J.P. Better than MS for Exits, Yes?

Perhaps a dumb question. Had two lateral offers at J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley in London. Both at top coverage groups, but not Technology.

I never paid too much attention to the whole 'prestige rankings' etc beyond knowing that the top flight US BBs are GS/JP/MS. I was always under the impression that J.P. was more prestigious than MS so I chose that offer.

Slightly shitting myself as I now see a couple posts that imply MS is preferable to J.P. for exits, and I didn't have much of a preference for the two teams I had offers from so defaulted to the one I perceived as having better exits.

Did I play myself here? Group I'm joining still has had incredible exits to places like BX / KKR / Apollo etc so I reckon it will probably just default to how good I am anyway but curious.

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Not a dumb question at all. 
JPM is strong across every product whereas MS is phenomenal at M&A but doesn’t compete at the same level in areas such as high yield, etc.,

if you want to be a banker long term, JPM will give you a great well rounded experience and plenty of opportunities. If you’re trying to recruit after a year however, it’s really luck of the draw as to whether you’d even be staffed on an M&A transaction in that first year. That won’t be a problem at MS, so obviously MS has the upper hand when it comes to exit, even if the bank itself isn’t necessarily better.

that being said, A2A at J.P. Morgan is a great option and will set you up fantastically for a great career.

Also, to your other question, strongly disagree that it will default to how good you are. Staffing is entirely random. Coverage groups will do a great mix of M&A vs. high yield vs. IPOs. Those that get staffed on M&A will tend to be the ones who have the better exits and those who don't will just happen to be the ones who decide that "PE is not for them". Really comes down to ego. No one wants to be seen as someone who doesn't succeed so if they know they're in not in a great position, they convince themselves that they never wanted PE in the first place. 

Come back to me in 2 years. $50 says if your first few staffings aren't live M&A you have an epiphany and decide you really like banking and stay on as an associate

 

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