GS v DB v ML v MS for London PWM

A friend of mine will soon need to make a choice between these firms for a London SA position and I was wondering what the opinions were in terms of the PWM franchises of these different firms. I would have thought ML would be the obvious choice, but I don't know enough about PWM to comment and the MS PWM franchise does look promising these days. Appreciate any opinions on this.

 

You'll probably have a better chance at getting this answered in the asset management forum, but...

I'd go with GS, at least in the US it's up there with JPM (JPM is tops, but GS is a close second from what I've heard).

My picks would be GS > MS > DB > ML

Keep in mind I'm not in the industry, those are just the order of companies that I would like to work for, specifically in PWM, given the opportunity.

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Best Response

Good advice above from Denver Monkeyannabe.

In PWM, JPM and GS are the top shops. ML and MS (especially if it's a heritage Smith Barney office) are total crap shoots, as those firms give their advisors a lot more independence, while at JPM and GS the offices across the country are operating in fairly similar fashions.

I don't know too much about DB, so I can't comment on them.

So go with GS!

 
tan86:
Good advice above from Denver Monkeyannabe.

In PWM, JPM and GS are the top shops. ML and MS (especially if it's a heritage Smith Barney office) are total crap shoots, as those firms give their advisors a lot more independence, while at JPM and GS the offices across the country are operating in fairly similar fashions.

I don't know too much about DB, so I can't comment on them.

So go with GS!

My pick: GS > DB > MS > ML.

No doubt GS and JPM are at the top but DB is a close third, maybe alongside with CS. MS and ML are huge wirehouses and, yeah, they are independent and what not but that doesn't mean that the firm is respected. Take the firm with less employees and PW Mangers. GS and DB are 1/4 size of BofA/ML and MSSB.

Think selectivity.

 

I think for PWM in particular, the situation is kind of reversed. What I mean is, were this a full time slot, you would pretty much have to make your own way as far as comp, clients, etc. so the name isn't AS important. For an SA position, you want the bigger name on your resume (not that any of these are particularly bad names) so that you can segue it into either another internship or a FT offer down the line.

Example: I know 2 people in PWM fairly well. One is at a regional MS office and he makes disgusting amounts of money for how much he works. The other is at GS/JPM in NY and he makes significantly less.

Just my anecdotal 2 cents.

If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 

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