There's an obscene amount of UBS slander on this site, to the point where it's unclear for some of us undergrads to gauge the real value of a career there. For example, if you had offers at Blair, Lincoln International, or a no name like Cascadia Capital, would you take them over an offer UBS?
- a curious undergrad
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No for all except MF. Most analysts are not going to stay as associates and there remains very solid UMM/larger MM exits from the top groups and even the mid-tier groups at UBS. You might not have as much deal experience as someone as Blair in volume count, but UBS simply has better exits on average, and most analysts are looking to maximize optionality above all.
Last year's analyst class had multiple UMM PE exits from Industrials, Tech and also a UMM PE exits from CR, M&A, and FIG. LevFin also regularly has MF PC exits and multiple UMM PC exits a year. As an analyst at UBS, know of sizeable number of UMM exits across groups in my class that graduated college in 2024. Maybe a top Blair group has a UMM exit here or there, but your exit outcomes are going to be better from UBS.
Elaborating on your comment, what would you say would be a firm similar in exit ops to UBS?
It's pretty unique given how much the exits and historic reputation differ from actual deal flow. Closest would be DB/Jefferies, but I think it has better exits than both of those.
Congrats on UBS!
Going to have to disagree with what other people here are saying, not fully, but I definitely don't agree with all the advice people are sharing. I think when it comes to Lincoln/Cascadia vs UBS, I would take UBS 99% of the time. The only caveat is if you truly see yourself becoming a career banker, then I think that would be a pretty awful decision. Now, when it comes to Blair or any top MM for that matter (HL, Jeff, Baird, HW), it is not so simple. All of these firms have absolutely no issue placing analysts in reputable MM PE shops, with a handful going to UMM and even the very odd one going to near MF caliber shops (think Jeff HC or WB Tech which work on really large deals consistently). That sounds familiar, doesn't it? Almost the same exits as UBS, except you actually have deal flow and can learn and speak to things when it comes to literally anything post-banking. Yes, the top groups at UBS are better, but the sad reality is that half of you will get placed into a group with virtually no flow and therefore nothing to throw on the resume or even speak to, just mindless pitch work. I would say at the end it just depends on your risk tolerance, if you want to bet on getting one of the top groups (levfin/CR), then sure go for UBS, if not, then I would consider something like Blair for sure.
This is just false on data. 3 people of the last Industrials class went to UMM PE (last year also had 3 UMM exits) including top UMM's. LevFin has multiple MF PC exits every year. Tech has had 2-3 UMM PE exits this year and the last. Each UBS group has 6-10 analysts, so these are relatively strong exits. The mid-tier coverage groups at UBS for exits also have 1-2 people go to UMM PE a year. The top groups at a top MM BB might exit close to a mid-tier UBS group, but the top UBS groups for exits absolutely exit better than the equivalent at a MM.
Virtually proving my point if you want to risk it for the top groups sure it’s better if not the experience you got at a top MM is just fundamentally miles above a mid or shit UBS group with very similar exits. Look at top mm exits before you say it’s based on conjecture lmao, firms like those mentioned above get very similar outcomes with top analysts going umm PE and they actually get experience at a firm that isn’t simply a sinking ship. All and all I would say they are relatively equal and it should be dependent on what groups you want/fit and where you really want to be. Also return rates from top groups in UBS like consumer are really not ideal which I don’t see from much of the mm banks.
And I am not one to just simply shit on UBS like many others on this form it still is miles above most other firms. I just also think it’s extremely misleading to cherry pick top exits and pretend like a place like UBS/DB is miles above HL/Blair/Jeff when it’s just not the case. They are on a very similar level just depends on if you want a bigger team doing financings and a rare m&a deal or leaner more hands churning sell side m&a deals. Atp it’s just preference and risk tolerance you might be able to coast more at UBS but get less experience with legacy carrying.
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