(UK) Lazard Vs Rothschild Vs Evercore vs PJT Exit Rankings 2024
Hi all, extremely confused prospect here doing springs at some of the eb's mentioned and will probably try for all 4 for 2025 summer applications as I guess they're deemed to be the best boutiques in London? Only issue is, I was pretty dead set on laz/roths as old threads suggested these were the best eb's and while that seems to remain true for deal flow (arguably not anymore too from what ive heard) it doesn't seem to remain true at all for exits. Reading newer wso threads and doing my linkedin research etc it seems like yes you can still exit from all mentioned banks but evercore and pjt are leading the way? Am I missing something here? Are some people exiting just not updating their linkedin? Is this just another case of the pjt interns spending 25 hours per day on wso hyping up their bank? Have analysts from evercore/pjt just been luckier than laz/roths in recent years?
Ultimately exits are the most important thing for me, since I have a uncle in BB IBD and quite frankly dont want his life trajectory. So please can actual professionals rank these banks on exits in the contemporary market?
(note: I know im going to get a few condescending comments saying to get all offers first but Im an oxbridge student with springs at 3/4 of the firms and a referral for 2025 sa at the remaining one so please operate on the assumption I would be able to land a few and your rankings would help me prioritise my processes)
Based on the most helpful WSO content and insights from various threads, the exit opportunities for investment banks, especially elite boutiques (EBs) in London, have been a hot topic. The landscape for exits, particularly into private equity (PE) and hedge funds (HF), has evolved over time. Here's a breakdown of how Evercore, PJT, Lazard, and Rothschild are generally perceived in terms of exit opportunities:
Evercore: Often leads the pack in terms of exit opportunities into PE and HF. Evercore's strong deal flow, especially in M&A, positions its analysts well for high-profile exits. The firm's global reach and involvement in significant transactions provide analysts with a robust experience that is highly valued by PE firms.
PJT Partners: Particularly noted for its Restructuring and Special Situations Group (RSSG), PJT offers unique exit opportunities, especially into distressed PE and HF. Analysts at PJT tend to have a strong track record of moving into top-tier PE firms, partly due to the firm's reputation and the complex, high-stakes nature of the deals they work on.
Lazard: A venerable name in investment banking, Lazard has a long history and a strong global presence. While it has been perceived as a top destination for exits in the past, recent insights suggest that it might be slightly behind Evercore and PJT in this regard. However, Lazard's strong advisory practice and its involvement in significant cross-border deals still make it a solid platform for analysts looking to move into PE or HF.
Rothschild: Known for its advisory work and strong European presence, Rothschild offers good exit opportunities, particularly in Europe. While it may not always match the exit velocity to top-tier PE firms seen at Evercore and PJT, Rothschild's analysts gain valuable experience that can lead to successful exits, especially within the European market.
It's important to note that exit opportunities can be influenced by many factors, including individual performance, networking efforts, and market conditions. While Evercore and PJT might currently lead in terms of perceived exit opportunities, Lazard and Rothschild remain prestigious institutions that can serve as excellent platforms for your career.
Given your background and aspirations, focusing on Evercore and PJT might align well with your exit goals. However, considering the prestige and the unique strengths of Lazard and Rothschild, they should not be discounted. Each of these firms can offer a distinct set of experiences and opportunities that can shape your career path in investment banking and beyond.
Remember, the best choice also depends on the specific groups you're interested in and the culture of the office, which can significantly impact your experience and exit opportunities. Networking with professionals and interns at these firms and seeking insights from recent alumni can provide additional clarity as you make your decision.
Sources: Evercore v.s. Lazard v.s. PJT Partners, EB Comparisons, EB’s ranked by exits, How is PJT London?, Is Evercore the best bank overall?
Bump
All the firms you have mentioned above are very solid and you would have no problems with exits (assuming you get any of them). Convert first and then we can have a discussion.
Kids oxbridge, has connections (can be inferred from the uncle in bb ib), and has springs in 3/4 of them. Think it’s safe to assume he would convert atleast one. May aswell help him out now so he knows which to spend more time prepping on. For vanilla/buyout my ranking would be: 1. evr/pjt, 2. Laz/rth. Can’t really expand more on the rankings as the difference between each bank in their respective ranks are pretty minimal. Overall, seems like gs/ms even more dominant with mf presence nowadays.
Evr for exits isn’t in the same stratosphere as PJT buddy
Tbf, the only one I would discount on this list is Laz - they've had weak exits for a while now over the past few years, i can only recall 1/2 decent exits.
EVR/Roths/PJT are all good depending on how you perceive them. EVR has landed a lot of MF/UMM PE exits the past few years at most of the main funds, PJT dominates the opportunistic/special situations/credit investing space for the main funds and there've been a couple MF/UMM PE exits too. Roths does decent, but is mostly focused on MM PE exits, but i've seen a few MFs here and there.
All three will land you the top interviews and you will get headhunted but you will need to do well and prepare for the interviews. GS/MS/JPM are still a notch better, but what matters more is the candidate profile and you as a whole at that level.
Does anyone know why Laz has gone down hill and if it’s likely to improve again?
Tbh I think the lack of MF exits are more of a reflection of the lack of European students and hence European language speakers in their London office whereas other EBs are 50%+ European.
seems to be a combination of a heavy 'british' analyst class with little languages for the top MFs, but also a weaker analyst class due to most of the pipeline being from the spring week and IPs compared to most other banks which get a strong amount from separate recruitment pools. don't want to seem elitist here but a lot of those that come from IPs are from sub-par univerisites (exeter, bath etc.) which MFs wouldn't take a look at.
Any insight on the UMM/MM PE space?
Laz assoc here and dont worry not an elitist take. recruitment team still heavily favours oxbridge students. Last year, it seemed like about 50% of our springs were purely from oxbridge. Rationale seems to be to diversify analyst pool by taking a few in from IPs to stray away from our historically elitist allegations (This is still less than 15% of analyst class so no material difference). These new initiatives haven't existed long enough to explain the lack of mf exits. Honestly I think its a combination of 3 things:
1. Realisation of bleak mf chances in europe- enough threads exist that talk about this so I won't elaborate too much. In summary, it seems like most people are realising that breaking into mf without certain characteristics (languages/woman etc) is more of a lottery than it has ever been. So why not, just pick the EB or BB with the best pay (which laz definitely does not hold) and culture to hedge the very likely risk of not breaking into a mf shop.
2. Overall EB dissent in europe - Just go a few years back and you would see people picking laz over jpm frequently. However, with the overall commentary on wso and irl you can start to see EBs in europe are just gaining more notoriety as being weaker relative to their us counterparts, except perhaps evr and pjt which seem to be somehow getting a stronger appeal in europe, though obviously still weaker than usa. I would say the top 5 EB's are still being picked over mid BBs and below but over gs/ms/jp is even rarer nowadays. Effectively, this means we've lost the top talents that would've picked laz over jpm etc.
3. Lack of drive - Dwindling culture + top rainmakers leaving + weaker dealflow (fucking evr beat us in the domestic market and ubs beat us in emea??) + mid pay = not many people having the energy nor time for successful mf recruiting. If Spiro leaves, we will probably be on our last legs as the top European eb.
Agree with this. Definitely noticeable difference between SW recruits and Summer application recruits in SA classes
Wouldn't operate under the assumption that you're definitely going to convert since those springs have like a 30% conversion rate. Focus on that first.
Also you say you're optimising for exits since you don't like the IB lifestyle but all the top exits (MF PE etc) which require elite banks to get, have that exact same IB lifestyle
1. lazard/rothschild is like 50%, pjt (admittedly the one I don't have a spring in since its for diversity iirc) has a pretty high conversion if you don't suck, evercore is the only one you got correct.
2. Regarding the second point, you wouldn't get it.
1. Lazard last couple years was 40%. Rothschild last year was less than usual but thats likely since they reduced SA headcount for 2024. It's not as high as previously (50%) as on top of the SW (37 people) they have the womens SW (15 people) and the upreach summer week (another 25-30ish) which has a total of 75-80 people doing the spring conversion AC process. They definitely did not convert 40 (50%) last year since the SA class is like 35-40 for 2024 and they recruit summer apps as well. PJT conversion is also not "easy" since they convert like 6 of the 20 on both springs
2. How would I not get it prospect who thinks he knows it all because he has a silver spoon?
lol
1. PJT - 30%, Evercore - 30%, Lazard - recently 40% (used to be 30%), Rothschild - 30-40%. You're definitely a privileged oxbridge PPE/Classics student with zero mathematical ability.
2. Good luck in your conversions bro because you have zero EQ.
Bro is deffo in the bullingdon club with that attitude.
PJT/ EVR > Roths > Laz
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