PJT RSSG vs BX PE for 2023 summer analyst
I go to a top target HYPW and am diversity and have received offers from PJT RSSG and BX PE for next summer, and would like some advice on which to pick.
My end goal is to go into a Tiger Cub (Tiger Global, Viking, Lone Pine, etc.) so naturally it would make sense to go buyside ASAP, and there is no MF that I prefer more than BX. That being said, I have heard that BX are very stingy with summer analyst return offers, a decision that you will hear at the end of the internship. This means if I don't a return offer, most of the top FT recruiting positions will already be taken by then.
Should I, then, take the PJT offer and try my luck again with BX during FT recruiting? I also want to point out that I've networked with quite a few alums from my school at BX that I've become very close with and don't want to burn any bridges by going the other way.
I am very confident in my ability but don't want to bank on getting a return offer because everyone else going BX PE for summer are really the best of the best.
This is a dumb post. I am confident in my ability but worried that BX PE is stingy about summer analyst offers. If you’re not good enough to get the return from BX, what makes you think you can land the HF roles that you’ve outlined?
It's not that I think I'm not good enough, but that it's a high risk move because by the time I find out if I get a return offer (end of summer), FT recruiting will mostly be finished. I don't think it's unwise to deeply consider the risks.
Just see where the people who summered at BX and didnt get the return ended up. You can also start recruiting before you don’t get the offer.
Lol that last sentence is a healthy dose of reality
Consider all possibilities:
1) Choose PJT now but work at another MF (e.g., Warburg/KKR/Silver Lake) full-time, acquiring two strong brands before joining an elite HF at 24.
2) Choose PJT now and return full-time. You'd then either join Darsana/Baupost/Viking out of PJT (age 24) or after an MF associate stint (age 26). In either case, your elite HF career is secured. Contrary to popular belief, many elite funds hire exceptional banking analysts (you?). Check LinkedIn.
3) Choose BX now, earn the return, and join an elite HF at 25. This is straightforward and ideal.
4) Choose BX now, lose the return, and risk falling off the path you've worked so hard for. In this case, you will, at best, land a comparable MF. At worst, you'll join a subpar banking group. This path entails the most variability. From a strategic perspective, avoiding variability should be your foremost priority, since you're in an excellent position.
Personally, I understand Blackstone's appeal but still recommend PJT. It guarantees an elite HF job; it might even get you there sooner. If you choose BX, you risk losing the ironclad guarantee of an elite HF offer. Don't trade safety for style. As a rising star, you must maintain a level head when making critical career decisions. Choose wisely, and good luck!
Please feel free to PM me to discuss further! Keep us in the loop.
I would argue that the hf exits you get from warburg/kkr/silver lake won't be as good as those from BX, based on linkedin
Consider self-selection/confounding factors. You're not controlling for 1) investment acumen and 2) interest in public markets.
The typical Warburg analyst is far less interested in HFs than the typical BX PE analyst.
KKR analysts can't join Tiger Global--both firms use the same headhunter. I'm sure the mandate overlaps with other firms as well.
I can't speak to Silver Lake; I don't know anyone there.
Choose Blackstone for the HF. You will get better HF looks from BX than from PJT, almost every single BX analyst exits to a solid fund, not quite the same for PJT. PJT, despite the top exits, does have some MM PE exits (Welsh Carson, Sycamore) whereas BX is basically only top exits and the top candidates from each year. If you are good enough to get the offer, you will be good enough to get the return if you come in prepared and are willing to work hard.
If you want a equity HF, which it sounds like you do, BX will serve you much better in developing your investor mindset. PJT HFs seem to be more credit focused (some self selection ofc) and drying up as places like Anchorage and York shut down DD investing. There is the occasional Maverick, Route one, but by and large it is DD HF which are decreasing in count every year.
Can you quantify stingy?
Thanks for the wonderful advice. But everyone who gets a BX PE offer is presumably prepared and willing to work hard... Who ends up making the decision regarding who returns? What is it based on?
Also I have no clue what "stingy" means, it's just what I've heard verbatim from others.
Get someone from BX on the phone and explain your question and other offer, see what they say, no harm if you are cordial
At least since I started college, very qualified SAs have gotten screwed on return offers at BX year after year. Per capita it happens way more there than any bank on the street.
If this were for FT the correct answer is always BX, more of a coin flip given this is for SA.
Have no work experience at either BX or RSSG, but plenty of contact with people who do.
Ultimately, there's very little to no hedge funds that think super differently about an analyst from PJT Rx vs BX PE (pretty much the only banking group where that's the case). Almost half of every RSSG class had a MF PE offer and chose to come to the group anyway. A few things I would keep in mind:
1) Having a real analyst class is fun -- you make good friends and PJT RSSG is one of the better culture groups on the street in every definition of the word. 90+% of the partners started as junior bankers in the group so everyone gets treated well and is good friends. Network matters.
2) Exits wise, people always talk about how there are some 'elite' hedge funds that want candidates with PE experience. The important caveat is that those funds want PE associate experience. Although it's true that some funds like Tiger, ValueAct, etc. hired BX PE analysts when the funds were smaller / growing, nowadays they prefer the maturity of someone who's 26 and has done two jobs, and why not? When every BX PE associate wants to work there, why would they hire a BX PE analyst? Ultimately the funds that always have hired PE associates do so not only because they value PE experience, but because they understand a lot of your first job is just learning the ropes and they want someone a little older.
3) When it comes to looking just at analyst exits, PJT has shown that headhunters will put RSSG kids in front of any hedge fund hiring. D1, Darsana, Baupost, SilverPoint, Maverick, and more. MF PE is guaranteed if you want it. Last class's PE exits: Blackstone, Carlyle, Centerbridge (that's all lol, only three recruited PE).
4) It sounds like you don't care about this though -- your main question is about risk of not getting a return offer? That's a shit reason to take an offer. That's all I have to say about that. If you want to work somewhere and have an internship offer there, take it.
So are you saying someone who wants to optimize for working at Tiger/Viking/Coatue should take PJT over BX because the former is 2+2 in two different jobs? Also Tiger hired 2 people out of BX analyst program in 2021 so I’m not sure what you’re saying regarding they only preferred that when they were growing
yeah most of that doesn't make sense / is incorrect
Take the BX offer. Shouldn't be a hard decision.
What did you choose??
PM me. I think we’ve met.
Pls tell me you took BX
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