PWP vs JEFF vs MOE London
I’ve received offers for all above for [OC/SA/FT]and was wondering what were you guys thoughts on each and which one would recommend to join.
No particular team in mind at this stage, though I’m particularly interested in Industrials( know PWP has Dietrich Becker although I am also aware that Jefferies has been expanding quite aggressively on the MDs side). Also open to Healthcare, Energy, or FIG. In terms of optionality as well, does MOE and PWP have more prestige than JEFF given they are considered « elite boutiques? »
I speak 2 European language as well, so I’m curious which bank has more of a Euro culture (someone said JEFF is more of a lads bank - not necessarily a bad thing actually - and MOE more of a high upper middle class community).
Jeffries is one of the worst place to be as an junior. Yeah a lot of MD went there because they are senior people. As a junior you get burned out at a MM bank with average deal quality. Ok to go work at Jeff if you interested in healthcare that’s it.
I’ve read some threads and thought that was only in the US. Were you at Jefferies before, and what’s your thoughts on PWP and MOE?
Can't say for PWP and MOE but heard Jeff is not the best shop as a junior. Hours are ridiculous for type of workflow and some bad culture too. Heard their M&A and Power team does really good work tho. Industrials extremely large and is massively expanding but the workflow is essentially 0 modelling, just a lot of pitches. A lot of Italians so very euro. If that sounds ok to you then go for Jeff for the name for exits. (source: close friend AN)
Bump
Congrats on all your offers. I can’t speak for PWP nor Moelis but Jefferies London is a good place to be. Yes you work hard, but culture is good overall and junior culture is excellent. Deal teams are small and you are delegated a lot of responsibility. Jeff is also quite European, with a lot of Italians in particular. But it is overall very diverse with a good amount of Brits and some Americans across the hierarchy. It is growing fast and I personally think it is very rewarding to be a part of that journey, but you work on a lot of pitches as a result. I am not one to comment on where you should or shouldn’t go, but hope this helps.
Thank you so much!! This really helps.
Do deal teams get leaner the smaller the mandate is?
My understanding is that deal teams are MD,VP, ASO, AN/Intern
You are correct. Deal teams will not scale downwards, only upwards. Bigger fee opportunities will often have involvement from continental / US teams. Assuming you are joining as an intern, you will initially be staffed alongside an A1/A2. If you do well, you'll then start getting your own staffings.
Not sure I agree with this account on Jef. Have many close friends there as Analysts, and the reviews have generally been all negative. My flatmate (who works there) literally told me the worst place you could ever do an off cycle is Jefferies purely because of how you are treated. Churn is also pretty high - all my friends want to get out and don't envisage themselves there long term
Thank you for the insights!
I thought being an OC would be hell anywhere [PWP / MOE] because everyone is more senior than you.
Curious to know whether your flatmate or friends would pick Perella or Moelis rather than staying where they are now @ Jefferies.
Unfortunately the question is very team dependent as your experience can vary significantly. Also, if you have a FT offer from any of them you should just take that unless it’s in a team you really don’t want to be in
Elite boutiques don’t have nearly the same level of prestige in Europe, BBs dominate large cap PE recruiting as well as large cap deal flow. EBs (incl eg Evercore) often just compete with other MM banks like William Blair, Baird etc.
Leaving apart these specific considerations, I don’t think either PWP or Moelis have been doing well at all in Europe and have had quite a few losses recently (Perella has been struggling globally). Eg Moelis entire tech team got poached by Santander, PCA guys went to Jefferies. Jefferies is a really fast growing platform so from purely a firm trajectory perspective, I would pick them. They are giving a lot of cash comp guarantees (multi $m) to newly poached MDs so a lot of them are moving over from all banks. What does it mean for you as a junior is to be seen once over the next few years they start bringing in deals, but at least you are at a growing platform.
That said, you will be worked to the bone in most teams. However unlike many people think, there’s a difference between a hard working team and a toxic team. I havent found many assholes at Jefferies. It’s also a very meritocratic platform with little politics at junior level and you will be comped in line with street if you do really well (or below if you don’t do so well). The london office is also full of Europeans from everywhere which creates a great atmosphere
Completely agree. Surprised to see PWP struggling given how prominent they were on cross-atlantic/US large-cap deals across the 2010s.
Jefferies is doing phenomenally across Europe/US, only Citi and Evercore have matched their M&A fee growth in 2025.
In EMEA, would still say PWP pips Jefferies for exits from coverage teams (esp Industrials); for being a career banker given current trajectories, Jefferies is the best pick for sure.
Overall would go:
Jefferies => PWP >> Moelis
Thank you for this.
I am not sure that I will want to stay in banking (as in I am not sure right now) although I truly believe IB is really a good career path. I think it gets a lot of stick because people only go through the tough yeas not realising that the good years (where it gets even more interesting and fun) its the later years.
However in terms of optionality (what I would want to look for) - which one do you think will give me the most optionality, eg if I want to stay in banking it will be good or if I want to go to PE it will be good. Don’t understand how if Jefferies is better than PWP, PE funds would still hire from PWP (hope it’s not a stupid question).
Thank you so much for this - really really helpful and insightful.
Also heard that majority of Jefferies client is PE - how true is that?
I also have heard that most of the modelling sits with the UK M&A team / is this applicable to the majority of teams? I thought that for some teams it would be the team itself doing that.
Nonetheless - this was very helpful.
1- correct, 70-80% of the business is sell side M&A I think. They have one of the strongest sponsor franchise and are a bit lacking on corporate side even though improving. Reality is that sponsor business is recurring because any asset is for sale at the right price, doing endless corporate coverage in the hope that a corporate does a deal was not the best way to take market share
2- Partially correct, there is an EMEA M&A team in london ( UK is something else, they are the UKIB team ie UK coverage). Depends on the team but quite often the model will sit with M&A team. However not all the time
2-
I'm also very curious on JEF London exits to UMM/MF PE (particularly their LevFin group)
Why should Levfin go to PE? Too many coverage and Consultants than waste time on a product Group. CM in PE? yeah, IP? No
Lmfaoooooo imagine remotely considering Jefferies over Moelis / PWP
Why do you say this?
Are there any particular reasons?
Are u retardo? Moelis / PWP smash frat-star Jefferies by every measurable metric.
Compensation, experience, prestige, exits.
+1 for PWP, in my humble opinion. Great bunch of guys, good culture, fantastic exits. I knew an associate that left PWP London for a HF.
I've worked with former Jefferies guys before, and I can confidently say they have one of the worst cultures of any bank.
Agreed. I know several guys in the PWP London office with fantastic exits, including Apollo (3), KKR (2), CVC (1), BC Partners (1), Permira (2), Brookfield (2), Apax (1), Sixth Street (1), Fortress (1), Balyasny (1), Citadel (1), Hg (1), TA (1), several SWFs and mid-market PE funds. This is obvioulsy over a multi-year period, but it is important to remember that it is a relatively small analyst class (at least it used to be).
I'd be very surprised if JEF or MOE came close to it.
Jefferies. It’s so frat and the CEO posts fire content on instagram
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