HL RX Group Exit Opps/Comp

Copied from recent post 

1. Exits: PJT/HL RX (especially PJT because of their 2-year program) are two of the groups with the best exits on the street. Considering their class size, their placement is ridiculous. For selection bias, most people will aim for distressed/credit arm exits but MF PE is also very double (Houlihan has sent one to APO PE for a few years now)

2. Culture/Hours: I do not work at PJT/HL, but those two have the reputation of having a very good culture and not insane hours. People there are extremely sharp and there is no facetime culture. Let's just say that Moelis is behind on this point. 

3. Group selection: you could not recruit specifically for RX at Moelis until this year (believe they have split recruiting starting next year) while you could for the others two. Kids interested in RX would have no reason to do a generalist program rather than one in which they would be certain to have a RX experience. Lazard is an amazing RX platform as well, but because of its generalist program, it is not the goal of most top students interested in RX because of group placement risk. 

4. Class size/Reputation: PJT and HL have a 10ish class size and they are extremely selective when recruiting. If you are not at W/H, or part of Global Platinum Securities getting an offer will take insane skills/prep and definitely some luck. I think their small size gives college students an idea of a high reputation that is not comparable to Moelis given their much larger class. 

In reality, the experience at the best RX shops (PJT, HL, EVR, LAZ, Moelis) on the job is very similar, but college students (the very few who can pick among these groups) have their reasons to decide what is best.