Future exit opps from activism defense at a top BB (GS/JPM/MS)? Interested in PE down the road, and don't know much about the group as it is new.
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All three have mediocre Activism defense teams. The top bank by far is Evercore, after they poached Bill Anderson (who used to be at GS) a few years ago. Lazard is also a great player in the space.
From what I understand, exit opps at the above firms are very variable. You’re not doing any modeling, so it would be hard to exit to PE. Have seen people lateral to a coverage group after one year.
Initially I thought shareholder advisory and activism defense would be a good starting point for going into an activist hedge fund, but I don't think the actual work day-to-day is comparable enough. It's certainly a growing group in various banks, led by the elite boutiques as part of their advisory services, but it's still a little early to know for sure what the group can launchpad into.
I think if you work in this space and earn the CFA designation in the process, you'll be set up quite well, but it's hard to say exactly what exits.
Anyone know what lifestyle would be like in shareholder advisory / activism defense at Evercore or Lazard? Hours / Culture comparable to coverage group or much less?
Similar hours to coverage group. If the hours are a little lighter, it's more than offset by the fact that activist defense is constantly scrambling to justify it's place within the bank and thus cranks like mad when there's a big pitch or a meeting with a client that's concerned about activism.
I've seen those guys have some light days but then also pull back to back all nighters. Group is very focused on generating lots of "content" i.e. new page designs and creative ways of making the obvious (news flash, activists like M&A and buybacks) seem original and insightful. Could be good for a senior banker who can think creatively, but the juniors seem to get shafted creating new pages all the time and learning nothing about the financial side of companies.
I'd rather get out at 11pm every night than get out at 7pm one night and 6am the next.
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