I received an offer from a solid boutique this past week, but I know BB applications are opening up. Should I take the offer or try to get flashier names in the coming weeks?
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Would not put Allen & Co with the rest, especially if youre thinking about exiting to PE down the line. I'd take Dyal and M Klein over any BB but I actually prefer the boutique feel more than big firms
what’s wrong with Allen & Co? they are probably one of the most well connected low profile banks on the street. every year everyone is dying to get into Sun Valley
Depends on your risk tolerance. I'm risk averse, so I see myself signing the offer in front of me, especially since Allen & Co, DBO Partners, Dyal, and M. Klein are all great options. They don't have the brand name of GS or MS, but your experience at these smaller places would likely be better.
I'd take DBO or M. Klein. Super lean teams (literally could be just you + senior banker), consistent deal flow, EB comp, and smart people. I'd hate myself if I don't get the BB offer and have nothing late-summer, knowing I could've signed with these shops. Not as familiar with Allen and Dyal.
Id take M. Klein, but would rather be at GS/MS/JPM than the others. Idk how confident you are in being able to land those though
Didn’t DBO, Dyal and M. Klein finish recruiting?
I'm a bit removed from the world of boutiques, but my impression is that Allen is an established name and the others are not. So if it is Allen, you can reasonably sign, if it is the others then I would suggest going ahead and recruiting for BB. Klein himself is a great dealmaker, but it is hardly an established firm, and I would imagine the experience would be drastically different from any other IB experience.
MS for this really? Allen has been around a while and is known for and good at what they do. The others on this list are all relatively new and small shops with frankly 0 brand value outside of a small group of bankers who obsess over league tables. I don't think people appreciate how long it takes for a brand to catch up with where it falls on the league tables. When I was recruiting for internships nobody had heard of Centerview and they were poaching talent from Tier 2 banks in FT recruiting to fill an analyst class. That was 7-8 years after they were founded. On the flip side, Greenhill and PWP are still recognized across the street as top shops and I never see them on any deals.
If you want to keep options open as far as exits, from HF, to PE, to CorpDev or anything in between, I think the BB name and brand value or an established EB will serve you much better than any of these.
That being said, the decision to pass this up and recruit further is a matter of risk tolerance and would depend on your personal views.
id think excellent deal experience and networking can make up for the lack of brand equity though
Really have to disagree with Black Jack. I went through recruiting for Dyal and M Klein. Got to super day for each (didn't end up getting an offer) but did a lot of due diligence into the firms and now have a friend at one of the two. If you're hoping to stay in banking I really think there's no better place to be. Each of these two firms is growing every year as they are continuing to poach top seniors and expand analyst classes. Small, higher-paying boutiques like these are the end goal for a lot of people that start at BBs as evidenced by the number of people switching over at the Associate/VP/MD level. I'll also say that if your goal is PE or HF they're very solid places to be and though a lot of their personnel aren't on LinkedIn if you ask around you'll see many are going to UMM/MF PE or solid HFs at a much more consistent basis than someone from a random coverage group at even a mid tier BB. My friend got a top exit and HHs certainly knew the firm. To touch on the learning experience my friend at one of these places had the exact same experience with Training the Street so I think the lesser training experience is a bit of a myth. I definitely will agree, however, that if you're hoping to leave finance these boutiques may not be the best place to start. I'm now at a mid tier BB (Citi/CS/Baml) and can say I would've much rather have gone to one of these boutiques than my current gig (exception being had a gotten a top group like CS Sponsors or Citi M&A). All that being said, if I were in your shoes and either wanted to stay in banking or leave for HF/PE I would absolutely accept one of these offers unless I had some special connection that made me absolutely certain I'd get JP/MS/GS or the very top group at BAML/CS/Citi.
I think this is a fair post. The gap between a GS/MS and maybe JPM and the other BBs is only widening, and it gets even wider when you dive into specific groups, so I suppose generalizing to all BBs isn’t reasonable.
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