Hey guys,
I am just about to graduate from school and I am trying to figure out what job to accept. Ultimately, I would like to work at a MM IB firm within 2 years of graduation. I have two offers right now. One from a boutique investment bank and one from a pretty well known valuation company. Both job offers are on the west coast. Here is my dilemma. I would rather do investment banking as it is more interesting to me and I enjoy the job. However, I know that if I go to this valuation firm (think Duff, Houlihan, SRR) that I will probably be getting some good formal training. If I go to the boutique I will most likely be learning from my peers and teaching myself but I will also be getting the deal experience. If my main goal is to jump to a MM bank in a year or two, what qualities in a candidate do you guys think are most important? Deal experience, bigger brand name, formal excel training, valuation experience... etc?
I'd start in IB, even if it's a boutique (unless we're talking no deal flow, 10-15 employees type of place). I'd avoid starting at a Valuation shop, as it is very difficult to convince people you are capable of strategic valuation when you spend most of your time doing financial reporting valuations (which you'll do at Duff).
What is "strategic valuation"? Is that what Consulting and Banking firms do?
Deal flow is not crazy and it is about that size. When lateraling, how many deals would an MM IB like to see on my resume after a year of working here? 2, 3, 6?
This is a dumb statement but for sake of simplicity: If you want to get into IB, then you have to be in IB.
Take the IB offer if you want to lateral up to a MM in a few years, being on the outside looking in from Valuation makes the leap that much harder
How boutique are we talking about? Is it a 4 man shop?
Thanks for the replies guys. This is about an ~8-12 man shop. This is including anyone from an analyst to an MD. I was already leaning towards the boutique but the main thing I was thinking about was the training aspect. At the valuation firm where I have an offer (already accepted 6 months ago and would have to renege if I want to accept the IB job) does intense training where you end up being really fast in excel and obtain very good financial modeling skills. I guess I could train myself in excel by taking some BIWS courses if I do end up accepting the IB offer. When lateraling, would a MM IB or even BB IB really just want to see that you have been running deals, managing the process, and they don't care as much about how massive the company was that you sold? People here don't work absolutely crazy hours either, its really like ~8-7pm everyday. They are typically working with companies that have ~$3-$20MM in EBITDA so they are decent sized companies. I have heard of a fair amount of people lateraling from the valuation firm where I already accepted an offer to pretty big MM IBs so I know it would definitely be possible there. Also I am thinking about how at the IB there aren't many people at the lowest level so I would definitely miss the networking opportunities and the ability to meet a bunch of people my age of working at a valuation shop that has 5-15 analysts alone.
Thanks again!
I moved from val to IB and I saw a few people get MM / EB jobs over me when interviewing that came from no-name banks. I did get a great exp. in val which has led me to be a solid IB analyst but as far as purely getting the job, I'd recommend IB.
Iterations of this question have been asked thousands of times on WSO, and the same advice still holds true: if you want to work in IB, take the IB position.
Amen brotha
This will be an unpopular reply but why does everyone who has NEVER been in a valuation shop think that it would be way harder than a no-name boutique in terms of lateraling? I might be biased coming from a valuation background but I was able to make a jump just 6 months into the job, I did not have a problem landing interviews either for lateral positions. In my opinion, if the valuation firm you are talking about is HLHZ for example, that will carry you much further than a no-name low deal flow IB shop.
Also in valuation shops, you get a lot of exposure to modeling, granted that they might be for financial reporting purposes most of the time, the modeling skills you will be getting will be very beneficial (~85-90% of your time would be spent on modeling).
I hated the valuation job btw, and made it my mission to get into a decent IB gig from day one, but I just disagree with all the hate on this forum thrown at val groups and how much harder it is to lateral than a no-name IB. Do a quick linkedin search on the val group you got an offer to to see how many people made it to a reputable IB shop, then do the same for your boutique IB, that should give you a better picture. Happy to see counter arguments to my points by people who have actually done both.
I also moved from a top val shop to IB. While I think the skills are transferable to banking, I was passed over in final rounds almost always to people from no name IB's but already in banking. This could obviously be from other factors but they all had the same common denominator.
Brand name valuation shop or boutique investment bank? (Originally Posted: 01/30/2018)
I am currently deciding between accepting an internship at a solid brand name valuation shop vs a boutique investment bank (closes roughly 5-6 deals a year). From speaking with full-time employees at both firms, it sounds like the culture at the valuation shop is more of a two years in and then out type of place. Surprisingly, it sounds like I would be working substantially less hours at the ibank, and they also seem to have a stronger culture. If both companies pay roughly the same, which is the better option? In addition, I know if I were to become full-time at the ibank I would have to take the series 79. How difficult is it to study for this test on the job as well as passing it? Any insight would be helpful. Thank you.
it depends on what you would rather do for a career. Which one could you see yourself doing for the rest of your life?
Business Valuation Internship vs IB Internship? (Originally Posted: 05/26/2013)
Hi, I'm a freshman from a non-target who wants to break into IB in the future. After heavy searching and cold calling, I've been able to land two summer offers:
(1) boutique IB internship (unpaid) (2) business valuations firm internship (paid)
The associate who gave me the offer to intern with the investment bank told me I'd likely be stuck with a lot of typical grunt work.
The BV firm, on other hand, was not only willing to teach me the work they do, but also willing to pay me (min wage). They value businesses relating to various transactions including legal issues and occasionally M&A activity.
Even though the investment bank would look nicer on the resume, could the experience and things I learn in the business valuations firm outweigh the investment bank?
if you wanna do investment banking later on in your junior year and FT then do investment banking now (pretty straight forward).. Especially since youre a freshman your experience doesnt matter much..
Just try to get exposed to the deal as much as possible and learn things yourself. be proactive and genuinely show interest and hard work to your associate.
this could be a good way to break into a more well known MM in your sophomore and hopefully something even better in your junior if your goal is BB/eliteboutique or MM
Boutique IB, money is irrelevant if you want to do IB in the future.
Chances are; if you do get an IB analyst FT offer in the future, you will be be doing tons of grunt work too. It's an inescapable fact.
Go for the IB. Unless you're in dire straits and can't possibly support yourself without the cash, the IB internship should be more in line with what you want to do.
Or, if you can swing it, try and do both.
IB, the choice is simple.
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