MM/Boutique Top Ten List

Hello all,

I'm currently compiling a list of MM and boutique firms that I want to apply to (CPA trying to career jump into analyst). In my initial search for a list of target firms I was either bombarded by hundreds of LLCs or given a Vault top 20 "non-ivy need not apply" banks.

Can anyone offer a list of a couple of banks that they'd target as a hopeful career switch with CPA experience (tax, to clarify further), I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

5 Comments
 
Best Response

A few things:

  1. Use the search function. There are a billion threads on top MM's, BB's, EB's, small boutiques, etc.

  2. How am I supposed to tell you what firms to look at if you don't tell me what part of the world you're in (assuming you're in US).

As a starting point:

-Baird -Houlihan -Piper Jaffray -William Blair -Harris Williams -WF (believe they mostly do MM IB) -Jefferies -Raymond James

 

Hey StrategyJunkie,

Thanks for the info! I'll look into these tonight and hopefully drop a resume for their review by the end of the week.

I searched a little bit but there is very little information out there on MM & Boutiques with regard to the probability of their fielding a CPA background candidate, and I really wanted to focus in on those firms.

My bad with the location, I live and work in the NYC area.

 

It'll be a function of how well you can spin your experience. Are you in M&A due diligence, valuation, audit? The first two will be a much easier transition.

I'd suggest looking on linkedin for ppl who have CPA and made the switch. they'll be the best ones to figure out how they targeted firms and how they spun their story.

I've found you can twist your story to emphasize certain aspects of your job to make it seem like you're qualified to do banking.

I'd also suggest looking into smaller boutiques as they are generally more open to people with less pedigree / traditional banking backgrounds.

 

While I have worked on M&A due diligence (tax), no, I am not exclusively M&A. I've done valuations for fin48 positions (where you have to book an allowance for amounts not likely to be realized), but again, this is just one small part of the overall job.

I'm really gunning for smaller boutiques as a result of this. Are there any well-known small boutiques? Or is there a way to search for firms that size?

 

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