BB PWM vs MBB
If you have offers from a BB for PWM and from an MBB for management consulting what would you take and why?
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It depends on what you want to do. If you want to be a private wealth manager, BB PWM. If not, MBB. If unsure, MBB. Rationale is pretty straightforward - a few years in BB PWM trains you to be a wealth manager and nothing more. The skills are not very transferable. If you want to lateral to a different area of Asset Management, MBB is probably a better background.
It really depends and varies significantly based on what you want out of your career. The role that offers a very high upside at the top end is PWM, driven by strong relationship skills and sales management. The issue though is that there is a large skew to the most successful folks in this field, which leads to a bit of survivorship bias. There is also the issue of not finding the work to be stimulating and ultimately churning out.
The more risk averse option to me would likely be consulting, as you essentially get a gold stamp of approval to future employers that you are a battle tested MBB consultant (same as in banking). The exits you get from consulting are also a fair bit more robust than would otherwise be the case with PWM, as you can enter into a f500 into a variety of roles, ranging from corporate strategy to sale to product management, ultimately progressing to a P&L role depending on what level you exit at and your performance from there.
Of course it's not necessarily an apples to apples comparison, as MBB is significantly more difficult to get into. If the argument OTOH was MBB vs. say BB AM, it would be a bit more of an analogous discussion, from a comp/trajectory perspective. In this case though I think if you have both of these offers, it would be preferable to accept the MBB offer due to the lower risk profile, the higher signalling value, and the greater degree of flexibility when moving forward in your career post MBB if you decide to exit to industry or to a top business school for your MBA :)
Choose MBB. It places well into top MBA programs, and gives you more options in terms of exit-opportunities in the case that you find out that you don't want to be an Investment Advisor anymore. You won't regret your decision.
MBB unless you're dead set on PWM
I would take MBB.
All things equal (wants/job preferences) MBB is the better choice by far.
BB PWM vs Litigation consulting (Originally Posted: 11/10/2008)
What would you take if you wanted to ultimately go to a top business school?
PWM at a top BB (GS/MS) or a top litigation consulting firm (NERA/CRA/Cornerstone). I think I would enjoy the PWM work more but I have the necessary quant skills for litigation.
PWM seems awful. I interviewed for a PWM Associate position with MS. (not that I wanted). The guy made it clear it's essentially a cold calling position.
The only thing really impressive about BB PWM is the name, and the net worth of the clients.
They're two very different jobs. If you want something that's more analytical and you enjoy doing research/dealing with data, litigation consulting would be great.
Did you really interview for PWM at MS? If you did, I doubt they would tell you it was a cold-calling position.
The associate program at MS might eventually lead to being a pm but highly unlikely. You are more of an assistant doing lots of paper processing, account analysis, manager reviews, client meetings etc... There is no cold calling involved because you will not start and be expected to source hnw clients.
Don't mislead the poor guy.
Clearly, your goal in 2-3 years is Business School. But what is your goal post-MBA? My two cents...
If your goal post-MBA is portfolio management or Asset Management, then take a BB PWM opportunity, if you can get it. Bear in mind that beyond BB PWM there are various uber high net worth boutique asset management firms which cater to a client base whose net worth is a minimum of $10+ million. If you can get into one of those PWM groups and network with THOSE people, that's a great networking base.
However, if your goal post-MBA is IB/PE/HF, then it's far better to go into litigation consulting for 2-3 years and build more direct relevant skills. In litigation consulting you'll broadly use your quant skills as you analyze companies, perhaps do some forensic accounting, you'll get a better point of reference for understanding business operations etc. You'll also have a stronger chance of networking with folks who are in the industry you ultimately want to wind up your career in.
Just to add to what aadpepsi said:
from my own experience, if you think the following would be interesting, consider litigation consulting:
1) little to no travel
2) doing a lot of public source research and some forensic accounting (analyst reports, annual reports, 10-k/sec filings, nexis/factiva/capitaliq)
3) doing a lot of internal document research (e.g. documents either the defendant or prosecutor produces in trial or pre-trial discovery)
4)using sas, stata, or excel to model but-for situations (i.e. the situation had something NOT occured... or if someone had not infringed on other party's patent, what would sales have been)
this includes regressions, time series, etc. very helpful to have taken statistics or econometrics here but truthfully it can be learned on the job
5) logical thinking/argument making (creating a plan of attack or dismantling the opposition's arguments)
6) a lot of background memo/expert report writing
And in litigation consulting, even though your ultimate client may be a F50/100/500, your direct client (and the people you have the most contact with) is the law firm hiring you to do the analyses.
Some of the big litigation shops also have branches of management consulting. If you're interested in both strategy work and litigation support work, maybe look into one of those as well.
Hope this helps.
EDIT: Sorry for my long windedness -- typically the associates who want to go to B-School at my shop leave after 3-4 and attend top schools (Harvard, Kellogg, to name some recent ones)
Consulting (boutique - Miami) vs. PWM (BB - NYC) (Originally Posted: 04/05/2012)
OK monkeys: What do you consider best for a recent accounting grad (semi-target) - Comsulting at a boutique shop in Miami or PWM at a BB in NYC.
Which opportunity provides the better experience for exit ops? (PE/HF/Top MBA)
My passion is start a HF (eventually). I am also taking the CFA and determined to earn the designation.
I am currently interning in PWM and find it not challenging and somewhat secretarial. But, I fear that if I go the consulting path, I am further away from my passion of Asset Management.
Any advice?
Thanks!
-Drewey from St. Louis
will smith like miami cuz the weather, but hova like new york cuz the good gurls gone bad the city filled with them ...so damn, thats a tuff choice breh. u like weather or good gurls gone bad? i dont think he literally meant bad tho that was figurative. also eleesha keys in new york thats a factor. miami got beaches tan bishes lotta sand
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