Harris Williams vs. William Blair vs. Baird & other MMs
Which between HW, WB, or Baird is stronger nowadays? How does deal flow/value compare? Are certain groups stronger than others? How do they measure in pay and exits?
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All 3 are comparable and have their own strengths.
HW has traditionally been very focused on sponsor sell-sides, and sponsor-related deals still drive 70%+ of their deal flow. They have industry groups but largely have a reputation for running broad, standardized processes for their clients, and they largely sell themselves on their sponsor connectivity and process-running capabilities more than their industry expertise. Comp has traditionally been a bit above street, and culture in their home office is very much the preppy Southern vibe (think of the frat guy / sorority girl from W&L or UVA). The firm encourages a 2-and-out culture so recruiting is very institutionalized there, and HW has traditionally placed very well across MMs.
William Blair's traditionally known for their Tech and HC practices. Solid deal flow across the board, but their Tech team (back in the good old days before the current M&A slow down) was especially known for punching above their weight in the UMM space. Culture varies across offices (e.g. SF is known for having a rougher culture than Chicago), and while the firm used to be known for having a partnership-feeling culture where the seniors are collaborative and treat the juniors well, the firm's gone through a pretty volatile time over the past couple of years with poor bonuses and layoffs that has upended its traditional image. Strong exits across the MM space, and anecdotally I've seen WB place better into larger MMs and UMMs than HW or Baird (largely placement from its tech groups into tech buyside groups).
Baird's known for their Industrials group, and they also have a solid C&R and Tech & Services group (especially the govt. services practice out in DC, arguably one of the best govt. services practices on the street), but deal flow is pretty solid across the board as well. Culture varies across groups and offices (Industrials is known to be especially sweaty, C&R is known to be a bit more chill). The firm's also traditionally had a reputation for being a place where employees are treated well and compensated accordingly, but like Blair, during the past couple of years layoffs and poor bonuses have tarnished that image. Exits at Baird tend to be a bit more varied across groups and offices (some groups discourage recruiting), but overall the firm places well across the MM and the Industrials group especially has some pretty impressive placement into good funds.
Awesome write up, thanks for the insight. You mentioned HW sells more on their process not their industry groups, but do they have any well known / bigger groups compared to the “classic” WB Tech/HC and Baird Industrials?
Any insights on Culture / A2A / Career Longevity at any of the firms?
HW does well in business services, EP&I, Consumer, T&L, and Industrials, but the variability across groups is much less than at other banks, because of the aforementioned focus on process execution. The only group I would say HW is a laggard in among its peers is tech - they don’t have a good practice flat out.
a2a is certainly possible and highly encouraged with 1 month off and $60k signing bonus, but given the focus on process excellence, HW is a place where analysts often get burnt out from doing the same thing over and over, and prefer exiting to PE.
How do you define LMM, MM, and UMM exits?
Best groups at each:
Blair - Tech & Services
Baird - Industrials
HW - Aerospace & Defense (although not as good as Blair / Baird)
Blair has lacked these past few years, notably giving out $0 bonuses this past cycle.
Baird Industrials deal flow is strong and keeps hitting above their weight.
HW is strong but their platform still lacks in deal flow compared to Blair / Baird.
Blair / Baird are T1... HW is like T1.5 in the middle market.
Best group at HW is not ADG. That would be either EP&I or Business Services. Also maybe Blair being a tier ahead made sense a few years ago but to your point they just handed out doughnut bonuses and they dramatically over hired during the 2020-early 2022 deal craze and have now done significant layoffs. That doesn’t exactly signal to me stronger deal flow than HW where none of these things have happened. Don’t exactly see the justification to put them ahead on the basis of deal flow in the present, though I’ll concede the higher prestige and reputation.
x2 on ADG… one of the smallest groups in the firm and is relatively slow. Seems like they’re trying to build out the practice but wouldn’t call it a leading group
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