the culture there seems pretty good.
100% Baird out of those choices. I have 2 friends who just left Baird and both got solid MM PE exits and had a positive experience at the firm. Nomura would be the last place id go, Ive heard its abysmal.
How long did it take for you to get your offer after your final round with FT?
Was your offer FT or SA?
FT's culture has only gotten worse since COVID and I thought it couldn't get any worse. The head MD in SF is on 20+ deals at once and will send check-in emails with the teams in the morning and nights every day (yes, including Saturday). If you work your butt off (basically being at their beck and call and answering emails/suggesting additional workstreams to do for the client Saturday morning), then they will respect you and you will be rewarded nicely. As you can tell, almost no one does this and those who do are hated by their teams who are forced to work on Saturday 10am or 10pm. Half the first years leave by their first year. Seeing so many people leave left and right provokes more people to leave as they have even more work to take on.
There also truly is so much work and so many clients to tend to that there is no time to even ask questions if you get stuck. Most people there don't have time to help and the seniors expect you to learn everything on your own and in no way care for your learning or career progression. I had several analysts say they were told this directly whenever they asked a question or messed up. I had simliar experiences as well.
It is also very common for analysts to become hospitalized or become suicidal after even one year at the firm; however, this is exclusively the case with those analysts who want to be the absolute top-bucket far and away. I'm not kidding: I literally became my analyst's therapist when he was working on international deals (Egyptian, New Zealand, New York and SF deals all at once: as you can imagine, he got no sleep ever and has still not recovered from those days). He would often talk about how high up we were in the building (I don't want to go further). Don't worry though guys: he's now very far away from business and any life like this altogether and is happier. Either way, FT will defnitely take advantage of you if you are a people-pleaser. I lateraled to a so-called extreme sweatshop BB/EB notorious across all of WS and things were WAY better.
Btw, any "top" or "cool" exits you see are ALL due to the person's connections and have seriously nothing to do with the firm itself standing up for the analyst. I mean EVERY single one. You know the firm is not good when literally everyone is always asking the other person when they're leaving.
For the record, I was very much middle bucket and was offered the promotion to associate but completely refused it because taking everything above into account, I was not ready to go insane (it's already too late).
What were your bonuses like
from what contacts have said, stable but mid at best. supposedly above market many years ago but the market's moved up significantly since. Haven't asked about this year's numbers. If the rumors on here about firms going 80K+ for below median buckets and 2-3x that for upper buckets are true, they'd be falling far behind.
Could you pm me? Or come off anon and I pm you? Looks like you worked at FTP and would love to get some more insight. Trying to weigh them vs other offers I have in SA. Thanks bro
Could you pm me?
Interviewed and know a few connections that worked at FTP. The place is toxic AF and will run you into the ground. I'm not sure if they are still doing bonus claw-backs but I'm sure others on this thread can confirm.
They have no respect for your time, pay mid-tier at best, offer little to no training, and have a toxic 'us vs. them' dynamic between the juniors and management team.
Is this SA/FT? Would you guys take FTP or Wells? Remember that Wells doesn't do location or group specific recruiting so you could end up in Charlotte doing ABS or some bs. Looking at SA in my situation
.
Side note on the Loan Syndications team, its honestly not a bad gig. My old boss was at Wells LF for almost 20 years doing syndications and basically worked 35 hrs a week. Granted his bonus was about 1/3 less than his other colleagues but 20% less comp for 50% fewer hours was a solid trade off.
I'm only trying to use Wells or FTP to lateral to a BB/EB. I guess in that regard it makes sense to go Wells since the better WLB and just pray I get NYC. The lateral opportunities are probably the same. I saw people going to Evercore and JPM from FTP, and I also know someone who went to GS from Wells. I am a non target but can def hold my own in techs. Do you know when the placement day is for Wells and how much networking plays a role in what location/group you get? I wouldn't even care too much what group I get as long as I end up in NYC. Appreciate the insight btw.
Is all this sentiment for the NY office, SF office or both?
How long did it take you to get an offer after your final round call with an MD?
Have you gotten offer after the final round w MD? I'm also still waiting. Wanna talk it out through pm?
Sure message me, it says you are anonymous so I cant start the chat
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