Best Boutique banks in Chicago between Moelis vs PWP vs Greenhill

Would like updated insight on Chicago boutique banks heading into 2021 SA recruiting. I know Lazard has been falling apart. Insight on deal flow, hours, and pay would be helpful. Thanks

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Did a quick search on Linkedin regarding Perella... didn't find anything. Regarding Greenhill, don't know much, but from the comments on this site, popular opinion seems to be that Greenhill is on the downswing, in general... which doesn't mean it's true, or that Greenhill isn't a good place to work. Regarding Moelis, it's a smaller shop in Chicago, but a prestigious place to work and -- at least I think in NYC -- is known to work its analysts pretty hard.

If you want more Chicago info., look up "Chicago scene" in the search area, and there's a pretty in depth description of most of the firms there.

 

Lazard Midwest Advisory has had problems but there is still a strong RX presence in their Chicago office. Head of RX sits there

 
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Pretty familiar IB scene in Chicago. PWP: too new and small to tell. Lazard: MM and RX are still there. M&A got shafted recently. Moelis: hours are a lot better than NY and LA, but good deal flow and am hearing they're really busy with restructuring deals rn. Greenhill: Great office. Recent analysts exited really well. But then again, they were all like math majors or something from Northwestern.

Overall, I'd say Moelis and Greenhill are the strongest EBs in Chicago. Choose Moelis if you're interested in generalist program across different industries and both M&A and restructuring. Choose Greenhill if you wanna just focus on M&A and Industrials. I'm pretty sure Greenhill Chicago does not do restructuring Personally, Moelis is a safer bet during times like this just because of its restructuring practice. Also considering Moelis was the first and one of only two to guarantee full time offers to Summer 2020 interns.

 

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