Rothschild vs. PWP LDN

Can’t comment on the analyst programs anymore as I’m quite a few years removed from it but generally speaking the perception is that both are great shops that attract premium junior talent with their own special niches. 
 

Roths - on the M&A side, has historically had one of the strongest healthcare practices in London, with strength in other sectors like renewables and consumer (check me for that though). Deal flow from what I hear is always very strong and is predominantly known as a MM powerhouse - which works out great in the European market. Also has a pretty great Rx/debt advisory franchise (top 3 in Europe), where they could get passed debtor side mandates from the M&A/advisory side when things go array that helps guarantee a steady stream of work. There was a notable senior departure last year to Jefferies but that hasn’t seemed to impacted them too much, yet. You should know that Rothschild is much more regionalised/local, even more so than other EBs, so for example their Paris office is super strong and basically number 1/2 there with Lazard and runs itself. 
 

Can’t speak too much of exit but I’ve ran into their alums sprinkled across various buy side shops at events, so can imagine being at Rothschild will probably get you a first look from most funds/HH, especially if you’re from a strong group. 
 

PWP - I’ve come across them less on the M&A side but has been known historically for their German and industrials team that are apparently super strong. I think they use to have an analyst rotation program (someone please check me on this as well) but can’t really comment on deal flow. Exit seems to have been pretty good as well, with alums going all over different buyside shops. I will say that firms like PWP, so basically EBs excluding Roths and Lazard, could potentially have pretty sporadic deal flows and getting on the mega deals as an analyst is sometimes a bit random (having come from one myself). On the Rx side, PWP has built a pretty neat practice in the last few years headed by two guys from GS and a guy from PJT. They’ve won a few mandates but the practice is still quite nascent, although definitely heading in the right direction. They’ve bolstered the practice by hiring a dude that does just debt advisory and hired another guy from PJT to head up their RX business in Germany. I’ve not seen any exits out of the RX teams yet but that’s probably to be expected given how new the team is. 
 

All in all, both pretty great options so it’s up to you what you want to do. Both places will open up the doors to most buyside opportunities as long as you perform and get on deals