ib at boutique or research at bb?
Hey guys, I am a sophomore right now, and I have an offer to do i-banking at a boutique, while I am still interviewing for doing investment research and a bb. I'm not sure if I should take the offer right now or wait until I'm finished interviewing with the bb. Supposing that I get both, which would be a better choice?
The internship at the boutique actually sounds really good b/c, unlike some other places I interviewed with, they are still completing deals even in this market--a lot of the deals are from India, where they have several offices. The guy I interviewed with told me that there will be a lot to do--doing research, writing teasers, meeting clients, and definitely financial modeling.
I'm not quite sure about the content of the work at the bb, but from the job description, there will be some maintaining databases and requires familiarity with excel and works--somehow that sounds like less meaningful work but I could be wrong. and it's investment research in the lifestyles division, whatever that means.
So I have two questions:
1. which is better when it comes to recruiting for junior summer--research at bb, or ib at boutique? From searching on this forum, it seems like you should always take bb over boutique, but that's if you're doing ib in both.
2. What are some questions I can ask both places to get a better idea of the work I will be doing?
Thanks!
oh yeah, they're both for starting part time now and the continuing into the summer, if that adds anything.
If your ultimate goal is IB at a BB firm, I would go with the boutique. If your ultimate goal is Research at a BB firm, well I think you can figure that out.
what if, say, I want to leave my options open?
also, can someone shed some light on what lifestyles research is?
If you want to leave your options open, go do real investment banking at the boutique. The experience you gain will be broadly applicable. The experience you described in "lifestyle research" at the BB sounds dubious.
if you can break into banking as a sophomore in this market, you'd be crazy not to take the offer and try it out. you can always go back to research, the same cannot be said about making the reverse decision.
thanks everyone! I was leaning towards the boutique
so what's some questions to ask both places to get a better idea of the type of work I'll be doing?
Do research so you can have a life, either one will get you interviews from BB's when junior summer SA recruitment starts.
Having a BB name is much better than having a boutique name - and if your goal is to go to a BB eventually, they love hiring away from competitors.
The boutique. Research is a function that may likely see more cuts than IB going forward. I would also imagine it would be harder to break into a front office role at most BBs with a research background, plus the job descriptions sounds a bit dodgy.
Oh my goodness, that is idiotic - research is being run very lightly these days - it's an efficient ship - we already cleaned out a bunch of people in '04, so more cuts likely in IBD - especially given the market conditions.
It's hardly idiotic. My bank's going to be cutting a lot of the research team and very little in IB.
well that's not the full job description. it also includes writing industry reports, doing research, working on spreadsheets.
I'm telling you that BB research > boutique IB.
Bankers respect the name. As a sophomore, having BB research of any kind is a huge boost.
Keep in mind that being at a BB is just much, much better than a boutique (save for the 5-10 prominent ones). People will tell you to the boutique IB because its more directly relevant. That has NOTHING (or just very little) to do with it. They want to see how highly sought after you are by other banks.
Also, research in itself is good experience. While its no IB in terms of PE entry, its good for fundamental strategies HF's, etc. But I think whats most important is that your offers are BB vs boutique, and I'm very surprised people are recommending going to the boutique.
Plus, if you do research, you'll have more free time for your classes. That means your GPA will be higher, extracurriculars will be better, and you'll be happier in general.
I would agree that taking the BB Research is a better option. Not only is the name better, going into research is better hours, generally 7-7 with more during earnings season. Gives the ability to move into IBD, S&T, and more than likely HF work as a junior. Both of the opportunities are more than sufficient for a sophomore and will put you at an advantage come junior year recruiting.
BB Research, its a FO role at a big name firm vs a FO role at a relatively unknown firm.
You will also be able to develop contacts with HR who can put you in touch with bankers. Take it from there.
You're really in a win win situation. Either or will set you up nicely going into your junior year.
Just keep in mind ur competition if you choose to take the ib position.. You - IB internship at small name firm Competitors - Equity Research at a Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs
The name would make a difference, but as i and other posters have said earlier, either or will put you in a good positions for full time interviews.
We're about to enter a Great Depression. Don't you want a president who's already dressed for it?
it depends on who the boutique is as well.
the boutique is very very small and also pretty new, at least in america. but the point is it has plenty of deals from India.
another thing is, I go to nyu stern. for the top bb's, my school is a target for ibd, but not for research. I don't think just having a research internship is going to make me that much more qualified for research, whereas having direct i-banking experience will probably boost my chances for ibd.
If it has plenty of deals from India, I'm assuming most of the work is related to PIPE/private placements (AKA connecting Indian companies with American Capital). In which case, your role will be fairly research intensive as it is. Sounds like a cool firm. Is it Kotak or Karvy by any chance?
I'm still saying Front-office Research in BB is an excellent opportunity.
Also, banks don't care as much about what you know (they can teach you anything). They want name brand analysts who have worked at big-time places. Also, does the Boutique IB have a formalized training program?
Trust me, having the BB research on your resume will help you significantly more than some no-name boutique. Moreover, if you do well at the BB, you will be given the chance to intern in S&T or IB at request. It's a significantly better opportunity. I know several people off the top of my head that did research at a BB sophomore year and are returning with banking offers this summer.
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