I am confused. What is the difference? Which is better?
I am a current college freshman at a non-target who is just starting to get a grip on all of this Investment Banking and buy-side world. I am just really confused about some things.
I know two people who work at Ares Management, one in credit and one in PE. I also know somebody who is an incoming summer analyst at BofA.
I understand what Investment banking is and understand the types of things that a Investment Banking Summer Analyst would do at BofA, but I am really confused about the Ares Management part.
I know they are an "alternative investment management" company but I am not sure what that means or what that entails. On Ares company website it says, "We are trusted stewards of flexible and scalable capital, offering clients primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, private equity, real estate and infrastructure asset classes." So does that mean they are more similar to a company like Blackstone or Blackrock. Additionally, I do not know what it would look like to be a summer analyst at Ares and if it would be similar to a summer analyst at BofA.
Also, if I am someone who wants to eventually make in to the buy-side, would in make most sense to take a SA position at Ares for PE, Ares for Credit, or BofA for IB.
I feel like being a summer analyst at Ares would be better no matter in which field, but I am not exactly sure.
Which SA position is more prestigious/would open more doors for me to get to the buy-side?
Thanks.
IB: Monkey 1 go to bank. Wants more banana. Two ways of getting banana, promise more banana in future or give ownership of monkey's banana producing company. Banana Bank goes and finds other monkeys to give bananas to monkey 1. (ECM/DCM/M&A if carveout/spinoff/buyout)
PE: Monkey 2 gets an offer from Banana Bank to give Monkey 1 bananas now for partial or total ownership of monkey 1's banana producing company.
PC: Monkey 2 decides to buy monkey 1 out of his banana producing company. To do this, Monkey 2 needs more bananas, so goes to Monkey 3 with the promise of giving monkey 3 bananas later. Monkey 3 is worried about the risk of giving monkey 2 his money. Banana Bank facilitates the connection between Monkeys 2 & 3 through its LevFin team.
You are currently Monkey 0. You need offer from somewhere. Just because you know someone doesn't mean you will automatically get it. There are many Monkey 0's going after the same extremely limited selection of spots. I think Monkey 0 needs to spread a wide net and forget about prestige because a job anywhere is better than a job nowhere. Monkey 0 needs to find something before he can worry about prestige.
Great learning more about Levfin this late in the game, and june is so close😂. Good thing my interview questions weren't focused on Levfin 😀
Monkey 0 comprendo.
Monkey 0 still however confused on if Ares is more like Blackrock or Blackstone.
Monkey 0 also understand that nothing is given and everything is earned. Monkey 0 just want to be prepared as possible before reaching out to connections for networking.
Monkey 0 also just genuinely curious on which path provides best path, not considering that Monkey 0 itself is just interested in seeking out best path.
Monkey 0 just want to gain insight on different paths into the industry.
Monkey 0 just wants to learn.
Monkey 0 wants to be knowledgeable and informed.
Monkey 0 want mucho banana.
Blackstone
Monkey still no understand.
Can any ape simplify further?
I’ll biggity bump this, kinda interested in how people would rank the 3 considering the current state on the syndicated loan market.
Most of the entities you have listed are very different. I will try to explain them as simply as possible, sorry if it sounds a little too basic.
Bank of America (IB): This is an investment bank. An investment bank advises companies on mergers and acquisitions. This is when one company wants to buy another company. BofA does not own the company, it just helps facilitate the transfer of the company from one owner to the other.
Ares (PE): A private equity company acquires and owns companies. Often they do this with a small amount of their own money and take out a loan for the rest of the purchase price.
Ares (Credit): Makes loans to companies or buys loans that others have given to companies.
Blackstone: Blackstone has both credit and PE strategies as well as many other strategies. It is similar to Ares.
Blackrock: Creates investment vehicles such as ETFs and Mutual Funds. This company is still part of the finance industry, but not similar to Ares or BofA.
Credit and PE are the buyside. IB is the sellside.
There are many more threads elsewhere on this forum that I would encourage you visit to find out more about these firms and professions. Google is also your friend.
An alt investment manager is one who invests in non-public company stock or bond investments. Something like BlackRock at a very simplified level invests in public companies who have issued stock, while Ares and Blackstone invest in private companies or private debt from companies who have not issued stock. Ares/Blackstone also invest in real estate, infrastructure, and other less-liquid investments that ordinary people do not have access to invest in. Hope this helps.
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