TMT London - European BB or US Boutique

Hi All,

Am a 2nd year in London and about to leave my current employer (European balance sheet bank). Got two offers: TMT boutique ( think of LionTree, Raine, Quatalyst ...) vs TMT team of an European BB (think of Barclays, UBS, CS...) and thinking to get some advice here.

Both teams have good deal flow here. The boutique has a strong presence in US while it’s still building up the London branch & isn’t very known out of TMT. Also haven’t seen many people leaving the firm for funds since it’s established. The BB had a good record of sending analysts to MFs in past.

Am about to take the BB’s offer (nothing signed ) but currently very tempted by the boutique as they were involved in several multi billion deals in a short history. And the team showed high level of enthusiasm, even after I turned them down the senior MD there called me to explain how he thought I would be better off in a more entrepreneurial place. Even the founder himself (big shot in US) called. Pay is marginally better than BB and bonus is rumored to be 10-30% higher than street average.

How would you evaluate these two options? Goal is to maximize future opportunities on/post the job. Any insights much appreciated!

 
Best Response

If the boutique is of the calibre mentioned (LionTree etc) I would pick them; they will 100% be known in London (perhaps not as much around Europe in cities like Paris or Frankfurt but unless you want to go work there, who cares?).

Here is how I see it (and perhaps I'm wrong). You've done 2 years of FT and proven yourself at a big bank. From my understanding, the desired path is to go from BB to PE/HF/high calibre boutique. Since you've done that part I don't see a point in adding another 1-2 years at a BB to then head to one of those types of firms anyway (unless you dream is a long-term BB career).

Also (and I'm going out on a VERY long limb here), my understanding is that 2-3 years at an EB (or up-and-coming boutiques as some like to call them) like those mentioned would then land you in a more senior BB position than the other way around. If I'm wrong, I am happy to be corrected. I personally look at it from the healthcare market; 2-3 years at a top rank healthcare boutique like Centerview would land you higher in a BBs healthcare team than 2-3 years in the healthcare team of a BB would land you at Centerview.

 

Many thanks for sharing - think I will still go for the bigger name as it’s generally a better exit afterwards, given that I plan to leave sellside in a few years. If it doesn’t work in 6 months, I would be ‘BB’ stamped by then and can look for a position in elite boutiques...as my current employer really isn’t enough to sell my profile...

 

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