Interested in this firm and have been networking with few guys from there. They were chill, described the firm as “entrepreneurial” (what does this mean exactly?) and that the hours weren’t bad, except if maybe a deal was live. Yet I come on here and it’s painted as hell on earth.
Are the hours/culture really that bad or do people here incessantly shit on everything that’s not a BB ?
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Well, based on the most helpful WSO content, it seems like there are mixed opinions about Ducera. Some people have mentioned that it's a "work hard, play hard" environment, which can sometimes be code for a lot of work. There have been comments about the firm having the worst hours and high turnover among juniors.
On the other hand, some people have mentioned that the firm is open to hiring from non-target schools and prides itself on finding "diamonds in the rough". The compensation is also reportedly very high.
As for the term "entrepreneurial", it typically means a work environment that encourages innovative thinking, where employees are given the freedom to create and implement their own ideas.
Remember, every person's experience can be different, so it's always a good idea to gather as much information as you can and make an informed decision.
Sources: Ducera Partners: The elite boutique where associates earn up to $650k, Are the people at Ducera/Moelis/sweatshops beta males?, Worst hours on Wall Street? (NYC)
The culture and WLB need to be considered as separate. Everyone at the firm was pleasant to work with and it seems very tight-knit. That being said, the juniors work a lot. It may be true where that’s only when on something live, but they get enough business where everyone is staffed on quite a few busy projects. Summary, juniors can work a lot, but definitely not a toxic environment like it’s sometimes portrayed.
Also pretty curious about the new office in sf and la both seem to be growing, anyone have any ideas or insights
Seems like they hired an experienced associate and a year 1 analyst in addition to Chris Grubb who is heading the office. The job posting for an experienced analyst is still up so they may hire one or two of those. Could be an interesting team since Chris's background expands beyond standard RX to more special sits M&A.
bump, based off the other FT chain it doesn't seem like sf did any recruiting they could be just setting up
I was curious about something. Chris was the head of greenhill, M&A, and RX. Even if you argue that the bank was declining, it still did a lot of deals. Given how small Ducera is, their per-head revenue would be comparable if not better. I saw the associate he moved over from greenhill but don't see an analyst? curious if theres an opportunity to lateral there
Yes they hire a decent amount of laterals. Primarily in SF/LA offices but some NY as well. If you look at LinkedIn throughout 2023 and into 2024 lots that joined from other firms.
These guys killed it this year in both rx and m&a - worked across from them on a buyside mandate in Europe that closed earlier this year.
Would be surprised if their rev per head isn't one of the top among all boutiques this year.
congrats on ducera!
Literally the most useless type of comment you can find in this website. You need to find better things to do in your life. I advice getting therapy.
Yeah, I get that they're known for their culture and all, but I bet anyone asking about them has already looked into it. It's not like it's a super famous bank or anything, so repeating the basics feels kind of pointless and unhelpful
As for the SF and LA offices, I don't know a ton since they're pretty new. The LA office had a superday a month ago, but I'm not too sure what's up with the SF one. I got a rejection from them this week, so that's about all I know.
It’s not as bad as it’s painted on here. My cousin, whom I’m close with, was a SA this past summer and got an offer. He was consistently at the office until 11 PM or so, but the average was not 3 AM or whatever is portrayed on here. Some nights he was there until 3, but some nights he left at 9 PM. Usually one full day of weekend work, and he said his experience was pretty representative of analysts there. So call it consistently 75-85 hours/week. Definitely a lot of work, but moderately sustainable. I think it’s important to note that a lot of people on this forum inflate their hours, so someone saying 100 hours/week is most likely more like 80-85, meaning Ducera probably is still on the busier side because I’m giving the actual hours. Hours aside, he loved the culture and did find it very “fratty,” in a good way.
I think part of the perception of Ducera on WSO comes from the fact that when it began, it was an absolute sweatshop for the first few years (completely unsustainable for juniors) because the partners were trying to get a bank going and needed to grind things out to gain a reputation. Now that the team is filled out a lot more, the work is spread over more juniors, making it less of a hellish place to be. Still not at all what people would call “chill,” but chiller than it was a few years ago.
SA until 3am is wild
feel like everyone in my BB group (known for being sweaty but not nearly like MS M&A level) who was at/near the top of the SA class had at least few 3am nights…not that abnormal imo
Do you know what the return offer rate was like? I heard that back in the day it was pretty low, was wondering if that has changed
Heard it was ~80%.
Do you mind asking him what signing bonus was?
Entrepreneurial probably means you’ll be doing more business development tasks and work typically not associated with a product banker. This makes sense given Ducera is gaining market share and doesn’t have coverage support like other restructuring boutiques. At the end of the day I think this will give you a more well-rounded analyst experience, but it would come with more ad hoc work
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