133 Comments
 

They are both terrible. In terms of exit opps I would recommend the french military, no better experience. Seriously though you are splitting hairs an entry career with either firm will be very highly looked upon.

 

And realistically - so does TMT if you are in the top 2 tiers of analysts - there's just so many of them compared to UBSLA/MSM&A (18 or so at GS, 5 or so at MS, 7-8 or so at UBS).

Also, I've heard lots of people talking about how UBS LA doesn't place well in NYC - that's absolutely not true - they put someone in Apollo NY this year, guys had KKR NY offers last year but chose SF,guys go to Bain Cap East Coast every year etc.

Plus the limited deal flow at BStone M&A (mostly sell side too) can arguably not prepare you as well for PE modelling (monkey work) as GS / MS / UBS LA. When I went through the process at BStone several former DLJ bankers told me to go to UBS LA if I could, other former MS bankers said MS M&A too. The consensus with the senior guys seemed to be that Bstone is a great place to be at director +, but at the analyst level the structured training / deal flow of other places might be more valuable, or atleast that was the impression I got. The most telling sign is that Bstone PE hires max one guy from the banking unit yearly.

That being said - smart people rise above. I'm not trying to start an argument - that's simply a rehash of what I felt / heard throughout recruiting and by talking to several people in industry and at top PE shops.

Disclaimer: I had a BS M&A offer full time, summered at one of the other three, and currently work at one of the other 3. (ie. summered at GS TMT went to MS M&A)

 

Haha, you pretty clearly work or will be working at UBS LA since you are always, always talking it up. No offence. It's obviously a great place to be regardless. Also, your profile says "class of 2007 analyst," so how do you "currently" work at one of the three shops you mentioned?

Anyway, I know little about the office besides what one of my buddies has told me. He had an offer there for an internship and ultimately opted for MS NY (not M&A) as his research seemed to show that while the firm places excellently into westcoast PE, it doesn't seem to place any better into NY PE than GS/MS/top boutiques but the hours and firm culture are notoriously nightmarish. It seems like it would be harder to interview for NY jobs if you're on the west coast just from a logistical standpoint anyway - it's not like you have tons of time in banking to travel back and forth acoss the country. From what he found out, pretty much everyone stays on the West coast and gets awesome PE jobs (KKR, etc.) but only a few end up on the east coast and most go to Bain Capital (which is a great shop obviously). It could just be self-selection - everyone at UBS LA wants to stay on the west coast anyway, but he seemed to think that they had trouble (logistically or just in general) getting offers from top NY PE shops.

 

neither. I'd rather be in IB, where no matter what the next craze is (private equity buyouts, tech IPO's, hedge funds, junk bonds, whatever), the firm will be making money.

If you think the PE boom is a lasting market trend you're being shortsighted in the same category as those who jumped ship to get rich quick as the CFO of a silicon valley startup.

At least Blackstone is pretty well set up in restructuring, which is inherently countercyclical. There's also probably more room for steady career progression than at a pure-play PE shop.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-buyouts21nov21,1,1011847.story?co… http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/cheap-debt-underpriced-risk-forever… http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3525718

 

summered at UBS LA tho, but wanted to be in NY, and brand name was an issue. If you notice I talk up all the big 3, but there is a lot of info about GS/MS. The 2007 is just because when it said 2006 I was getting too many pms, but guess the cat is out of the bag.

I think those are fair comments - I personally think GS / MS are better to be at than UBS LA / Bstone M&A just basically because your net is wider leaving. Ie. you aren't limited to financial jobs and the MS/GS names are global.

For PE however, Bstone M&A / UBS LA / GS TMT / MS M&A are all good. MS M&A tends to place at the top tier PE the best in NY - Goldman has a lot of diversity (ie people going to law, UN, corp dev at disney etc).

 

westcoasting... you have your info mixed up. i think you have misheard or youre just an idiot. "westcoasting" is a suspicious name for someone who's talking up UBS la. i am a 1st year associate at a bulge bracket and believe me if you had the chance you would definitely choose GS TMT over ms m&a. but ms m&a possibil over bs m&a. but ubs la does not belong in this conversation. you'll get most pe modeling at bstone m&a, then ms m&a, then gs tmt. the kids at bs m&a do m&a and sponsors work for the pe arm at Blackstone (equityoffice, freescale, kindermorgan). the kids at ms m&a work in the most prestigous m&a group on the street and have the most resources backing them. and gs tmt is all over the place, but they offer the best overall experience. debate all you want... but i speak the truth.

 

UBS LA is without a doubt one of the top 3 places to start your career in banking. you get tremendous modeling experience there, along with the opportunity to work with some of the best bankers on wall street. ridiculous amount of revenue per banker.

in terms of PE placement, they place VERY well (i know they were at 100% a few years back, but dont know if that is still true). we are talking about KKR, Bain, etc.

let's not be naive here. to the average folk, GS and MS are your best bets, but those in the industry know that UBS LA is a top-notch office.

 

My info isn't mixed up. The way the industry works for BS M&A is that BB pitch Blackstone PE. They reward those firms with the lead positions in the advsiory environment. BStone M&A does a lot of the exits and secondary advsiory work. Take a look at their website, the deals they advertise most are large sell sides. They were on Equity office but along with 5 other banks.

MS M&A is the best M&A group on the street, and GS TMT is no doubt excellent. Look, I think UBS LA is a good group - I'm not talking it up more than say mikesdaboss who clearly said he s an analyst in NY at a competing BB. If you talk to ex-bankers that were around when DLJ was dominating high yield thye lll all tell you the DLJ LA office was dominant.

Tony James (pres of Blackstone) and former head of DLJ has been quoted numerous times about how the LA office there was their leading revenue generator by a long shot.

Look at the big deals in the last 6mths alone:

  • TPG/Apollo - Harrah's
  • Tribune and Napster Advisory
  • Univision
  • Adelphia
  • NBC Universal's Radio Asset Sale
  • Wynn Financing etc etc.

Look - I'm not arguing the dominance of those other firms and I agree that GS TMT or MS M&A are arguably better choices if you want to work on your career and I would probably chose either one. However, it's naive to not understandd the significance that DLJ played in the 90's in LBO work and not realise that both CS LA and UBS LA are very good groups.

 

Blacktone PE, and it isn't even close. I have a few friends who interned at SSG who found the skill set and investment universe to be overly niche, with limited exit opportunities.

 

BX PE. I suppose SSG might be better if for whatever reason you're more interested in lower middle market deals, as that's the group's bread and butter. BX PE will obviously be looking at investments that are much, much larger. Anecdotally I believe BX PE Analysts tend to have better exit opportunities, but do a Linkedin search to get a sense of this yourself.

 

I'm joining BX PE full time and can probably share some perspective on differences between the two groups (applied to SSG as well but didn't get it). As dm1992 mentioned, they have different strategies. BX PE is large corporate buyouts, SSG does things ranging from public investing through their MSI arm, to private equity growth capital through their PCI arm. They also do alternative energy and some pure special situations stuff (especially in Europe). There is no real "bread and butter" though - they do all kinds of stuff.

At the end of the day I'm happy where I ended up. Would've been nice to get both offers and I probably would've gone with SSG because I'm interested in more asset classes than just private equity acquisitions. There's no answer here where you can say "X and it isn't even close." They are different roles with different strategies.

Good luck with interviews

 

Depends, I would say 2 yrs in banking prior to PE is a better choice long term. You build a more diverse set of contacts and tools. But I agree that if you were offered Blackstone straight out of college, do it.

 

You can't really go wrong with either...but unless you want to be a career banker, Blackstone.

"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-
 

talking about. From PE, you can go to HF's, people do it all the time and its an easier transition, and you can go the corporate world, b/c you are in the business of buying and operating companies for a profit (and eventually being on the board of directors of your portfolio companies), not pitching ludicrous ideas to them and doing ridiculous company profiling and bs pages (am a little bitter right now). Unless you want to be at GS, love the culture at GS, or hate the culture at Bstone (which I can see, its pretty intense) you are definitely better of doing Bstone PE

 

that both jobs are really pretty terrible at the junior levels. Your life sucks at both, Bstone analysts/associates probably work harder than anyone in PE (except maybe the KKR guys). Realistically, you should just go to a good HF, or start your own company after doing a stint at either, where you will be finally free of institutionalized crap

 

If it is I'd go with BX. The logic being: -turning down BX closes that door for your ft analyst career; that may not be the case with GS -BX restructuring has pretty prominent clients in some interesting areas; I know the PE guys own a bond insurer and believe that MBIA is also a client; that's probably pretty interesting right now (though honestly it will be over by the time you'd start, summer will be busy in restructuring regardless though)

If this is for a lateral or other opportunity, you can't really go wrong with either one. Obviously both open doors on the buyside and have strong brands with anyone who matters.

Good luck.

 

Wow...! Congratulations! I would say it depends what you want to do. In terms of name and prestige I think you can safely assume they are both equally impressive but BX is slightly more so because of the rarity of people having it on their CV. Hence, I would think about what you want to do post graduation. Personally, I would go with BX given that they have a smaller team and are amazing in restructuring. Are these for the NYC offices?

 

Wow...! Congratulations! I would say it depends what you want to do. In terms of name and prestige I think you can safely assume they are both equally impressive but BX is slightly more so because of the rarity of people having it on their CV. Hence, I would think about what you want to do post graduation. Personally, I would go with BX given that they have a smaller team and are amazing in restructuring. Are these for the NYC offices?

 

I'd stick with BX just BC it's harder to get because of the smaller number of slots. Plus, if you can be one of the few people to get a FT offer from an internship then you'll have a front seat at restructuring and have very good job security. I'm skeptical on the other hand of how secure a position at any bulge-bracket is within the next two years.

 
BB.MandA.3rdyearMust be easy to hate when you're hawking equities at Thomas Weisel

Uh no.

It just annoys me to no end when some pre-pubescent High Schooler comes in here and starts spitting out mindless bullshit like everyone is going to end being a PM raking in Hundreds of Millions a year. The majority of people on this board are so goddamn materialistic and pretentious that it's almost hard to believe.

Secondly, who the hell do you think you are? You don't know me or what I do. Your attempt at humor failed, so before you start picking fights and calling people out you better take a nice long look at yourself there buddy.

 

heh, the only people who sound materialistic and pretentious on this board are those who go to bullshit state schools talking about how sweeet it's going to be next year because they just fucking NAILED their jeffries interview.. people talking about goldman and morgan are just talking about what should be expected when someone hears investment banking

 

i dont know devin, i went to a state school, did pretty well and while i do look forward to go into one of those places, i dont obsess on boards like some of the pimple-faced teens seem to do here..better to obsess by kicking ass on the job ;-)

 
GS TMT is one of the top 5 groups around

gs tmt is good, although ms (from the tech side) dominates the industry. pe is fine, but the exit opps out of banking are tough to beat

 

I disagree, GS TMT is arguably a top 5 group if not the group to be in.

I work at a top tier tech shop/tech M&A and although from a product perspective we are probobly the best, but from a tech coverage perspective GS is probobly better.

beastie1984
GS TMT is one of the top 5 groups around

gs tmt is good, although ms (from the tech side) dominates the industry. pe is fine, but the exit opps out of banking are tough to beat

-- Interview Guides GMAT Tutors WSO Resume Review --- Current: Senior Analyst - Hedge Fund Past: Associate - Tech Buyout Analyst - Morgan St
 

I think there are plenty of reasons to take GS TMT over BS PE.

1) If you want to do a hedge fund 2) If you didn't like BS culture 3) If you thought you could get a better PE job out of TMT (TPG hires a lot of GS TMT kids for example) 4) If you wanted to choose lifestyle to whatever degree possible (BS PE lifestyle is worse)

And for the record, BB.M&A.3rdyear has nothing to be insecure about. He has a fantastic job locked up at one of the best PE shops out there. End of story.

 

Thanks, Means alot, coming from a BSD Hedge Fund guy.

ExGSBankerI think there are plenty of reasons to take GS TMT over BS PE.

1) If you want to do a hedge fund 2) If you didn't like BS culture 3) If you thought you could get a better PE job out of TMT (TPG hires a lot of GS TMT kids for example) 4) If you wanted to choose lifestyle to whatever degree possible (BS PE lifestyle is worse)

And for the record, BB.M&A.3rdyear has nothing to be insecure about. He has a fantastic job locked up at one of the best PE shops out there. End of story.

-- Interview Guides GMAT Tutors WSO Resume Review --- Current: Senior Analyst - Hedge Fund Past: Associate - Tech Buyout Analyst - Morgan St
 

your job is not the only thing a person can be insecure about. There are plenty of insecure people in this industry. But, if you're going to feel insecure about something, you might as well do something constructive about it and get a great job you like and make lots of money. Beats taking steroids, buying a Ferrari, or beating up your girlfriend/wife/children. Well, maybe not the Ferrari.

 
GameTheoryyour job is not the only thing a person can be insecure about. There are plenty of insecure people in this industry. But, if you're going to feel insecure about something, you might as well do something constructive about it and get a great job you like and make lots of money. Beats taking steroids, buying a Ferrari, or beating up your girlfriend/wife/children. Well, maybe not the Ferrari.

I agree with you for the most part. But the overarching attitude with some posters is either pure arrogance, ignorance, or both. In all likelyhood it's just a yearning for attention behind the facade of an internet persona. Fortunately I believe that most, if not all, the people on this board are not jerks in reality but maybe I am being overly naive.

I would sincerly hope not.

 

I don't think that is what spurned it. You have made repeated insults about T Weisel and Wachovia, and are sure to let everyone know how inferior BAS is to the "real" BB banks.

For someone who posts so much personal information on an anonymous message board (e.g. UPenn, MS M&A, Silver Lake) you would think there would be a little less attitude and arrogance. I'm surprised if the guys upstairs, OH, didn't flesh this out during your interviews.

 

Sure, send me an email in 6 months as anonymous banker. Thx

anonymous bankerI don't think that is what spurned it. You have made repeated insults about T Weisel and Wachovia, and are sure to let everyone know how inferior BAS is to the "real" BB banks.

For someone who posts so much personal information on an anonymous message board (e.g. UPenn, MS M&A, Silver Lake) you would think there would be a little less attitude and arrogance. I'm surprised if the guys upstairs, OH, didn't flesh this out during your interviews.

-- Interview Guides GMAT Tutors WSO Resume Review --- Current: Senior Analyst - Hedge Fund Past: Associate - Tech Buyout Analyst - Morgan St
 

Do you really think you can go wrong?

- Capt K - "Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. If you want to make ambitious people waste their time on errands, bait the hook with prestige." - Paul Graham
 

I don't think I can go wrong, but I would like some thoughts and input from others with more experience than me in finance. I really enjoyed both places immensely and am torn between the two, so every little bit helps.

 

bevo51 - "I don't think I can go wrong..."

Make a decision based on what you feel/think you'll like. Not on - "yeah both options are good therefore if i screw up this decision it won't really matter". Go with your gut at least that way you'll be happy, you will get many varied opinions online, with no way of backing them. Listen to what people have to say, but in the end go with your gut.

 

Really can't beat Blackstone M&A in terms of prestige - only the top groups at GS, TMT and FIG, match BX M&A in terms of exit opps. Top notch placement into mega funds/HF and better hours/pay than GS. The M&A groups and deal teams are smaller than GS though, which can be a positive or negative depending on your interests.

 

well, depends what kind of culture you want, but I'd say Blackstone, unless you love the BB culture - only possible exception is if you have a guarantee from GS TMT/FIG.

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”
 

I probably would for NY, I heard the culture there is great and pay is above street. Also, the analysts I met with said they get interviews from all the megafunds, and the senior guys also help you land good exits by making calls/recommendations on your behalf so you don't have to sneak around doing interviews.

But you obviously wouldn't go wrong with Goldman, except there's much less certainty that you'll get into the group you want

 

Pick the people. I'd go with BX but that's just because I want sole deal experience across all industries.

-- "Those who say don't know, and those who know don't say."
 
milkman84Really don't think you can go wrong but I would choose Goldman.

HEY LOOK ITS ANOTHER GOLDMAN WHORE!!!111 I GUESS FOR U ITS GOLDMAN SACKS>>> EVERYTHING ELSE IN LIFE YEA?

AstonMartin
GS because more chicks have heard of GS than BX
but you'd get more finance chicks with BX

screw finance chicks they all look like balls (unless they're HR). If you want to see REAL chicks head over to a state school like penn state and you'll see what I mean.

 

If you are set on finance take BX hands down, go there and hustle it out. If you want to keep your options open take the GS, you never know. I for once think the blackstone name and experience are not easily matched anywhere and will take you a long long way.

"too good to be true" See my WSO Blog
 

Chicks dont know what you are doing over there anyways. Plus if you personally think its more baller to work at BX you will automatically pull more chicks because you feel better about yourself and demonstrate confidence.

Just saying

"too good to be true" See my WSO Blog
 

s5 or m5. Pick which one that you feel you will succeed in.

The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee WSO is not your personal search function.
 

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