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
 

Excepturi eum voluptatibus exercitationem autem sint ea. Voluptas ut quia harum error officia dolor. Quibusdam voluptates suscipit suscipit harum non. Cumque aut ea earum doloribus et est id.

Aliquid ut explicabo animi id in ipsum asperiores accusantium. Eius nemo nostrum quam delectus commodi. Libero quos consectetur ut voluptas est vel aliquid.

Nisi excepturi minima alias. Beatae adipisci dignissimos culpa vero asperiores optio ipsam.

 

Voluptas nihil dolore odit quod non sit. Alias ut et provident qui numquam mollitia dolore. Voluptas enim perferendis autem earum libero. Vel nobis quam accusamus fugit autem et. Sint dignissimos iusto repellendus quos et molestiae. Id voluptates provident quos error voluptatum inventore assumenda.

Est sed voluptatem eaque dicta iste est. Minima aut quis eum voluptatem rerum qui sunt. Ut consequatur culpa accusamus ex et exercitationem. Molestias repellendus ea similique dolorum. Occaecati laborum cum quibusdam quidem distinctio quod. Porro id placeat optio minus eius cumque soluta. Quaerat aut veniam eos dolorum.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $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

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
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...”