MM vs BB for a career in banking
Hi everyone! Currently I'm fortunate to be in the position to be picking between FT offers from a solid MM (Baird/HW/Stifel/Cowen) as well as a European BB (UBS/DB/Barclays). I don't care much about exit opps or optionality (actually did 2 years in PE and 1 year in F500 Corp Dev straight out of UG), and am very interested in a career in banking. While BBs obviously have a large advantage in terms of name brand, I've heard that MMs often offer better comp, better culture, and better career progression for associates and up. I'd love to hear all of your opinions on which offer is better.
2 things I would consider:
MM’s likely will provide more transaction experience and you will get deals done. The problem is you will likely be a sell-side machine and not have much understanding of other parts of banking. Does that matter? Depends where you want to do banking IMO. Personally, I’d go where the culture is the least bad.
Not OP but just curious, would full-service MM banks like Cowen and Stifel offer a similar experience as BBs, as they essentially offer the same products but obviously to MM clients rather than blue chip clients?
They do not have balance sheets, so you are not getting the same type of leverage finance experience. BTW you can add Baird to your list, they offer the same services as Cowen and Stifel. HW is the only bank listed that is purely M&A.
A lot of daylight between UBS/DB and Barclays - if the offer is from Barclays, I think that would be a lot harder to turn down. Of the MMs, it seems like Baird is definitely the strongest, but also sounds sweaty. I have heard that HW has a great culture, but may not be the best for career banking since their selling point is PE exits.
Take the best opportunity available in terms of brand name and deal flow, assuming you get along with the team and enjoy the industry or product. If you don't like the job, you should have an easier time lateralling from the better group.
Just wondering which groups OP?
I am someone that is also interested in a long career in banking. With that said, being a career banker is easier said than done. I would still consider optionality because u may very well change your mind down the line. It’s also easier to “step down” rather than “step up” in regards to bank tiers down the line. In addition, European BB’s are usually seen as having relatively good cultures (in comparison). Just my $0.02.
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