What is the hype around PJT M&A?
It seems like the firm gets so much hype because of the restructuring side, but is the m&a side worth going to? Seems like a much lower tier from what I have seen on this website.
I don't get it - I understand that in the past they may have placed a few in their analyst classes in PE, but does the bank have any upside besides this? For potential A2As (and bschool associates, laterals, VPs, etc), it seems like there are much better options in M&A out there.
They haven't announced a big deal in a months, and it seems like those that they are on they are only a co-advisor. Meanwhile every other firm they get grouped with like Evercore is constantly in the headlines and doing deals. With an impeding recession, how can the PJT M&A group really do much of anything?
Maybe I'm missing something but it really does not seem like it deserves the hype it gets.
Edit to mention: I am headed to another EB this summer, hadn't heard about PJT until recently (they don't recruit at my school), and was reading up on them here.
Get offer first.. no point discussing if you have no offer.
What's the hype? Here's a start:
Source: I was an analyst at one of their close competitors (EVR/CVP). PJT M&A is no joke, it's not perfect and the experience is quite different from RSSG - not a bad thing per se - but it can take you pretty much anywhere in finance other top groups can. As another poster said, get an offer.
Pretty sure Moelis NY is better regarded now. Heard LA office is dying.
this is blatantly false. Moelis LA is one of the top groups on the Street.
See this is why I said above no point comparing. You tell them PJT RSSG>PJT M&A, and they ask for MoCo and then a new post asking abt PWP or EVR vs PJT. Splitting hairs here.
No matter what you tell ‘em, they gonna come back telling you Moco NY>Moco LA cuz LA office is dying or whatever and they obviously heard that on a seperate thread by someone else who doesnt have a clue. Regurgitating BS. Get an offer first.
Not true with PJT's women program
Whoa, kind of surprised by this thread. Hope I can add some helpful thoughts here - FD: I didn’t go through their analyst program but a close friend mine did (SA + 2 years FT —> UMM PE). Was a little over a year ago so hopefully not too stale.
So from what I know, their NYC analyst position is typically a generalist program (unless they bring in a lateral in which case they might want someone with an industry coverage background to help execute active mandates in a particular vertical that is heating up). This means that most analysts will get exposure to various industries as well as both M&A/RX transactions (will obviously depend on firm’s overall deal flow but my buddy worked on 5ish RX deals and probably 10+ M&A, 5+/- of which were announced. Kind of sounds nuts as I type it out but this is just what I’ve heard).
These guys are running lean as hell and are working on plenty of headline/mega deals. In fact, I have to say, over the last two years, basically every large investment bank, accounting firm, law firm, etc. has been working/moving down market in some way. For example, I think Goldman has been building out their cross markets group and marketing themselves toward MM sponsors (GS monkeys feel free to correct me here). Believe me or not (I feel like I might get MS for this but I swear it is true), I’ve seen sell-side CIMs/MPs from both EVR/CVP for companies with ~$10mm (and sometimes less......) of cash EBITDA. I don’t doubt that PJT could be doing the EXACT same thing on the slick, I just haven’t seen it. Please just know that a ton of these EB platforms (including PJT) have become EXTREMELY top heavy and folks that are senior enough to need to be bringing in fees are feeling the pressure (hence, taking on smaller mandates because they need to be productive for the firm). I only say this to point out that not every partner/MD on the Street is a BSD - feel like this isn’t discussed a lot here.
On the major deals they’ve closed where they were technically a co-advisor, often times they were the lead financial advisor (meaning they were signed up early, running the model, doing the heavy lifting, etc.). For instance, on the Sprint deal, T Mobile came to PJT and asked THEM to be the advisor. Pretty crazy shit. So they are not only the lead on an unreal deal, but they didn’t have to pitch either. I have a feeling this is consistent with some of their other big transactions but I can’t confirm.
Again, these analysts are getting fucked with work but in a good way and in what seems to be a supportive environment. I think an overwhelming majority of analysts go to the buyside in some capacity and many are going to funds that WSO monkeys tug their bananas to so that’s a plus. Im sure PJT has plenty of appetite for A2A folks but I just don’t think it’s super popular at the junior level.
Monkeys, feel free to pls fix anything I botched but I think this is helpful. Cheers
Don't work at PJT but I think one of the most important distinctions here that hasn't been brought up is that sometimes there is a dislocation between the performance of the bank and the analyst value proposition. Why do people want PJT M&A? Because their analysts get paid and get great exits. Why the fuck do I, as an analyst that has no vested stake in the long term performance of the company, give a shit about deal flow? Why do I care what deals are in the headlines? It's not like my bonus will change by more than 10 or 15k no matter how the firm does or how many deals close, absent of catastrophe. With how early on-cycle recruiting is anyway, deal flow matters absolutely 0 to analyst exits anymore. In fact, I'd probably want dealflow to be dead so I can work on some low stakes pitches and go home at 8 pm rather than be in the office grinding at 3 am for some live bullshit. Long story short, if i'm pulling 200k a year for two years and then leave to a megafund or umm shop I don't care too much about what I'm working on in between. This is also why you see good candidates at target schools take jobs at mini-boutiques like M Klein -- because they match top of street pay and they know the head of the firm who's a huge rainmaker will get on the phone and pull a umm or mf exit for them.
It's actually kind of similar to why RSSG is the top choice for any kid recruiting restructuring. Sure, PJT, Houlihan, and Lazard could all fairly claim to be the best restructuring advisor out there, but PJT pays way more than the other two, and RSSG has the best exits of any group on the street -- so that's the job that everyone wants. Some people even take evercore rx offers over lazard and houlihan, even though they don't get the dealflow or have the pedigree in restructuring that other two do, Again, its simply a question of who's gonna pay me and who's gonna give me the best exits -- usually that aligns with which bank/group has the best deal flow but not always.