GS ECM vs. BofA M&A SA

Have those two offers now. I'm leaning towards BAML M&A:

Reasons for BAML

  • more optionality with M&A (PE/VC/corpdev vs. I'm not actually sure what people do post-ECM) and that works for me because I'm not sure what I want to be doing in 3 years

  • more excel/modeling experience

  • I've heard it's not actually that easy to jump from ECM to Classic between SA and FT, and if I already have a clean shot at M&A, shouldn't I just go for it

  • lack of exits from ECM? this is mostly what I hear from peers and WSO, so I'm not 100% sure of this

Reasons for GS

  • brand name makes it easier to re-recruit (though I do think this argument applies more to Classic than it does to the financing group)

  • it's Goldman Sachs and I'm a prestige whore


I need to make my decision in 12 hours. Does anyone have other thoughts or insights about this situation?

 

It's a great group, you'll have every single exit you could ask for (given you prepare for interviews). GS financing is a great gig too but it's capital markets. I'd take BofA in a heartbeat

 

Not even close man.. Definitely pick BofA M&A. Believe it or not, it’s actually quite difficult to jump from GS ECM to traditional coverage groups, given the lack of valuation work in ECM

 

Goldman has that prestige mystique for sure, but that really comes into play against crappy banks. Big players like JPM and BofA and Citi have gravitas in the market as well. M&A is much superior than ECM.

 

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