Why is PJT RSSG so highly coveted on this forum? (moelis hidden gem??)
Title says it all - I understand that there is now a signaling effect from being from PJT RSSG for exits into PE, HF, and B school since undergrads treat WSO as the bible which leads to top candidates for the group but what made PJT RSSG stand out as a banking group in the first place? I think the way that restructuring group rankings are made are a bit one-dimensional like wow PJT gets big debtor assignment!!! so good!!! But if the bank had such a great relationship with the firm (a lot of larger debtor assignments are sourced by coverage / m&a), why did they let liability management get so out control that they even had to file ch 11? Ken Moelis spoke on this in the latest earnings call and touted Moelis RX's ability to keep companies out of ch 11 in the first place which seems to be very valid. I think I'd go as far as to say that Ken had a fair argument in saying Moelis RX is the top rx group on the street right now because of this aspect. But of course, college sophomores are just gonna jerk off to league tables
Hard to compare different groups. Each group has its own strengths and things they could clearly be the best at. I think just in general pjt rssg, formerly bx RX and whatever it was before that, is considered a nice place to work. From my experience interacting with them and who I know that works there and/or has worked there, generally nice people working fair hours it seems for the industry and getting what is prob top of market pay. Overall seems like a nice place to work. They also seem to recruit pretty early which also provides an extra bit of value to candidates because it’s nice to be able to land a job sooner rather than later when you are in the market for employment. But just some thoughts. Other places are prob better for other people. But I think it’s fair to say that pjt rssg is a good place to work
And sometimes it just makes more sense for a company to file 11. Every sitch is different and that’s why they hire advisors to help them figure out what is best for their situation
most big debtor sides came from coverage / extensive relatinoships w the company. why not do damage control before it gets to a point where ch11 is the better of 2 evils. it seems like moelis really goes to great lengths to help companies stave off insolvency through a largely out-of-court playbook (pushing out maturities, trapdoors, etc.)
honestly a shame that some of the more "prestigious" debtor side shops like pjt/laz are incentivized to push these companies into chapter 11 for the deal fees. blackstone/pjt protocol was literally created for shops like theirs to extract onerous fees out of their client's estate
Ken speaks well and has been making fair points about his RX team for a while. Solid group and they have plenty of situations where they are likely the best people in the world to hire for that company/client. Sometimes a client may be better served hiring someone else given the overall situation. Hard to tell. But all good options
Moelis RX is a top group and contends with PJT/HL/Laz/EVR. They stole Jefferies RX group ~13 years ago back when Jefferies had a very good restructuring practice.
The reason they're never mentioned in the "which offer for RX" topics is because they run a pure generalist pool that includes RX and M&A. So people who know they want to do RX and are targeting it are looking at the dedicated RX groups like HL / PJT.
would you agree with moelis' own assessment of the group as the "top restructuring group on the street"? speaking more to the rx seniors than the generalist analyst pool
Seems fair. Pretty general statement. Lots of different restructuring related services
saw they were company-side on hertz and amc. some of the biggest mandates out there
Think there's a bit of conflation here between what constitutes a good group and a good analyst program. Moelis, Evercore, Houlihan, Lazard, and PJT all have very very good Rx groups -- between the five of them, they are on a lion's share of mandates in the sector. There are also lots of other banks that have good rx groups -- guggenheim, greenhill, ducera, pwp and others also compete for the same mandates, and have a fine chance of winning them from any other bank. There are great senior bankers who earn tons of money in restructuring in 20+ banks on the street. But most people on this forum aren't joining to be senior bankers -- they're joining a structured analyst program. When people here circle jerk to PJT RSSG its not because its undisputedly the best restructuring group on the street, it's because a lot of people consider it to be the best analyst program on the street, period. I have a really good friend from school in this group, he gets paid top of street (200k+), usually gets a day off a week and rarely works past midnight on weekdays. Good pay and work life balance are things analysts care a ton about. On top of that, this program has the best exits year over year of any group on wall street. There are other posts floating around on this forum where people list out all the exits (the firm keeps track and loves to parade it at recruiting events) and its honestly crazy. In every ten person class, usually half go to MFs or one of the few UMMs that the group has good relationships with, and the rest go to top hedge funds. Even if Moelis was the best restructuring practice in the world, college kids aren't going to want to go work at a place with a reputation as a sweatshop where they're going to be a generalist and no guarantee of rx staffings when given the option of PJT RSSG's analyst program.
i circle jerk to pjt rssg on the daily too
Maybe. Exits also kinda depend on the analyst themselves. Not sure if the buyside firms really think it makes much of a difference whether a kid worked for a few months / few years at any of the top banks. Just like the top banks don’t really care that much which school someone went to. All the schools are kinda similar at the end of the day from bank’s perspective I would think. Often buyside people don’t really even know much about which bank is top now and mandates and league tables and all that. Just not their business so much I would think
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