Is the average MD at PE smarter than the average MD in IBD?

Not trying to cause a storm here but is the perceived "brain drain" true from IBD to the buyside, or do equally as talented folks stay in IBD because they genuinely like the job? 

Anecdotally speaking, aside from seeing some straight killers who I am just in awe of with insane IQ and work ethic who bounce to the tiger cubs, from my experience there's usually not that much difference between those who leave to the buyside vs. the A2A. I would say the distinction lies more with:

  1. Difference in professional interests eg. deep passion for investing
  2. Pursuing THE path drilled into us i.e. target school - IBD - PE/HF/MBA etc
23 Comments
 
m_1

There are a lot of weird boomer types at iBanks who are less intelligent and are clearly the result of old ways. 

The younger ones are great (sub 50) and seem to be similar to the PE guys I've dealt with.

There only two types of boomers left in banking. 
 

1. people who never made enough money and are still in the grind. These tend to be oversalesy hustlers and are just awful

2. people who are at the top of their profession and are past the hustle and operate in god mode (Chairman of M&A)

there’s no way I’m doing this job past 50 unless I’m in category 2

 

Really? I don't suppose MBB partners will be financially better off than average IB MDs. So where their superiority comes from and how can it be quantified in this material world?

 

I mean it's not an IBankers job to be smart, figure out reality and accurately forecast the future. It's their job to err on delusional optimism and sell the deal at all costs. IB MDs totally act stupid when they get caught aggressively positioning a company that sucks, but they're not actually dumb, just salesy. 

PE MDs are actually supposed to be accurate, not just get a deal done at any costs. In other words it's a PE investor's job to invest smart, an IBankers job is just to get deals done, even if those deals aren't smart arrangements for the participants. 

You think we don't know some of the deals we pitch suck? We totally do lol, we just don't get paid to say that. 

 

I think this is very much a case of you’re good at what you do a lot….IB MDs sell sell sell all the time, they don’t need to critically analyze a company to determine whether it will be a good investment, they need to win the business and find a way to position the company in the best possible light to maximize a sale price….PE is much more about critical thinking, they analyze many businesses every year to determine whether they’ll make a good investment….the PE analysis is probably what we think of as “smarter” and why they’re typically tagged as smarter than IB MDs….I just think it’s a matter of reps in your field though, not that one is necessarily smarter than the other

 

Qui molestiae labore amet nisi placeat est. Deserunt dolore accusantium placeat blanditiis non dolorum dolores. A nemo accusamus eos asperiores beatae ab eum ut. Porro alias explicabo facere sunt neque voluptatum.

Mollitia totam iure mollitia sit dignissimos temporibus praesentium. Fugiat fugit velit optio cumque dolorem et. Sed aut qui aspernatur. Harum non consequatur corporis et.

Et dolores debitis assumenda et eveniet nemo ipsam. Nam quae et sunt eaque autem nisi.

Aut laborum velit aliquam alias et quis. Accusantium dicta debitis laborum illum. Optio facilis maiores adipisci.

 

Non doloremque suscipit consequatur voluptatum. In veniam optio minus et rerum et.

Sit atque exercitationem quia libero et laborum et. Reiciendis incidunt atque eius est sed. Impedit consequatur tenetur commodi alias.

Sunt ut quas sequi expedita voluptatum voluptas ut. Sed eaque eligendi perferendis dolor.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”