Opinions of these 4 banks and how would you rank them- mostly reputations and exit opps from all 4 but also considering culture and the people that work there (if you have any insight into that). The first 3 would all be in their Chicago offices and KBW in New York. My thought was
Though I was hesitant to not flip KBW and Baird.
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KBW is great if you want to do FIG, Blair is great, Lincoln is a close second to Blair, then Baird; I would view KBW as a different animal.
Is Lincoln that close behind Blair- thought they were of different calibers. And is Baird really that inferior to the others
At both Blair and Lincoln, a number of people go on to top business schools (Booth, Harvard, and Kellogg). I don't know specifics on exits ops. However, I've seen analysts from both firms at PE firms throughout Chicago.
Also, Baird had to lay off people this summer while Blair and Lincoln were certainly hiring. I think Blair may have even hired its largest analyst class ever.
From my perspective:
Pretty big gap
I would probably choose William Blair.
Baird and Blair are a toss up with Lincoln being a step below...KBW is a different animal as was mentioned.
So seems like the consensus (if there really is one at all) is
I imagine KBW just being in NYC will have more/better exit opps.
To me Blair seemed to have the worst culture of the bunch- a little bit more pretentious and elitist, and the people at Baird seemed much more approachable/friendly (of course this could just be the ones I have interacted with).
Don't have much on Lincoln except that they probably have the largest international presence of the bunch, but the weakest domestic presence.
Does this seem like an accurate analysis?
No that is not what the people above have said if you can read.
KBW is not in the same class as the other 3 and wholly unfair to compare because of its FIG focus (which by the way, is doing shitty equity-follow on offerings and $20MM regional bank mergers coupled with fewer larger M&A deals, of which you're not guaranteed to be staffed on...). Being in NYC does not lead to better exit ops, only advantage is you get to meet headhunters and PE guys in-person more often, but recruiters will still reach out to Blair/Lincoln/Baird guys in Chicago for opps all across the U.S.
The those 3 MM firms are among the top MMs (along with HW and Lazard MM) and you can't go wrong with any of them. If PE is your end goal, keep in mind that as opposed to KBW, these MM firms work a lot with PE firms on portfolio company sell-sides, meaning you get to have a fairly consistent interaction with associates/VPs from the deal team on the PE side. If you do good work and seem personable, that goes a long way during resume screening or interviews.
I would say choose according to the people and ask to meet others if you can't get a good sense.
You misunderstood. KBW should be out of the question.
As others mentioned, KBW is an unfair comparison given its industry focus, and should be considered below the other three anyway.
For RWB, WB and Lincoln, you cannot go wrong with any of them. It all comes down to the group you would be joining.
I shudder at the thought of working at KBW. Doing shitty FIG deals just sounds awful.
I would jump at the chance to work at any of the other three choices over KBW.
Agree with VanBuren, worked with Baird/WB/Lincoln, all solid shops and great guys. Certain groups are strong in certain industries, but overall, exit opps will be fine, especially in the midwest.
blair or lincoln.
Have a first round phone call with Lincoln- any idea what to expect? Technicals or mainly just fit/background type of questions?
Bump- anyone have opinions on Baird vs. Lincoln for IBD. Both would be potentially joining as a generalist.
What groups are good for Lincoln? If you interned in the London office do you think they would allow you to work in another office :)
What office?
sent you a pm
Out of Lincoln, Blair, Baird, take Lincoln, by far the better shop and great exit opps.
If you want to do FIG, do KBW, they are the best in the industry and have crazy deal flow.
Everyone does realize that KBW is going away right
http://www.kbw.com/investor-relations/press-releases
[quote=roar19]Everyone does realize that KBW is going away right
http://www.kbw.com/investor-relations/press-releases[/quote]
What are you looking at? They merged with Stifel, what makes you think they are going away?
The point is people are LOSING jobs there, not getting jobs. What do you think makes B/D mergers so attractive?? Taking costs out. Keep a few key dealmakers, analysts, and traders and shit-can everyone else. Particularly with the cost saving targets Stifel has set out...
These rankings are fun.
I agree with Platime. I would bet Baird has by far the most people exit into PE, so if that's your goal this is a no-brainer. I'd stay very clear of KBW right now due to the merger. Even if there are rumors out there about what Stifel is going to do with them, you don't know if it's going to look the same 12 months from now. I've always viewed Blair as a small step below Baird, but a step above Lincoln. The downside of Baird is the Milwaukee HQ, but if the offer is in Chicago, I'd definitely take them. Lincoln is a very good M&A advisory shop with good B-School placement, but my guess is you won't get as well-rounded of an experience working there.
Blair is definitely the better name in Chicago IMO. Much larger IB presence (to give an idea, Blair will take about 2x the number of SA as Baird will in its Chicago office) and also a much more (and often times this is a turn off for me) prestigious/pretentious firm. With that said, Baird has been moving lots of its IB to Chicago and is increasing its presence there. Baird's real up and coming business is its wealth management, which has grown tremendously over the past 10 years. Unsure on exit opps between the 2 (and thus my reason for creating this thread), but Blair does a lot of laterals to BBs and other MM firms.
Baird's Chicago office is just as big if not bigger than its Milwaukee office these days so I am not sure what you mean by Blair having a much larger presence. It's really not worth splitting hairs between RWB and WB... Both are solid MM firms. If you had offers from both I would take Baird because it has a much better culture, opportunity to work on upper MM deals with high quality assets, more responsibility than many firms, good exit ops
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