BMO vs. Harris Williams

Locations?

BMO - Chicago Harris Williams - Minneapolis

BMO, IMO

I feel like someone in this thread should go to bat for Harris Williams.

i will. chicago is a cooler city. but all the hw analysts go to god pe shops afterwards. i havent seen any bmo kids in the pe community

Which is better for exit opportunities to top MBA schools?

No joke, HW goes to bat for its analysts

Are they generalist offers or for a particular group? Where are you from (state/region)? Have you met with anyone from either firm?

Regards

I have a generalist offer from one of the firms and have yet to participate in final round interviews with the other.

I am from the Midwest and have met with a number of people from the firm I have an offer from and a few from the firm where I will be interviewing.

Heavily dependent on the BMO group. Some of the groups have a lot of M&A going on right now (industrials, food & consumer), and BMO's M&A group is in Chicago. If you're in any of those groups, having the Chicago location is definitely pretty beneficial. Also, if you're able to make nice with any of the MDs in Sponsors, you'll get plenty of introductions. The Sponsor guys have terrific networks across the middle market (from growth equity shops to places like H&F, Advent, Audax, etc.) and also have good relationships with the megafunds.

One positive thing I've heard about HW is the lack of pitching (which means a lot of live activity). That's always a plus.

BMO is strong in toronto and chicago. I say BMO

Seriously, who wants to live in MN?

I would definitely rather live in Chicago, although Minneapolis wouldn't be the end of the world. If there were significant benefits to taking a position at HW over BMO, living in Minneapolis wouldn't be that big of a sacrifice.

compbanker, what are your sources/reasons for saying that BMO would not be a good place for PE exit opps? I believe they are largest IB employer in Chicago and would seem to have connections with Chi PE shops, no? What exit opps are best or reasonable for BMO M&A or industrials in Chicago?

I'm not saying that BMO would be a bad place for PE exit opps -- I'm saying that on a relative basis, HW provides greater access to the PE community.

Honestly, I've spent a ridiculous amount of time perusing the profiles of associates at various middle market private equity shops. It is not uncommon to see a Harris Williams guy sprinkled in the mix with a bunch of bulge bracket or other reputable middle shop guys, while seeing a BMO associate is far less common.

While it may be true that BMO is more "plugged in" in the Chicago market due to size/geography, this really doesn't guarantee you a spot in PE. At best it gets you the initial interview, but you'll be going in with a bias that is not in your favor if you're interviewing against BB or highly reputable MM candidates. This is a tough nut to crack when undoubtedly the other candidates will be investment banking analysts with strong backgrounds and good experience as well. This isn't always the case, but I've definitely experienced it. I'm sure BMO does have some feeder PE shops that like to get most of their associates from BMO.

And finally -- Chicago PE firms have a pretty unique approach to hiring their associates. It is my understanding that every Spring many of the Chicago PE firms band together and have a sort of "Chicago PE job seeker resume drop" for investment banking folks looking for PE jobs in Chicago. While I never went through this process myself, I have colleagues that did and were able to successfully secure PE jobs in Chicago despite being located on the East or West coast. As a result, I don't think the original poster would be at much of a disadvantage when seeking Chicago PE jobs if he were to go work for HW in Minneapolis. (If anyone on the board is familiar with the Chicago process, please elaborate, I obviously have limited experience with it.)

Personally I think that fit is most important. You spend most of your waking hours with these people.

What did you think of the people you met from each firm?

"While it may be true that BMO is more "plugged in" in the Chicago market due to size/geography, this really doesn't guarantee you a spot in PE."

Just saying, HW certainly doesnt guarantee a spot in PE either although it has a good rep as a MM. I also haven't heard of any PE guys or bankers with BMO backgrounds, but that also means nothing. I would say to the op that if BMO gives you the responsibility and quality deal flow to be an expert in your area, then brand recognition compared to HW is relatively insignificant. That's my 2 cents.

Harris Williams. I know a guy there who got a lot of great traction when it came time for PE recruiting.

(Just one data point, obviously not representative)

Like it was previously mentioned, fit is very important...so don't ignore that.

As far as cities are concerned...Minneapolis isn't NYC, Boston or Chicago...but I've read a lot of good things about what the city has to offer. I believe it consistently ranks as a good place for people to launch a career and ranks highly for young career professionals and offers most anything another big city has to offer. The weather isn't going to be noticeably different than Chicago, so that shouldn't be a factor. I would suspect cost of living will be less (maybe just slightly) than Chicago, but I'm just speculating.

From what I've seen HW is really well regarded and represented on the buy side, especially among MM firms. That's not to say the BMO isn't but it's something to consider. Also think about the comments regarding how little time you will likely spend outside of the office so living in the "better" city probably shouldn't be as heavily weighted.

Remember, IB is all about making sacrifice so you are set up for near guaranteed success going forward. Don't put yourself in a position where you make all of the sacrifices the average banker makes (no sleep, long hours, etc) but end up with experience from a bank that isn't as well regarded as another, which could make you less competitive for exit ops, just because you wanted to live in one city over another.

Regards

I would think PE recruiting is similar to FT analyst recruiting at IBanks. If you're interviewing, they think you are capable of doing the work they just want to see if you're a good fit. A few things to keep in mind about BMO:

BMO Capital Markets is fairly new to Chicago, but they're also growing. They're very reputable in Toronto, and in the natural resources, metals&mining areas specifically and I know people who are with and have been with BMO. Can't think of anyone in PE (sorry) but a lot of these people have MBAs from Kellogg or Booth.

^uhh you wont even get an interview if the pe shops dont know or think highly of your bank. pe firms are very particular about the type of candidates they bring in for interviews. dont think that every analyst out there gets an interview and from there, it's all about fit...

^ You wouldn't be mistaken. Both schools are a little more lenient on their Midwest applicants. I've seen some very mediocre pre-MBA bios from both schools.

It depends on you but I would go for HW if you don't mind the city.

BMO you will do a lot of middle market IPOs and be way down on the cover. HW you will do a ton of M&A with companies theat generally no one has ever heard of. Depends on what your likes / goals are.

Thanks for all the insight, guys. I have one final concern that I'm hoping someone can help me out with.

At HW, I know I would be getting great exposure to sell side M&A deals which is, from what I hear, a fairly portable (in terms of jumping to PE) skill set.

BMO, as more of a full-service, would be able to provide a "broader" experience. Is there something to be said for that or is specialization the name of the game?

Also, does anyone know what kind of success former HW analysts have had getting into top B-schools?

Thanks

Harris Williams is VERY sponsor focused -- huge portion of their deals are with PE firms so I'm sure they have great relationships with middle market shops