William Blair vs Baird

Would love to hear input here as these are two top MM shops in the midwest. 

Exit opps, culture, comp, hours

Any insight into the ability to switch between industry groups at both these firms would also be helpful.

25 Comments
 

Have met people from both and see both in every bake-off. They are very similar in almost every aspect. You will be comp’d well at both. Both have similar cultures. Exit opps are a function of experience, bank brand, and personal background. Your experience will be similar enough broadly and the reputation of both groups is equal enough for the exits to be more dependent on you as an individual more than anything else. If you want to be a mm banker, can’t go wrong with either 

 

Would definitely say Blair is better, and the gap is widening, but Baird is a strong MM bank as well.

 

Certainly true for Tech and Healthcare, which are two industries that have performed very well lately. They hold their weight in Industrials, but not at the level of Baird. Other industries like C&R they have a decent presence but there are other MM banks that perform better. Overall, they have a well balanced advisory business which is mainly geared towards sell-side M&A

 

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