Perella vs Centerview vs Greenhill

Centerview. But I'd always choose Centerview.

Yeah that's what I heard. What about Perella?

Perella is the worst of the three, but I've heard that Perella analysts are shoe-ins for HBS. Centerview all the way in this situation.

why is Greenhill on a downward trajectory? And how will Cogent help them in their bread-and-butter M&A?

also does being public change the comp structure there?

I also don't think it is on the way down, from a brief look at the deal credits, GHL's been smoking PWP and CV this year, but the business is very cyclical. GHL had a down year last year so this year they might kill it and Centerview might tank. Who knows. Also the impression I get is that Centerview and PWP has a bit of a higher associate to senior banker ratio than Greenhill cause Greenhil doesn't keep any analysts to stay on. That might create a different dynamic at CV or PWP where the senior people rely on their past analysts who are now associates for the good work.

Greenhill's public so a lot of comp at the senior level is gonna be in stock (RSU's) which vests and is generally not as preferred as cold hard cash. But I know a lot of the firm's money is committed to dividends (2x the div payout than Evercore/Laz/Moelis) so that might be an upside. Cash is probably better though. It would be cool if you knew when CV or PWP was going to go public and then try to make partner before then but that's sorta a pipe dream.Cogent is a completely different business from M&A there's not gonna be a huge change there.

I feel like the culture of all three firms are very similar. Smaller, leaner shops that have a rep for senior bankers that care. Haha yeah PWP's RX arm might be in a bit of a rut for a bit. Also I don't think you're looking at B-school anymore so I wouldn't care about PWP's HBS track record for their analysts.

If you want to stay in banking for a while, take Centerview. Great culture of promoting internally, good pay, and spend relatively little time pitching. Perella are a great shop in a similar mould. With Greenhill, this is just what I've heard from friends but it seems like they are having a tough time retaining their top senior bankers so that will likely hurt deal flow to an extent.

Any idea about the culture/ comp for all three? How do junior bankers get treated at these shops? Any idea whether you can get to buyside from one of these shops? Trying to revive ranking discussion also.

CV and PWP have a more sensible culture and treat juniors better because they want to promote internally. Comp is also a bit better at the junior level. More buyside exits from GHL but bear in mind that GHL is bigger, and there is probably some selection bias in that there are probably less analysts at CV and PWP trying to make the same move.