Moelis & Co. London?
In NYC and LA, Moelis is considered really top notch and on par with GS/MS for exit opps towards hedge funds and the buy side. How is the situation in London? Do new analysts have the same exit opps as analysts at GS/MS/JP and better than Lazard/Rothschild or is the bank subpar? What are the classic exit opps? Is the bank best positioned to allow you to join hedge funds (especially credit and distressed) or more towards PE funds? I have a friend who turned down Moelis for Lazard and another who turned down Morgan Stanley and BAML for Moelis, who is correct? I heard very mixed opinions about Moelis exit opps in London and I wonder what the truth is.
Definitely not even close to the reputation the company has in the US. Deal flow is definitely lacking in comparison to US offices, same with exit opps. From a quick search on Linkedin, you can see that there was basically no MF or Large Cap PE exit in the last couple of years, however quite good (quantity) to HF. This has mainly something to with the fact that they run M&A and RX together as far as I know. Nonetheless, PJT offers a similar but more highly regarded program (only for Y1s though); Lazard also seems to have some pooling but not entirely sure. While Moelis is quite good at RX it is still a notch below firms like PJT, Laz, HL. You might want to take Moelis over a BB in case you have a strong interest in RX/Distressed and want to have a combined program. If not, Moelis is not on the level of US BBs, PJT, Lazard or RS and will mostly be considered inferior to other BBs like CS and Barclays as well as Evercore and PWP. People at Moelis are generally super smart though because many inflate the company's reputation in Europe and decline better offers like your friend did.
Do you really think that Moelis is that inferior to Lazard? I would be surprised. I also think it is far fetched to say Moelis is below Barclays and CS, I mean, C'mon! HF or PE recruiter can think that an analyst at Barclays is more prepared than an analyst at Moelis? I do not get it.
I obviously cannot comment on how HHs view Moelis analyst. However, there are certain teams at both BBs you mentioned that had some great exits in the past; CS LevFin comes to mind which regularly sends people to Apollo. Maybe it is self-selection on the part of Moelis that those guys only want to go to HFs and that there weren't any strong PE exits. Lazard is much stronger than Moelis in London (M&A and RX). Better exits from what you can see online and also a much more established institution in general (only real EB in London together with RS).
PJT and Laz below Bar and CS?
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PJT and LAZ quite a bit above the 2. Sorry if I was unclear
Looks like they do well in rx
Generally, Laz/PJT/HL are considered the top 3 firms in RX but as I said Moelis is almost if not up there in London. Regarding PE Exits, you are not correct. There was no exit to CVC, one guy to Softbank and one guy who exited to Apollo 6 years ago and is now at BX. One exit to Carlyle 9 years ago. Not a single MF/Large Cap LBO exit in the last 5 years on Linkedin. Not really comparable to CS LevFin which sends kids to Apollo almost every year. HFs are a different game and there have been some nice exits with GS SSG (HF/PE) and GLG.
Also, how easy do you think it is to transfer from one office to another within a bank, such as transferring from London to NYC as an analyst in Moelis? I am interned in IB at a lower tier BB (BAML/Citi/UBS) and it seemed quite hard, is this a one-off experience or is it hard everywhere including in boutiques?
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