I know this has been asked a lot before but I wanted to get a more recent perspective about IBD in Chicago as I am interested in moving the after graduating. Excluding the BBs and EBs, what are some good shops? Is recruiting as competitive as New York or is it easier? Is pay the same? What about exit ops?
Thanks!
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Excluding BBs and EBs... William Blair I heard is really good in Chicago. They have a nice office too with a good view of the river. I think Baird is pretty good too.
I go to a Big 10 school that sends to both Chicago/NYC and for us recruiting to Chicago is less competitive than New York. Pay is slightly lower, but so is cost of living I think. Hours in Chicago are typically better than NYC, but exit ops would again be lower.
That makes sense. Thanks for the input.
Pay is not lower in Chicago than any other city for IBD. IBD pays purely on performance + deal flow of your group, not geography. Although, sometimes dealflow will be better in NYC, but in the case of Blair this is not the case. Blair and other MMs pay is identical if not more than the BBs for 1st years.
Baird is largely known out there, but I don’t know much about them. If you’re not asking about the EBs and BBs then this is the only one I’ve heard much about besides WB; WB is SOLID in Chicago, like the above poster said. They kill it in the # of deals they do each year. They’re also taking like 30 SAs for Chicago in 2021, compared to like 3-4 in their other offices.
Lincoln does well in Chicago as well.
WB is pretty solid.
Change the title from IDB to IBD and you'll get more responses.
Apart from BBs and EBs, lots of MM shops operate in Chicago. HL, Baird, WB, Lincoln, and BGL come to mind while I've also come across smaller banks like Dresner, Stout, Baker Tilly, etc... and some sector specific banks. Pay is the same as NY offices (probably less at the smaller boutiques) but taxes and cost of living are lower. Not quite about exit ops but I've seen people move to GTCR, MDP, and other UMM/MM shops in Chicago and other midwestern citied after their analyst stint. I've also met two folks who went to work at MM shops in LA and SF but one-off cases.
Regardless, I've met with an executive HH from Chicago who also said that your buy-side recruiting will be much smoother if you choose to stay in Midwest region- this doesn't mean you're limiting yourself to the windy city if you can manage to connect with other HHs and put in the effort to travel for on-cycle/off-cycle recruiting.
How about including BB Chicago firms? Where do you see people from these offices go after their analyst stint?
MM PE
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