PWP v BOFA v Rothschild v PJT London SA
Hi,
I did a number of spring weeks this year and am holding a few summer offers for next year and waiting to hear back from some of the others.
Which of the four firms listed would you recommend I take for London SA?
I am not sure what I want to do in the future but feel like M&A is the area I am most interested in at the moment. Which gives me the most exit opps into PE and also which bank has the highest conversion rate for SA's?
Thank you.
Very good firms - congratulations. My broad recommendation:
BAML > Rothschild > PJT > PWP
Pay differentials aren't really worth throwing a big fuss about at the junior level, especially post-tax. Rothschild does dip into the MM (average deal size around 500M PS), but this shouldn't be a problem if you get one of their stronger teams (HC, CRL).
Does their HC team not do MM deals?
Sort of a barbell--mainly MM but the occasional Bayer-Monsanto type deal.
In London, if interested in M&A:
Roths > BOFA > PWP > PJT
PJT top if interested in RX.
Roths over BAML is a stretch imo. BAML has been doing very well in EMEA M&A over the past years and RS is very much focused on mid cap deals. I also don’t think that you‘ll have a boutique atmosphere there given that their office is quite large.
But PJT has a generalist progam so OP would be doing both anyway (and HHs know that)
I think PE exits wise it should be BofA > PJT > PWP > Roths
Culture/Pay/Lifestyle wise PJT > PWP > Roths > BofA (and yea pay differential is significant and trust me when you start working it does matter)
I assume you only have PWP offer as of today since i think the others are not out yet - congrats on that and honestly you cant go wrong with any of these names (maybe not Roths for PE placements)
There is another thread on WSO about london salaries and I think the difference between BOFA and PWP/PJT is only 5k pounds. Does PWP/PJT pay their analysts significantly more?
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/500-exists-int…
BofA: 36 (Analyst Class ~60)
Rothschild: 16 (Analyst Class ~30)
PWP: 6 (Analyst Class ~15)
PJT: 5 (Analyst Class ~15)
BofA has more or less 100% conversion rate unless you really suck. PJT same ballpark, Rothschild is actually quite competitive to convert. not sure about PWP but they are not to the level of others (i.e. will land a big deal here or there) but pay super well. Based on that I’d go BofA.
Unrelated to the discussion but I really appreciate your 20 questions thread. You are awesome!
Is BofA return rate still usually high in down years?
Wrong analysis
BoA = Roths > PJT/PWP
Go for BAML/Roths depending on which one you liked the culture/people better. You'll get looks from top PE funds at all the firms you have offers from. Roths doing smaller deals is kinda irrelevant, they're not that small even outside of HC/CRL and you'll probs end up doing a lot more deals and more responsibility than if you were at a BB or an EB like PWP/PJT with comparatively worse EMEA dealflow > which is more to talk about in an buyside interview.
BOA's higher conversion rate is deffo something to take in mind. At the fairly marginal level between these firms, the people you're around will impact your experience most so if you liked the people from BOA more then I would go with BOA. But if you preferred Roths people then I would back yourself that you would fit in and convert and so pick Roths
Agreeing with your post, but isn't Rothschild known for having very bad hours/culture? How does it compare to BofA?
Can’t speak for either but you’d be a big fool if you thought BOA will be more chill than Roths, they’re both top firms and will work you hard. I think the Roths bad culture comment has just gotten thrown around a lot on WSO like an echo chamber without basis, not really such thing as firm culture. V group dependent.
Following
I beg to differ. Roth in London is very well regarded.
Roth>BofA>PJT>PWP
Having said that Roth will be doing a lot of MM deals, but rest assured it's very well regarded in EU/London
If this is US, Roth would be last xD
Roths isn't a boutique but the experience is nicer than BB or EB
In BB like BOA you are just a number, one in the sausage machine of thousands of people from retail to corporate banking, risk, credit, S&T... very impersonal
In EB like PWP, you are one of like 5 people, if you don't like your colleagues, that's gonna be pretty shit... too personal
In Roths, perfect size, most teams are 20-40 people, only a few ~ 10 so you get to know people but can hang out with others if you don't like some people on your team
Roths base is London so all the group heads of the entire bank are there and you’ll get to know them as an analyst. In BB you just have the European heads, you are an offshoot
Not disagreeing with most of your comment but PWP's analyst class in London stands at 25 new first years.
Nevertheless, PWP overall team sizes much smaller, semi-joking but just look at the size of their office building vs Roths
Just a quick a bit unrelated questions
How about Rth HC vs UBS HC for MF PE exits. And which banks have the best HC teams in EMEA
JPM and Roths have best healthcare teams in EMEA. GS also has a good healthcare team as well as Boa HC with notoriously good WLB. UBS is nowhere near the top lol. Doesn’t even top 10
Thanks for this. What do you think of MS HC?
For purely MF exit purpose which one is better between RTH HC and UBS HC since RTH is so deep into MM deals.
If optimizing for exits into vanilla LBO PE, would echo other posters and say
BofA > Roths >= PJT > PWP (FWIW I believe pay is PJT > PWP > Roths >= BofA lol, but ignore pay in short term)
PJT obviously top bank by far for RX and has traditionally exited very well, wouldn't sleep on it, but not your traditional IB experience. RX has been dead for last 2 years since the brief insanity of March/April 2020 but I think it's going to turn around with a looming recession + higher interest rates.
BofA vs Roths is largely about BB vs boutique experience IMO, personally have always been a fan of flatter/smaller places but definitely brand + network advantages to a BB. Most important factor with all these good banks is frankly conversion rates & to my anecdotal knowledge BofA is better about this than Roths.
I'd argue the ROTH brand is stronger than BAML in Europe. Its less to do with being a BB than other industries at least have heard the name of your bank. Rothschild has some elite brand equity in London/Europe.
EDIT: I'm talking about non-finance exits. In finance, they're probably regarded as the same, just below MS/GS etc
Congrats on offers, all good choices and not much in it but personally:
Roths (if HC or CRL) > BAML > Roths (most other teams) > PJT > PWP
As others have said Roths vs. BAML is just a BB vs Boutique preference
Pretty sure Roth consumer and hc still mainly do MM deals and don’t have many big PE exits. BofA EMEA M&A team seen a lot more exits than those two teams.
You ignore that this is significantly driven by self-selection into the types of PE firms based on the type of people going into those banks and what they want in life, not the placing power of the bank itself
Thank you, finally someone said it!
Would go for Roths or BAML, but probably leaning a bit more towards Roths
Roths is very strong in EMEA and has several relationships with tier 1 sponsors. Have seen them in several live (and interesting) deals
BAML is also a great shop and a good one for exits. I do not know the real reason but I have not seen them many times in live deals, even though they had participated in the RfPs.
For your reference, I work in the TMT team in a tier 1 BB / EB and have previously worked at Roths in London
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