HL / LAZ / PWP / GUGG

I had a great summer at one of the above banks and thankfully received an offer in the last 2 weeks. From what I've seen on this site these banks are all decently similar but I was curious in terms of buy-side recruiting if one has a significant edge up on the others. Would any of these be particularly worth re-recruiting for over the others or should I sit tight and sign in a few days? Thanks.

34 Comments
 

Lol what's with wso's vendetta against gugg? I don't work there but I know a few people who do and they do megacap deals just like the other EBs and have a solid restructuring practice. People like to quote the size of their intern class but afaik it's the same size as LAZ and EVR, only difference being gugg is more concentrated in NYC. Don't listen to these fukin clout-chasers OP, while I'd have a hard time putting HL with the rest due to their mm focus, I'd make a choice between LAZ, PWP, and Gugg based on culture and industry preference.

 

FWIW, the Lazard NYC analyst class is significantly smaller than the Evercore one (35-40 vs. ~60). PWP is even smaller (~20-25).

Guggenheim is a great bank. Pretty solid HC / TMT groups. Exits have generally been good. I think Lazard / PWP are slightly better (I know 4 people off the top of my head from my school who tried to leverage their Guggenheim offers for Lazard ones - my school was one of the top targets for both banks, PWP not so much). That being said, Guggenheim appears to have a solid culture and if you like the people there, I couldn't blame you for taking that over Lazard / PWP.

HL is a great MM bank but it is not at the same caliber as the other three (their RX practice, however, is phenomenal).

Lazard / PWP will more or less give you the same opportunities. Guggenheim should be pretty close. Probably worth sitting tight assuming you had a good experience. If you worked on the M&A side at HL, it might be worth looking into full-time recruiting.

 

"Edit: Just to make it clear, I would definitely take Lazard or PWP over Guggenheim. But there's nothing wrong with making positive, factual statements about Guggenheim. It has definitely surpassed Greenhill in the past couple of years."

I used to work at Lazard / PWP. I could see someone taking Gugg NYC over Laz Houston but assuming M&A/RX in NYC, Lazard / PWP are stronger platforms. I was just saying that Guggenheim is a solid bank.

 

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