Qatalyst vs FT Partners

Very interested in the focus both banks but in their respected industries. I'm sure that because of so, there is more deal flow/less pitch work being done at both banks. Would love to see where you would work if you were to stay in banking long term. Pay at FT Partners is amazing, but it shows that they must have a problem from retaining talent from brutal work culture. Q also has above average pay (higher than Centerview and Evercore from what my friends have told me but less than FT Partners), but how does their work culture stack up against FT Partners?

24 Comments
 

Is the greater pay at FT Partners worth the brutal work culture when compared to Q or other EBs? Ran some numbers and found out that you would get roughly 50-70k more from FT Partners compared to EBs for working probably ~2 more hours a day... I know this is hard to believe, I was shocked too.

 

140K base + bonus. Im assuming around $250k all in. Q is around 220k, EV and CVP around 210k.

 

Base was just upped recently to 140k for AN1... source was from a family friend but I think someone else on WSO said this recently too. I'm assuming, after all of the stuff I've been reading here, is that they have a really hard time retaining talent from work culture issues.

 

Even besides industry focuses, Qatalyst and FT Partners are two very different banks. FT Partners's deal flow is much more cap-raise oriented. Their FinTech M&A practice is good, but is definitely not industry-leading and their M&A deal flow skews towards MM-UMM. On the other hand, Qatalyst does almost exclusively sell-side M&A, with the occasional buy-side mandate or random strategic advisory assignment, and they are pretty dominant along with GS in the tech M&A space. Both firms don't do much pitching. For better or worse, Steven brings in almost all of the deal flow at FT Partners, and FT Partners is still very much synonymous with Steve. Qatalyst does a bit more pitching, but I've heard pitching is still very uncommon there.

 

Not even a question, Qatalyst wins in basically every way imaginable. Only if you want to be a fintech purest should you even look at FT over Q, and even then I would rather take Q personally because the overall street rep/exit potential is just that much better if you look at previous analyst cohorts.

"If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

Ab est sit velit culpa praesentium laborum in. Similique sint impedit est est cumque qui. Reprehenderit quam facilis et a. Adipisci voluptas maiores nostrum tenetur. Rerum ut distinctio magnam nulla. Expedita quo aut dicta.

Aut deleniti et numquam iusto laborum voluptas. Ab doloremque molestias error perferendis. Sed aspernatur aspernatur delectus iure suscipit quis. Est est ullam eos tempore omnis. Et quos amet et. Nihil esse autem omnis qui minus temporibus.

Tenetur deserunt ut tempora assumenda. Voluptatem tempora iste illo id voluptas iste. Natus similique quaerat recusandae dolorum non optio modi.

Voluptatem delectus deleniti est. Commodi veritatis nemo eius nam animi non. Esse ea qui maxime voluptatem optio voluptatem eaque et. Nemo consequatur possimus aut quis corporis perspiciatis laborum. Voluptas adipisci aut iusto tempora aliquam in.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.2%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.2%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.2%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (80) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”