Piper Sandler - Are you F***** Kidding Me?

The managing directors at Piper Sandler are absolutely ridiculous. 

They have no sense of respect or even just basic human decency for their subordinates - I say this someone who's performing top tier

A year or two ago, they got shat on in this forum and sweared to be better. I ask other Piper people - have any of you seen an improvement? Or are you also being treated like crap?

66 Comments
 

Yeah, can confirm this. Left Piper a little while ago (2 months ish). The first WSO article came out there was tons of internal scramble and ideas thrown around about how to improve culture. That shit didn’t do anything. MD’s did not change a thing and are still dickheads to junior staff. Would not recommend to a friend 

 

I’ve seen many people complain on individual firms/groups. Does anyone have insights on comparison basis? How does piper industrials/HC compare to Moelis or Jefferies TMT or Goldman’s coverage groups in general? Can hardly imagine they are sweatier and more toxic

 

That’s what I thought. Most banks are sweat, but many of them offer excuses to stay in that way. Prob not in Piper’s case

 

This is exactly it. Sure, you may work just as hard or harder at other groups / banks, but then you usually have the benefit of better prestige, pay, or exits - either one or all three. You compare Piper to its peers such as Blair or Baird, both places known for their culture, and it's not even close how shitty it seems Piper treats its juniors.

Definitely group dependent even w/in Piper though. Industrials and certain HC groups are the worst (or were).

 
Controversial

Honestly don't care how much shit I get for this. Throw it.

I understand being frustrated with difficult working conditions and feeling like you're treated poorly, but didn't we all know what we signed up for when we pursued IB? If you wanted a cushy spot in an easy job, you knew that wasn't what you were getting when you signed up. Life is full of trade offs: you get finance bootcamp, money that you honestly don't deserve out of undergrad, and a resume stamp that allows you to pursue roles you wouldn't dream of getting otherwise. What you give in return is ~2 years of your life, they belong to the firm. If you weren't prepared to make that deal you shouldn't have signed your offer. That's just my opinion. Don't be soft, work hard, and make it worth it. It's a temporary part of life that sets you up to accomplish things that wouldn't be possible otherwise. If you wanna whine give up your spot for the 300 other kids that are waiting in line.

 
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Are you retarded? Sweaty/bad hours can be expected but OP was physically threatened by one of their superiors for a minor mistake... how are the two even slightly similar? Also working 90 hour weeks are bad enough without assholes shitting on you and you come in here with this simpy ass tirade where you think all IB analysts signed up to be actual sex slaves for their MDs. Shut the fuck up, this is not acceptable behavior in any industry. 

To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.
 

Demanding job =/= people being genuinely cruel. This is not the case at most other banks. Not many people are "signing up" to be tortured, they are prepared to just have to work very hard. There are MDs who can really destroy a person's self esteem. Like there is a such a monumental difference between what is expected of an IB analyst and how some of them are treated at a select few certain firms. I get that MDs have actual skin in the game here with fees and shit but I feel like there is a line between demanding and wildly out of control.

Dayman?
 

Mind boggling that things haven't improved. Makes it worse when you consider the top tier MMs such as Baird/Blair are *known* for their culture and arguably perform better. What is broken within Piper that they can't acknowledge this issue.

I don't think they understand the talent they are losing and scaring off, particularly at the associate level where people don't have the 2 year PE exit.

 

All I know is every analyst I reach out to never responds. Even alumni. FUCK Piper.

 

WOW  didn't the OP write that his MD threatened to hit him with something...that's pretty crazy. In my 8 years of banking, i had yet to come across something so obnoxious like that. 

 

Can anyone in the Chicago office offer their opinion on how working at Piper has been?

 

These threads have been sent to James baker, chad Abraham, christine esckilsen and Shawn quant. Keep WSO posted, PJSC monkeys 

 

James Baker is a good guy. Will hopefully bring some simmons culture there....

 

The solution isn't to send over a bunch of swag and hire some HR people either. The solution is to get rid of the assholes.

Your first thought might be "well, it's costly because they are revenue generators". Guess what's more expensive? Having your mistreated analysts and associates leave on bad terms to the buyside and vowing their new firms will never hire the bank on any future assignments. 

That's for every investment bank. Not just Piper. 

 

The solution isn't to send over a bunch of swag and hire some HR people either. The solution is to get rid of the assholes.

Your first thought might be "well, it's costly because they are revenue generators". Guess what's more expensive? Having your mistreated analysts and associates leave on bad terms to the buyside and vowing their new firms will never hire the bank on any future assignments. 

That's for every investment bank. Not just Piper. 

But is that happening? Piper seems to be doing well with sponsors lately, particularly in HC and Industrials.

 

Have multiple alums who work there. Have said it’s an absolutely terrible culture and a shithole sweatshop. Only take if you don’t have any other offer.....

 

I just joined the platform and can confirm the MDs are horrible. No respect for bankers at any level, limited sector knowledge, condescending to the point of discriminatory (would make sense given this is the whitest male only firm ever) and no live deal Flow. Makes no sense how the person I am working for treats his team like this and gets away with it. HR isn’t watching or simply put, doesn’t care. 

 

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