IB Elite Boutique Intern vs PE Intern

Dear WSO,

I have the following offers and would like some advice in deciding between them. I am doing one more internship before joining an MBB (right afterwards). Main goal is to make my profile stand out if I was to jump to PE (after a few years). The offers are (both for 3-4 months):

  • IB (M&A) internship at an elite boutique (Evercore/Lazard/PJT/Rothschild etc.) in continental Europe
  • PE internship at fund with ~10bn$ AUM with strong brand in continental Europe

Logically speaking (after consulting peers etc.) you would pick the PE offer (strong brand, decent hours etc).

However, I feel that often consultants are neglected by PE's because of their limited finance knowledge: In that perspective an intensive IB internship at a boutique (where you are more involved than in a BB) of 4 months seems like useful way to stand out (when combined with MBB DD expertise down the line).
It also seems to me that the experience and skills gained from doing a PE internship are fairly similar to the ones you gain from doing consulting (due diligence, market research etc., finance only when a deal goes live which is unlikely for that fund in that period) Whereas you at least have a guaranteed aspect of financial modelling in M&A.

Thoughts?

 

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