They have an office here in Chicago and a recruiter reached out noting that their culture is fantastic. I like banking because I like the hard work and I find client interactions enjoyable, but I'd love to join a firm with a low asshole quotient at the VP and up level.
What does base look like? Aware they're LMM, but I can handle a slight cut if it means I'm waking up every morning and not reaching for a whiskey bottle.
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It's the obvious trade off you need to decide if that is what you do. Comp is below market, particularly bonus, but work-life balance is significantly better.
They don't have a great reputation on traditional sell side (think ESOPs looking to sell) processes. Their head of M&A is not impressive and lacks marketability.
If you like to do a bunch of mundane modeling and work on ESOPs, it's not a bad place. But, those processes are certainly less exciting.
Useful info. Do you have any idea on comp ranges? Would a VP cross $300k all in, or would they be below?
I worked at a competing ESOP shop and spent a few days at their office for a deal. Really cool folks but there will likely be a dramatic pay cut. Base VP salary at Baird likely surpasses all in comp at Chartwell. For context, the VPs at the competitor I worked for didn’t cross $200k until 2021 (record year). Would imagine the pay delta was within 10% or so between my old shop and chartwell.
You do realize that every single recruiter outreach says the client has a great culture right
also do want to find a firm w fewer assholes so I can relate to that
You're not wrong. But you can usually tell who is full of shit and who isn't by (1) talking to the juniors and seeing how deep the bags under their eyes are, (2) asking about how much they respect Saturdays or Holidays, and (3) making small talk to senior bankers about their families - if all of them mention ex-wives, that's a bad sign.
And did you do this with chartwell?
I'll just say that everyone I've met from there seems a little off. If you are on the spectrum, nothing wrong with that, but those are the type of people over there.
Dining hall
?
Chartwell focuses on ESOPS, which is not a very transferable skill as most MM / LMM shops would avoid an ESOP like the plague
Co-advised with them on a sellside: associate was getting cranked sending emails at 4-6am every night for like 6 months
Yikes! For real?
We tried to work with them on a deal. They refused saying the timeline was unreasonable. We found another sweat shop that took the unreasonable abuse.
My roommate interned with them this past summer and didn't take the return offer. He said they don't even hire investment bankers anymore out of college and only valuation people. Apparently a lot of the intern class doesn't even want to work there and only accepting offers because they didn't get into any other middle market bank. I don't know what an ESOP is but sounds like a joke for exit opportunities
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