Have heard great things from folks at GS FIG and seen consistent top exits for buyside. Came across Ardea as well and seems like they’ve advised or worked on some big deals recently (e.g., TPG IPO) and have heard of comp being above street. Pretty interested in fig but not sure how to think of this. Would appreciate some insight! Thanks
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Is this for FT or Lateral?
Thinking about ft
Are you recruiting with them currently or know how to get in their process? Do you know if they are still looking for FT candidates?
I mean, the Ardea team is like mostly GS FIG at the senior levels, no? And they have been getting good deal flow with a pretty lean team, I've heard their comp is great. Maybe a riskier bet than GS FIG, but sometimes that risk could pay off pretty well if you get in early at a fast growing boutique. For all we know it could turn into a Qatalyst for FIG specifically LOL.
But then again, I'm just an intern and this is just second hand information from folks I know full time.
Personally always viewed it more like a MKlein/Dyal shop but little less known and less pay. The way I worded it makes it sound bad, but they're still really good. I just can't imagine them exploding into something like Qatalyst/Moelis where the founder was cooking the league tables since day 1.
Ardea provides a unique opportunity if you are interested in FIG and even more so if you are open to staying in banking / moving to a FIG focused buyside shop. Comp is much higher than street (especially in good years) and they are building out a merchant bank that will provide direct / co-invest opportunities which is a nice differentiator vs the BB / EB experience. Limited brand name but highly respected in the verticals that they do play in. Additionally, retention does not appear to be an issue but that may be a product of primarily lateral hires
That merchant bank pitch has existed since 2016 or whenever they spun. It hasn’t moved an inch. I’m no merchant bank expert but not sure why it takes 6 years to start doing a single deal. Id take that one with a massive rock of salt
Ardea has done great, but their dealflow and variety of experience isn’t remotely comparable to GS.
Would suggest reading any of Ardea’s creds with a grain of salt. For the marquee deals, often times they get named and paid because very senior people have relationships with the CEO and are giving advice behind the scenes, but Ardea is not involved in the day to day and does not have an active role. It’s great for the Ardea franchise, but not so great for the juniors on the team. TPG’s IPO is likely a great example of it. Couldn’t tell you what Ardea did on it or how they were involved, but GS was an active book-runner on the transaction and Ardea was not.
Similarly, people at the top are great at Ardea. Mid-level people and franchise resources will be much better at GS.
buyside exits will obviously be much better from GS as well.
the big selling point for Ardea is really comp and only comp tbh
Ardea doesn’t have an ecm franchise so ofc they wouldn’t be a bookrunner. I’m not familiar with the transaction but I assume their role would be more advisory / technical focused vs marketing which is probably better for the analyst experience.
in regard to mid level talent, working with a bunch of a2a associates and vps is deffs better than post mbas (gs) but again don’t have experience at either firm and this is purely anecdotal
Do you happen to know the exact figures on comp and how they run recruiting?
How good is Ardea comp for analysts and associates? Have heard they do profit sharing and that analysts can sometimes clear over 300 all in because of it. Anyone know what base pay is? It seems like something must be good about the firm despite some of the bashing on this site that their deal roles are overrated. People leave Evercore, JPM, GS, MS, and buyside roles to come to Ardea.
Heard base is between 130-140. Unsure about bonus or how the profit sharing works but 300 seems doable given their model and dealflow
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