Underrated or Overrated (Gugg, PWP)?
Hear me out, this isn't another ranking thread. It's just a simple question as to whether the following banks are underrated or overrated.
So people on WSO like to down-talk Gugg and hype up PWP (not an intern at either, but will be recruiting this upcoming year). I did a quick linkedin search to see where some top MFs and UMMs get their PE Associate talent from (most notably BX, Apollo, Carlyle, TPG, KKR, Berkshire, Centerbridge, LGP, SLP, Lindsay Goldberg, H&F, etc). Turns out, Gugg and PWP had the same exact number of prior I-bankers working at the aforementioned firms. Gugg seemed to do better w/ MFs, while PWP did better with what I believe are equally/more prestigious, yet less well known firms like Berkshire. However, point is, exits didn't seem too vastly different from each other (both less than any other EB).
Additionally, the talent that Gugg draws from seems to be of a higher caliber (in terms of UG schools). Their target schools seem to be schools like Wharton, Stern, Cornell, Dartmouth, and Ross, while PWP's is Wharton, UCLA, Emory, Georgetown, Indiana.
Pay at Gugg is higher from what I have seen in online reports. PWP seems to have better exits to bschool.
My question is, why is PWP (at least on this forum) hyped to a MOE/LZD level, while Gugg is forgotten? They both seem more similar than different, and Gugg seems to be on the rise. Am I missing something, or is a choice between the two not as clear cut as many on WSO make it out to be?
to be honest i cant tell if ur purposely being obtuse or just trolling lol. first of all gugg has 50 analysts per year and im pretty sure pwp has about 15-20 analysts per year. that's like saying michigan places better than harvard for banking cuz the raw amount of michigan kids at banks are higher than harvard..
going to a BB myself, but I just wanted to mention that undergrad target schools shouldn’t really hold weight for “ranking” firms without more context.
for example, let’s say PWP is the best opportunity coming out of Emory, so PWP gets the top finance talent from the school.
on the other hand, GUGG might be the 20th best opportunity coming out of Penn/Wharton, so they’re getting more of the mid-level kids.
Disclaimer: I have no idea about the recruiting landscape from either school, and think both firms are great.
in that instance, I’d think: Top Emory Talent > Middling Penn Talent