Macquarie underrated?

Why does Macquarie get no love on this forum when people talk about MM banks? I was looking on Linkedin and it seemed like almost everyone I clicked on was from an Ivy league school or somewhere like UChi/NW. From reading on here it sounds like they've given out low bonuses in the past... is this the reason why they're hardly ever mentioned?

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I’ve been wondering the same thing. In terms of bonus, I have heard that it is more of a “profit share” so it is very variable depending on business performance, not necessarily individual performance. It seems like other banks are more consistent in what they offer as a bonus to juniors so in down years at macq your comp could come in below expectations.

 

Profit share at Macquarie is just a bullshit term they use for paying you in stock rather than cash for some % after certain thresholds. It's for employee retention because if you leave, that stock hasn't fully vested yet, so you walk away from like $100k. This plus low bonuses to begin with even for the top performers (80% for top analysts and associates is typical) make Macquarie unequivocally one of the worst paying middle market investment banks on the street.

 

In my entire life I have only met one person who worked there, in his case he was actually from Australia and probably had a more natural way into the firm.
They are not a very large bank and therefore don't have the same amount of open positions or opportunities as the big guys.
If they were significantly larger or with more hiring avenues into key roles, I am sure you'd hear more about them.

From what I recall, no headhunter or agency ever called me for a role at this particular bank.

 
Most Helpful

Previously worked at the firm. In the US, MacCap is very good in its niches (aerospace/defence, edtech, gaming, green energy, infrastructure, etc.), but it might not have the same generalist presence that you’d find at larger banks. The firm is structured as a merchant bank (largest on the street), so in addition to providing advisory, it also has a principal investing team dedicated to investing Macquarie’s balance sheet capital. This means analysts can lateral internally into a buy-side position, which is an interesting opportunity that you won’t find at other banks.

 

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