Reneging BB SA Offer?
Hi all, first time posting. Just wanted your opinion on reneging an American BB (BAML/Citi) SA Offer (London) for a higher ranking American BB (GS/JP/MS) or even a higher ranking EB (Evercore/PJT etc.)...
The thing is, as an undergraduate, it seems that the prestige of those higher ranking firms matters a lot, and even though the offer I've got is good (Citi/BAML), the prestige of one of those other banks would go a lot further in terms of starting my career. Also, a lot of my friends are advising me to always just aim for the highest, and the culture of banking is such where you need to make such decisions.
Also just to add, I do not exactly have an interest in PE/HF, so would be looking to stay in banking for the long-run, or even go down the corporate finance route later within my career.
Having said that, I have signed the contract and have been told the consequences of reneging/ read them here on this forum. I was just curious if these consequences are as prevalent in London and for a SA position, as well as just advising what the best course of action is.
Thanks
Not just trying to balance the opinions here.
First of all, I think SA offers are not nearly as serious as FTs', so if you were to renege ever, do it now. Secondly, yes, banking circle is small. I worked in Hong Kong where every piece of unimportant rumor spreads fast, ie it is a much more dangerous place than London and New York as far as reneging an offer is concerned. Nonetheless, every year there are last minute changes to at least some BBs' SA hiring resulted from people reneging offers. Yes, people will talk about it, but would it matter? A very close friend of mine went through the exact same dilemma a few years ago, and the potential improvement in prestige wasn't even close to that from Citi to GS (think JPM to MS).
In the end he reneged, just for that marginal increase in prestige. What happened to him was that one director from the firmed being betrayed called him, put in a few harsh words, and that was it. The other bank's HR actually advised him on how he should approach this issue of reneging his offer. After all it's only a 2-month temporary contract. The lessons here I think is that other banks most likely would not care if a SA reneges his offer to join them as it is not a full-time commitment, only a summer internship position. So the scenario of you losing both offers I think is slim, if not entirely mythical. Secondly, doing so would do zero damage to the firm but relatively large benefit to you as banks now convert almost 100% from intern class and it is considerably harder to climb up the ladder afterwards. So, if I were you, I would email Citi/BAML HR saying you got other plans for the summer and cannot commit to this wonderful opportunity anymore. Be prepared for a few stress calls, and keep calm and work for GS.
Just keep in mind that a lot of the boutiques don't hold the same level of cachet in Europe as they do in the US (Evercore, PJT included) so I would think twice before you turn down a Citi/BAML IBD offer for a boutique.
Only notable boutiques in Europe that come into mind are Rothschild and Lazard (and the one-off boutiques like Robey Warshaw which I doubt takes any summer interns)
Do agree with you that GS/MS/JPM are a notch above Citi/BAML in Europe just like they are in the US (although I'd argue to a lesser extent to BAML in the US).
This is poor advice - why should EBs in London not hold up to BBs? And don't come up with some bullshit like "league table" as the same is the case for the US. Rothschild is a MM bank - just look at what deals they do. Lazard is so large that defining them as a boutique is misleading.
Analyst classes at EBs in London are much smaller in London (typically 5-10). Experience, senior exposure, client interaction, comps and exits into the buyside are much stronger. I would recommend anyone to take EVR over JPM in a heartbeat in London if you can live without the brand name.
Regarding reneging in London, I know of many cases where people did this and nothing happened. But I don't know of anyone who did this and had his offer revoked or other issues.
Sorry for the late response, but will opine here:
The "typical" EBs simply don't have as much clout in europe as they do in the US. Other than Rothschild and Lazard (which I specifically noted out as the only EBs with clout, so not sure why you're using them as your examples in your argument), the other EBs (Moelis/Evercore/Greenhill/PWP and so on) mostly work on cross-border deals (with the EBs representing the US company, so the US office does all the work, but they get deal credit in both EU and US for league table purposes). Not sure why you seem to take so much offense from this, as this is quite common knowledge to those working in the industry. Of course there are also some notable Evercore London over JPM London - by all means if you're talented enough to get offers from both places, you'll likely succeed in either shop. But just going off your example, picking Evercore over JPM is not (and should not be viewed) under the same context as in the US vs. as in London. As someone who's currently working in the industry, that's all I'll say, feel free to disagree.