JP Morgan FIG vs. PJT M&A

have you heard from pjt yet? which superday

PJT has tremendous upside. All the guys I've met are great.

However, I'd go with the place that had the best culture for you.

If you are interested in FIG, then I'd go with JPM. Best FIG group on the street. But if you're not interested in FIG you'd be better off going to PJT.

Go with JPM. PJT has some amazing senior talent, but like you said, they are relatively new. Go with the established name.

JPM has a strong brand in and outside of finance -- would take that over PJT.

PJT M&A. Better exit opps with the M&A work you'll do.

The fact that there is some hesitancy with which people would choose a JPM vs PJT should tell you that PJT is not at the same level as Blackstone.

Previously - JPM vs BX would not be a question as everyone would take BX. Blackstone's name in PE and GSO is really what drove the prestige of the firm and why top analysts placed a premium on going to BX M&A (even though the BX M&A business wasn't that great). Now that PJT doesn't have the BX name attached to the advisory business - it's simply not at the same level. Therefore top analysts won't place that big of a premium on PJT vs other banks and you will see that share of the talent going to buy side or Top BB / EB groups instead. This will affect exits down the line.

JP Morgan is the less risky choice as the firm and the brand is not going anywhere anytime soon. Take JPM - if you don't like FIG do the summer there anyway and transfer to a different group for FT. Alternatively, assuming this is for SA, go to PJT for the summer to test the waters and transfer to a BB or established EB for FT.

The name "PJT" is very "unestablished" but the people there are not short of experience at all. Yes, any large transition like this may cause people to pause, but the senior people there understand the importance of placing the early analyst classes well for future recruiting. Don't worry that exits at PJT M&A, where you'd be one of maybe 8 analysts getting tons of responsibility and deal experience and lots of exposure to the senior people in the group will be worse than at JPM FIG. Both will provide great opportunities down the line. I think this is more of a question of what kind of experience you want; EB vs BB is what you should really be deciding between.

...is this even a question lol go with PJT.

Just signed with PJT M&A over BBs and faced a similar decision. PM me if you want more details on my thought process.