Public Finance-Ibanking vs Fund of Funds vs PWM

Hi Guys,

I just received three offers for three different positions and wanted to see if ya'll can help. I'm deciding between public finance- investment banking analyst role, well-sized fund of funds analyst, and PWM analyst position with a BB. What do you think is the best position as far as comps, exit opps, mba, and etc. Please let me know if you can help. Thanks.

5 Comments
 

I don't post often but was in pretty much the exact same position as you a few months ago, so I'll try to help.

Is the public finance IB with a well-known boutique or MM bank, and what kind of position is the fund of funds (account management/investor relations vs. portfolio management)?

In my opinion, all three will develop a different skillset and have different exit opps, so it depends on what your long-term career goal is.

 
Best Response

An account management FOF analyst, at the placed I interviewed at least, had mostly duties involving investor relations and client communication, and no technical portfolio analyses. For that role, the exit opps seemed very limited to other investor relations and BO roles within HF, HF-FOF, PE-FOF and difficult to move into actual portfolio analysis in traditional HF or PE according to past searches I've done. I wanted to develop the quantitative skillset, so I turned this one down.

Public Finance IB in my opinion is a great way to get your foot into IB, although there's many differences between public and corporate finance including lack of equity modeling experience and different types of deal structures. I know around here PF IB is "looked down" by some during recruiting for corporate IB, HF, PF, etc. but is a great career if you want to stay with it long term. Exit opps from what I've been told are career advancements in Public Finance and movement into public policy roles.

PWM at BB has good name recognition for MBAs, but the work would put you at a disadvantage when applying for associate roles against former-BB analysts. At the same time, if it's a BB that promotes mobility (there's a few) you have a much better chance of making connections there and either being able to lateral (although unlikely) or have a better chance of placement there after business school. Traditional exit opps from PWM at BB that I've seen from people are - investment analyst at endowment funds, FInancial Analyst at Corporate 500s, etc.

However, a lot of what I just said stops applying as much once you do get your top MBA, as an MBA "resets" your career and you can pursue anything, to a degree. The PWM BB position plus meaningful extracurricular activities with the extra time (saving whales, starting website teaching money to kids, etc.) would put you in a great position with business schools, while Public Finance IB would be a good position if you can spin why you chose public vs. corporate. Let me know anything else you want to know, I just basically rambled everything I remembered from your post.

Basically, what I would choose with your desired exit opps is PWM BB or MM Public Finance IB.

If I may ask, are you recruiting on the West Coast (CA)? I'm just curious because I wonder if the FOF role is the one I turned down a while ago, they've reposted the listing several times...

 

Debitis incidunt distinctio voluptatibus consequatur. Reiciendis minus fugit tempore ad quia tempore magni.

Reprehenderit cupiditate eveniet illum et ipsum blanditiis provident. Non optio facilis vel quas qui mollitia. Sunt iste et doloremque sapiente labore facilis. Delectus illum nostrum animi voluptatem.

Earum at sit quas ut repudiandae praesentium et. Iure ex incidunt pariatur vitae quisquam veritatis. Aliquid consequatur omnis molestiae eum sint quos laudantium. Tenetur dolores tempore aut eum quisquam consequatur non. Aperiam et amet quidem nulla laboriosam inventore rerum. Eum at sed illum sint dicta aut excepturi. Quibusdam facere et nihil magni voluptas cum et.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”