Harris Williams, William Blair or Baird?
Which investment bank between HW, RW Baird or W Blair is stronger in M&A? Transaction volume and deal value? How do they measure in pay and exits?
LITERALLY THE SAME
Blair
HW for the best buy side exits.
Real WSO OGs will tell you how HW goes to bat for their analysts.
Worked at a MM and now in PE -
Purely for exits, I’d lean Blair. Reputationally it’s the best - there might be exceptions for certain groups, but generally speaking the Blair brand is slightly stronger.
You’d be hard pressed to find a single UMM exit from HW or Baird and I personally know a handful from WB.
People really hype up the HW “supportive recruiting” which is valid, but from what I’ve seen this is just the MD helping analysts get job at random MM PE firms (which anyone from Baird or Blair could interview ar just the same). The HW MD isn’t bypassing the headhunter process at a reputable MM or UMM fund, so it really only helps at smaller shops.
For analyst experience I’d take HW though - best WLB, probably best culture, and best pay (at least last year(