Moelis vs PWP
Which firm would you rather work for and why? From my understanding, they are of similar caliber but I would love to hear what you all think.
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I'm an intern but interviewed at both firms (and got neither offer lol) and here was my impressions- my view from talking to people is that Moelis is slightly more prestigious, but I don't think it is enough of a difference to actually matter. Any exit op that would interview a Moelis analyst would also interview a PWP analyst. I personally liked PWP's culture a lot more, Moelis definitely lived up to the sweatshop rep in my interviews. One guy interviewing me mentioned he'd been busy the past week and looked like a zombie and was barely functional. PWP seemed much more laid back. Obviously they will also work you hard, but probably a little less hard. I would definitely have picked PWP last summer, but given that Moelis gave all incoming SAs FT offers this year, I do take that as an effort by leadership to treat young talent better so I'm not sure if that would impact my decision.
did u get superdays at both?
no superdays at one of them and only first round at the other, but the one I didn't get superday from I did coffee chats so still have a decent sense.
where would greenhill fall between them
Moelis: exits
PWP: culture, hours, better for staying in banking
Both fantastic, no need to overthink it. Would go with where you have more alumni if possible, think it's underrated in getting a return offer. Also heard Moelis isn't as sweaty anymore, think the rep from 2018 email is just self-perpetuating at this point. Think it's more in line with rest of street at this point, no longer an outlier.
Moelis is still pretty bad at least in NYC, no idea about other offices
I work at another EB but have friends at both. Can confirm that Moelis is still the worst sweatshop on the street, followed closely by Lazard. PWP works you hard but it seems very much in waves, unlike at Moelis where they're always busy. Exit opps obviously incredible from both (better at Moelis)
Any info on Moelis NY vs. Moelis LA sweatiness as of 2020?
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pwp focuses early on, per analyst i know there
Love the username. Indisputably one of my favorite dishes.
woah got some Persians in here eh? Me too
koobideh>ghorme sabzi any day tho
Both firms are great. Know PWP pays a crap load in comp though. 1st year Associate buddies there pull in a multiple of base ($150k+) for their bonus so a number of analysts choose to stay on
I can confirm Moelis also pays a base of 150K for ASO1 so I doubt total compensation differs significantly for the two banks.
It's not the base component but rather the bonus component but at the end of the day both firms are paying good $ for a 24-25 year old lol
When you say "multiple of base" are you talking about possibly a $300k (2 x $150k) end-of-year bonus?
From literally everything I've heard from people on the street, I find it tough to believe that an ASO1 could be pulling $450k+ all-in. That's VP1 comp at most other places.
How's the dealflow at both? I would guess Moelis for deal volume and PWP for deal size, but correct me if I'm wrong
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Haha noted, thanks for that colour. Good luck to ya with all the RX work - better to be busy than not during times like these
Looks like your understaffed. Surprised that you gave out lower than normal return offers this past summer.
Def Moeils, no comparison. PWP is not in the same league.
Care to elaborate?
They're in the same league. Same caliber analysts. No one can fault you for not working at Moelis, the hours there are insane. I have friends who turned down Moelis for less prestigious banks. That being said, if you care only about prestige, Moelis is better
This is just not true at all. Definitely in the same league. PWP's RX seems to be in an earlier growth stage, but M&A is certainly on par. Not sure why everyone is so obsessed with X bank being better than Y bank... I will tell you people from my alma mater at both firms have had equal looks by MFs, good MM shops, and HFs. It isn't about X bank being marginally better than Y bank, it is about the analyst and how good they are.
As someone who has several friends at both, Moelis seems like the better shop in terms of exits and prestige, but the difference is marginal.
On the other hand, you'll be working sweatshop hours every day of the year, when M&A isnt peaking, RX is. On the off chance that neither are peaking, you'll be staffed on 5 random pitches with no shot of winning just because the stock price isn't doing well.
Before you hit the desk, its easy to overlook exactly how crappy life is when you work at a sweatshop w/no uniform/friendly culture, but soon after think a lot of folks I know tend to regret it or get out as quickly as possible.
This post could get a lot of hate, but it's an impartial opinion.
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While true, there’s still a massive quality of life difference between averaging 80hrs per week and 90-100hrs+ even though neither qualifies as “work/life balance”
Interesting discussion. Which one would y'all rather work for, from a post-MBA Associate perspective? Assuming the goal is to stick around for a while / be a career banker.
I ask because there are people on this forum that say that Moelis culture has gotten significantly better compared to its reputation in prior years
Assuming exits aren't important, I would say PWP unless you want to focus on RX.
Similar if not better pay (bonus is more cash), better culture and the negligible brand name tradeoff isn't important to you.
Keep in mind these rankings are also a numbers game. There is way more people at Moelis so way more biased employees out there making the case for Moelis to feel good about themselves.
Also more Moelis rejects who want to shit on Moelis to make themselves feel better... Also Moelis hired 36 2020 SAs total in the United States. I don't think that's that much more than PWP
Only 36 in the entire US? Figured it would be more
People usually apply everywhere. That 36 figure is only for NY I believe (might be wrong here), which is much more.
Incoming SA here. Moelis is taking 54 across all US offices for this summer
True, also people really love hating on Moelis's culture on this forum, so just a lot of all around bias
So here's my question: If PWP consistently works on larger deals (assuming M&A and not RX) and has a better culture, then why is Moelis considered more prestigious of the two on this forum, even if marginally so? Is it purely due to exits at the Analyst level; and wouldn't those roughly even out, once you normalize for class size?
Not disagreeing with anyone here, just genuinely curious
Because junior bankers are crossed-staffed between M&A and RX at both firms. You can't just look at M&A and say PWP is better. You have to look at both especially during times like this. And Moelis does much better with RX and has higher deal flow.
Gotcha - makes sense. Thanks for the colour!
Depends what you are looking for. No firm is better than the other. Even in RX PWP is more selective in its deals and the average deal value is higher than at Moelis. Both offer great experience but Moelis is more of a pitching machine than PWP. It all comes down to a different approach in doing business.
League tables probably play a part.
Moelis just does more deals, which has its benefits (exits) and drawbacks (hours and culture)
PWP and it's not even close.
I just don't want to die at 23
Both unreal options — choose based on culture/fit. Moelis has marginally worse hours.
Pretty much equal, I’d go based on fit. But if you want some marginal comparisons —
Comp: PWP>
Hours: PWP>
PE Exits: MOE>
B-School Exits: PWP>
Does PWP have better AN comp? Know Moelis AN1 top bucket was 130k, with mid bucket being 110/120k.
I say this as a person who chose between Moelis and another non-EVR/CVP/PJT EB and ultimately chose the other firm but really enjoyed recruiting events/networking with Moelis: Can any current employees please speak to this whole reputation of noticeably worse hours (or culture) than comparable banks? Is that truly still the reality? It seems that so much of this forum is an echo chamber of people saying Moelis is sweaty simply because that’s what they heard from this forum. I will be honest, it very much influenced my decision. I just wonder if that rep is still deserved.
NY or London: PWP easy choice.
California: Moelis
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