Has anyone had experience with AEC Advisors? They’re a boutique firm of 15, specializing in Architecture, Engineering, and Consulting, with over 80 transactions 5 years. Thoughts on their reputation and performance in the industry?
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Worked at a PE fund with an interest in the space. Within LMM AEC my seniors held them in high regard. Much better than other bankers that participated in the space. Nothing else to report from my prospective.
Bump
Heard high comp, good team in AEC niche.
AS1 325K
AS2 440K
AS3 575K
Many came from good banks / colleges so I believe the high comp numbers I hear. I believe AS2 is 400k and AS3 is 450-500k for top bucket. Interview process is brutal though.
How so? Long, very technical, etc?
Long. They are very busy with a lean group. 2-3 months of interviews with every single partner + a few associates. Extremely in-depth technicals about M&A accounting and LBO.
Echoing above. Very very high comp if you can stick around to VP.
Tried to lateral from a BB but got dinged after a month.
Actually fantastic company. They run one of the best conferences for their space and are super well regarded by the companies in the industries they support.
A great space to be doing deals in as well, since larger companies often trade at higher multiples, meaning that acquisitions of smaller companies are typically quite accretive.
I come from an industry that views M&A as the "devil" but this is one of a handful of firms that have shifted my view on this
They pay so much fucking money lol
Fairly new bank doing 30+ deals a year with a 20 person team. Seems promising.
Accepted an interview thinking it was an easy process since I didn’t know AEC and got completely grilled.
What type of questions did they ask?
Met one of the partners and seemed smart. Def a risk to join, but they’ve been crushing deals
Rejected. Shockingly my hardest interviews, but heard it’s a sweatshop, even compared to my BB.
What type of questions did they ask?
Absurdly high comp after the associate level
Anyone have insight on hours? What does the technical process look like
They pay absurdly high so assume it’s EB hours, maybe slightly below since they focus on 1 niche tho and will likely do less random fire drills.
Process is different for everyone but there’s a big emphasis on 1) cultural fit / likability / ability to present and 2) deep understanding of M&A process and technicals
Process was fairly smooth actually, it’s “off cycle” so different for everyone, but they’re super nice. They specifically mention bonus in the contract too I heard from the headhunter. I ultimately accepted an offer at another boutique tho (LAZ/MOE).
Know that analysts get good reps here, but what do exits looks like? Is growth / tech out of here possible?
Incredible team and high comp. Didn’t make it to final round for my lateral process but awesome folks
AS1 $350K
AS2 $450K
AS3 $575K
Those are real numbers lol
Think they just opened a Miami Beach office lol. Paradise
anybody know if Miami is just support/ops or if there are is actually a deal team there?
Full deal team, they cross-staff with NYC so all M&A goes through both offices. Same comp $ as well.
Didn’t land it but good luck brother
think AS3 is $600K lmao
They recruited from my business school and had an associate a few years ahead of me come along with a partner and analyst. Very nice. Very put together. Very sweaty from what the associate told me. Partner was an absolute hardo but polite. Super high comp. Heard of some VP pulling $800k+.I would work there in a heartbeat, but their technicals were unlike anywhere else I interviewed. Extremely nitty gritty and into the weeds on industrial accounting. Wild stuff.
What kind of technicals?
Can’t remember details now, but they were things I’d never even heard of. Extremely niche and complex aerospace crap. Apparently they clean the books and help improve some efficiencies in the companies who hire them and are able to charge special fees on top of normal deal fees because of that. I know someone who knows someone who worked at a company that hired them and was blown away at the partners’ advice regarding things to tighten up within their company.
Really cool people tbh. Seems like a good shop with a lot of deals getting announced
No interns and only hire laterals. Very smart group.
Trying to lateral as associate from top BB right now. Heard comp at the VP+ levels is pretty absurd
Got dinged but awesome team. All seem very nice.
AN1-AS1 is only slightly above BB’s and below EB.
However, Associate 2+ to VP scales insanely high for some reason.
Bump
Buddy of mine said very good culture and all friendly. Reasonable hours
Hours are chill and pay is great (friend works there in NY office). They’ve been killing it with deals as well.
prior candidates mentioned rigorous technicals - do you by chance have any examples?
Nah prob a notch above the BB interviews but won’t be as intense as the larger EB’s. Culture is a very big emphasis there you’ll see how nice everyone is.
Are you sure hours are great cuz I heard on average one is doing 4 deal mandates at the same time
The culture is excellent. You’re not working past 10-11pm most nights tbh. Most boutiques (let alone hyper niche EB’s) at their comp level are 1-3am lol.
Saw they announced Qualus at $2B, impressive
Fantastic culture
Top of street comp
Very good culture
Free lunches
NY and miami (I think) offices
High volume M&A shop
Honestly didn’t wanna believe any of these comments and AEC seems pretty legit lol.
I spoke with a partner and it’s not a bad opportunity at all.
NY/Miami full deal offices with cross staffing. High comp. Doing a lot of transactions.
It is a hyper niche EB.
EB hours for sure, but top of street comp.
Culture is solid.
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