Views On Perella Weinberg?
Most of the threads on PWP seem to be old, anyone have any updated views on reputation / culture / exits? Is the shop on an upward trajectory or sputtering?
Most of the threads on PWP seem to be old, anyone have any updated views on reputation / culture / exits? Is the shop on an upward trajectory or sputtering?
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Career Resources
Top shop.
They're solid firm. In my opinion they're a little over-hyped. I still believe Lazard, Evercore, Greenhill, Centerview and Moelis are still a slight notch above PWP. It could definitely change in the coming years. Their top restructuring guys just "left/got fired for attempting" to start their own firm. It'll be interesting to see how they build out their new RX practice.
What makes you think so? If you look at the quality (size of deals) they have closed over the last few years it's hard to imagine why they would be considered "a little over-hyped". Not criticizing, just trying to figure out why you thought that way. Also trying to revive this chain, hoping for more clarity on the firm.
bump
bump
I don't think you need to bump this anymore. Its a great firm.
You can view this via google or on the vault top 50. Even though I don't always agree with Vault, Perella has the reputation and you can count on that.
Link to Vault's Top 50 IBs if OP is interested
http://www.vault.com/rankings-reviews/company-rankings/banking/vault-ba…
Any idea about the comp? How do junior bankers get treated at these shops? Can you get to buyside from PW?
Analyst base pay just got bumped up to $95K. Hours are generally pretty long in NY office - not sure how it is in other offices.
Also curious whether being a small bank is a disadvantage given exit opps might be limited.
Great shop. It will be interesting to see what happens because of the senior oil and energy guys getting fired. RX is decent business for PWP, and most of the RX in the coming years will be in oil and energy (same reason why UBS just poached BMO's team).
In terms of buyside, it's actually not as comparable to Evercore, Lazard, GHL, or Moelis as you would think. I know a few guys there that really struggled in recruitment - that being said, PWP has a great reputation and if you network well you should have no trouble in landing interviews after which its all up to you.
If you are dead set on going to HBS, PWP is THE firm to be. Otherwise, they are just average
Hey, I am just wondering why PWP has an advantage on HBS admission?
Increased Fluency With Acronyms (IFWA)
You will get a good experience there. That being said, with the recent firing/departure of the Restructuring team, the shop has gotten a lot weaker both in terms of the analyst experience as well as the exit opportunities.
In general, if you are looking for a MF PE exit opportunity, this is not the place for you. Getting to a decent upper middle market PE firm is also quite difficult. This is due to the lack of internal support for recruiting until recently which has resulted in the lack of exPWP presence at top buy side shops relative to other EBs and BBs rather than the quality of the PWP analyst experience. Though with greater internal support going forward, this may change.
In terms of culture, PWP is good in the sense that assholes are not tolerated. The firm is small so that everyone knows everyone from partner level down to first year analysts. Take it for what it's worth but you will get senior banker exposure.
Great place to be. They've gotten through the worst of their RX problems. Will be back on top in no time.
bump I know some senior people left/got fired from the firm, however, they seem to have hired some more senior bankers from other bulge brackets, specifically from Lazard and Goldman Any updates on what you guys think?
bump
Perella Weinberg Partners: Elite Boutique? (Originally Posted: 02/13/2016)
This post is not intended to be a knock on PWP or any of the employees, but rather one purely out of curiosity as I don't know much about the firm nor do I have any close friends working there. According to the league tables, in 2015, PWP announced just 11 domestic deals with a total deal value of ~$22bn, behind the likes of non-BB banks like WFS, Nomura, Macquarie, BMO, HLHZ, Rothschild, etc., and very far behind the other elite boutiques. Is there something that I'm missing, or did they simply have an outlier year in terms of performance?
Financial Times article said they had 500 Million in Revenue last year. No plain boutique would do that well after losing their entire Rx team half way through the year even tho if was a bad year for Rx. Also any bank with Jo Perella's name on it becomes an EB. See: Wasserstein Perella
PWP is a pretty interesting case, I think there are are a couple key things things to consider.
Domestic Transactions alone do not tell the entire story of the firms M&A business. If you look at their selected transactions list for last year they have various multi billion dollar European transactions. Also, that total deal value for Domestic transactions seems off, the Willis Towers merger alone was $18 billion.
PWP is small, really small. People don't realize just how small it is, especially the advisory portion. The only offices that do advisory work (as opposed to their Asset Management which is in far more locations) are SF, NY, and London. Their entire analyst pool in the NY office is smaller then the summer analyst class at Moelis NY. The firm has been pretty conservative in its growth and likes staying (at least for the moment) as a smaller private company. Talking with a BB M&A head, he told me that PWP is focused much more on quality of M&A advice than quantity of deals, so they don't go through the same amount of churn and burn mm work that a lot of other EB's and even bulges do.
PWP poaches top talent and has been doing it a lot lately. That should be an indication on the health of the firm if they are able to attract senior dealmakers from other firms with relative ease. In the past few months they poached Lazard's head of TMT (and almost the entire NY TMT team with him) and Goldman's head of restructuring. A little while before that they pulled over MS's head of energy.
I think PWP is in many ways the biggest enigma out of all the EBs, so there always seems to be either a lack of information or misinformation floating around about them.
That makes a lot of sense. Do you suppose there is a core difference between PWP's strategy and Centerview then? I'm not aware of the margins of the deals that they've advised on, but it seems Centerview also doesn't follow the churn and burn model (I think they advised on ~20-25 deals last year), but those few deals were all huge transactions. Plus, I know Centerview also has very few analysts relative to the global advisory firms like Evercore and Lazard.
Perella Weinberg Exit Ops (Originally Posted: 10/04/2010)
Anyone know the placement for analysts at perella weinberg for this year or past years? Please answer if you actually know rather than guess.
business school for quite a few
If you have Perella Weinberg on your resume, you're pretty much guaranteed to get into harvard, stanford, or wharton.
Im @ a pe fund (aum 20b+) and ppl around here - including me - have lot of respect for perella boys
If you have perella weinberg on your resume, you're pretty much guaranteed to get into harvard, stanford, or wharton --> is it because its that good or more because its so selective that those kids were gonna get into harvard/stanford anyway?
Where would you place for PWP compared to GS/MS/C/Barcap/UBS/DB? Also anyone know some other PE funds for placement?
Perella guys tend to prefer staying in banking or going to b-school to going to the buyside. Agree with the previous comments about great b-school placement, and those who do want to go to PE do quite well.
Would you take it over CS?
How would perella compare in the boutiques? I would rank it below BX and Lazard and almost on par with Evercore ? It would definitely be above Greenhill. It is also very exclusive so that helps in exit opps. In terms of comparison with BB, almost on par with CS but below GS and MS naturally.
I would rank those banks like this:
BX=decent Lazard=also decent Evercore=also decent Greenhill=also decent CS=also decent MS=also decent GS=also decent
If you can't figure out where Perella ranks in that hierarchy, you don't belong in banking.
How would perella compare in the boutiques? I would rank it below BX and lazard and almost on par with Evercore ? It would definitely be above Greenhill. It is also very exclusive so that helps in exit opps. In terms of comparison with BB, almost on par with CS but below GS and MS naturally. --> Are Evercore and Greenhill that different?
Drexel alum will you mind explaining that hierarchy in more detail ?
Of course. I rank banks using a very sophisticated algorithm based on the following:
Y = 0.25α + .385μ + 24.5ε + .084θ + ο*α/5.67043 + π^2 + γ + .000560β * λ + .0045ω
Where:
α is current US M&A league table position for transactions above $545m, below $3.45bn, announced not withdrawn, previous thirteen months, by volume μ is global sell-side league table position for media transactions from 2007-2008, announced not withdrawn, above $46m, by volume ε is number of analysts in the 2009 incoming class θ is the number of analysts from the 2007 incoming class who have been laid off ο is the number of associates in the incoming 2010 class from HBS plus the number from Booth times 1.45 π is (approximately) 3.14159265 γ is the number of analysts at the bank divided by the number of secretaries, less the banks distance from the wall street bull in bars of gold, times the current level of the DJII, plus 2 β is the bank's beta verse the relevant local index (estimated for partnerships) ω is the number of former employees currently serving in the US treasury
Based on this algorithm, all of the banks you queried about are decent.
ROFL
Haha excellent post. +1 SB
LOL
What are the values for Y that you use to determine "decent" and the other rankings (also decent, somewhat decent, etc.)? I've plugged the numbers into the equation and it appears legit depending on the intervals for "Y."
How would you compare the exit ops for Perella vs. Greenhill/Evercore or generalist offers from bottom half of the bulge brackets?
Also decent is the same ranking as decent. The rankings are pretty simple: "decent" and "not decent." If you've plugged in the variables, you should be able to back-solve for what the decent range is. For reference, Piper Jaffray is the median value for "not decent"
this is my 2nd post and I repeat : Perella is The Shit.
Fuck Evercore. Fuck Greenhill. Fuck Lazard.
Why do you say this?
sad trolling in this thread
Does anyone have info on their bonuses this year. Do they pay above the street ? What was the bonus figure this year ? 70 ?
Perella Exit Opps (Originally Posted: 07/21/2015)
Can anyone tell me what PWP's exit opps are like? I'm a little surprised that people on WSO say they are more limited than other elite boutiques (does that include HL and Moelis?). Was hoping some could expand on that and also give some reasons why that is the case.
Bump.
Not that many PWP alums on the buyside compared to the other EBs but it is definitely possible and people have moved on to very good funds from PWP. The issue is the firm's attitude towards PE/HF recruiting.
Imagine a situation where you are working 100 hour weeks and you are really busy but you have to sneak around to prepare and interview for PE / HF positions. That's very tough to do and can be immensely stressful. These interviews are not like ibd interviews - they are more intense and comprehensive and the pool of candidates are of much higher caliber so a lot of prep time is needed.
If you have the opportunity to go to another EB (EVR, GHL, HL, Moelis, Lazard) I would take it. Shouldn't be that heard to leverage and offer from PWP as it is highly respected in the M&A community.
Would definitely not put HL in the same category as the above for M&A.
PWP gets good exit opps but their analysts have to keep their recruiting process on the DL
HL M&A does mostly MM deals while the other EBs aim to do large deals. So In terms of deal size HL M&A is not as not comparable to the other EBs. I think the reason people often count Houlihan Lokey as an EB is because they are far and away the best IB in the MM space both in terms of overall deals and private equity deals so their analysts get good exit opportunities to MM PE. It could also be because they have a world class RX platform.
Perella Weinberg Partners (Originally Posted: 04/22/2008)
Hey all
I was wondering what is the general opinion about PWP? and how difficult is it to get hired straight from university?
from what I've heard its next to impossible
They are a top boutique that has some of the biggest names out there but somehow has not lived close to expectations. It's at least as difficult as any bb investment bank to get hired. An analogy would be a team with Brady Moss Owens LT and Gates that keeps missing the playoffs.
ultra-exclusive,very hard to get into for SA or FT, I guess an internship from Morgan Stanley would help, as so many of PWP's people are hired from there
http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/24/news/companies/perellaweinberg.fortune/…
they took 2 people from Penn this year i think. the people who got offers got a personal phone call from Peter Weinberg from what I heard.
Uber-prestigious and extremely selective. I just looked at their bench on Wikipedia, I didn't know they were this deep:
Joe Perella - Wall Street legend; enough said William Donaldson - Founder of DLJ; banking legend Peter Weinberg - CEO of Goldman Sachs International Terry Meguid - Head of Morgan Stanley IBD Phillip Yates - Head of M&A at Merrill Lynch Ralph Pellechio - General Counsel at Morgan Stanley Paulo Perreira - Head of European M&A at Morgan Stanley William Kaorakos - Head of Leveraged Finance at Morgan Stanley Andrew Bednar - Head of M&A at Banc of America
These were just a few of the most senior partners.
I've heard that's one of the toughest IBanking gigs to get out of undergrad, but that's just the word around campus.
Anybody know what the actual analyst/associate experience is like there? Based on what I've seen in the news, they aren't doing very many deals, so I'm guessing a lot of time spent pitching? Also, with all of those legends in the house, does that translate into a lot of great mentorship/guidance or just bigger egos shitting on you all the time?
Perella Weinberg London Culture (Originally Posted: 07/26/2013)
All,
I'm looking to lateral as a 2nd year IB Analyst (currently at BB). What have you heard about the culture at Perella Weinberg Partners in London? I heard of one Analyst (class of 2012) who quit a few weeks into his first year after summering there (I believe). Any insight would be much appreciated.
Thanks
why move from a BB to PWP? dont get me wrong it seems like a great place and people working there seem to enjoy it, but unless you want to make a career out of banking there should be no reason to move from a BB.. Dealflow is actually quite okay there from what I have seen and they do have quite good exposure to Germany with some of the senior partners there being german. also seems a few analysts are german
Forum view on Perella Weinberg (Originally Posted: 12/24/2013)
What is your view on PWP? How does it compare to other EBs?
Also, has anyone worked there? What is the culture like? Does it place well into MFs?
Thanks in advance for the answers!
Great shop -- decent placement into PE, wouldn't say it places well into MFs -- though it is not impossible. Nerdy culture.
Very solid shop with very solid compensation. Great dealflow, but it's placement is hindered by the fact that they work really hard to retain talent (nice bonuses though!). It's hard to compete for MF placement when you have firms like Evercore and Moelis basically pushing people and batting for them whereas PWP might bat for you to go to HBS but not necessarily for a MF.
Top boutique, general consensus is that they're slightly worse than Lazard/Evercore but still very good. They definitely place into MF's
Hey guys--new to the forum. Tried to look up this acronym and couldn't find it on WSO. What does MF stand for?
Megafund, as in the largest private equity funds.
Very good shop in the US. Still modest in London.
If PE is your goal, you are better off focusing on the BBs.
Perella Weinberg Offices (Originally Posted: 12/20/2013)
Hey guys,
Looking for color on some of the offices of Perella Weinberg, specifically NYC, SF, Denver, and Austin. What are the focus of each location (operations, IB, PE?). Also, how is deal flow for each location? Do different locations focus on different transactions/industries?
I know it's a rather obscure question, but I'd appreciate some insight.
bump interested as well
I've met a few advisory guys from their NYC location. Small deal teams and consistent interaction with both Joe and Peter and some of the powers that be. Some of the analysts stay staffed on one singular deal for months and months at a time (heard of an instance of > 6 months), and some of the deals are over and done with by the weekend. As such, you really get an in-depth experience (client calls, senior management mtg's, etc.). But if the deal process is boring/client sucks... oh well
Keep in mind PWP primarily focuses on being a strategic advisor -- a good bit different than "traditional" IB.. From my understanding, the bulk of PWP advisory runs out of London and NYC -- dunno about the other locations. Most of the clients are relationship-based so the processes can be very cyclical. As such, the exit options can be very interesting. PWP has a great relationship with HBS; some of the analysts/associates/etc go to consulting and others into corporate strategy roles with afore-mentioned clients.
Also (just a personal observation) PWP has great people. Very accommodating, very intelligent, very diverse backgrounds, just an awesome group of people. They just love talking to anyone who is willing to listen. But it is hard to break into. Very technical interview process as they expect you to hit the ground running.
Bottom line: if you're smart & savvy enough to get an offer, you should know what to do with it.
Fantastic comment, thank you! Also very consistent with what I have heard about the firm's IB practice.
what do you mean by it differing from traditional IB
PWP has a great focus on client relationships. There's not a great deal of pitching. From what I understood, most of the time analysts, for a lack of a better term, "specialize" on the client. PWP guys don't whore themselves out trying to get deals upon deals. More of a quality over quantity type environment.
so would this be a good thing in terms of the learning experience?
I think so. You will get a lot of responsibility at PWP in terms of modeling and client interaction. Connections wise: many MS/GS guys at PWP. PWP sends a good amt of people to HBS, too.
Like I said -- if you are smart enough to get an offer, you should know what to do with it.
lol love the biased answers from current/former PWP employees...
All I know about PWP as someone who has never worked there is that they have not placed well into buyside opportunities. I have no idea what a previous poster meant by "interesting" exit opps
.
Perella Weinberg Who??? (Originally Posted: 02/23/2010)
What's the word on PWP for the year going forward? From what I hear, they may be the sickest boutique on the street?
Joe better load up on Tylenol and Advil then, huh?
Ever heard of Greenhill, Blackstone, Allen&Co...?
Perella is seriously damaging in M&A this year
http://www.pwpartners.com/Advisory_transactions.aspx
Perella Weinberg HF and PE exit ops? (Originally Posted: 01/12/2012)
Hi guys,
What do you reckon the exit opportunities into PE or HF are for this boutique?
Its an elite boutique
Sure thanks - but how do elite boutiques such as Perella fare in terms of buy-side exit ops
In total volume, lower than BBs because.. well.. there are less Analysts in total.
But as a % of Analyst class, it is higher than the top BBs.
This is mostly because PE firms like recruits from M&A teams. At elite boutiques, almost all Analysts are in M&A. At BBs, only a fraction are in M&A-specific teams as many are in industry coverage or ECM/DCM or something else.
placement is better from Lazard or Evercore but if you are up for it I am sure you can get some good exit opps. Rumour has it they encourage their people to stay long term in banking hence placement has not been as good as from other boutiques..
havent seen one guy from pwp yet...and i have seen plenty from Moelis, Evercore, Greenhill, Lazard etc etc etc . I think that might answer your question
Friends at PWP say that it encourages you to stay as a banker. Think twice before going to PWP.
Perella Weinberg - Prestige and exit opps? (Originally Posted: 03/29/2007)
prestige/future/exit opps/general opinion?
heard good things
Good luck!
wild card. they haven't done so well yet, but it's possible they will be great in the future
I've talked to people who took them over GS IBD. The people I met there were all great. Seems like an awesome place. Its a lot smaller than a BB but the people there are great resumes, I mean just google Perella or Weinberg, and also the guys I talked too came from MS/GS or entry level people had offers from MS/GS. You will get more responsibility overall but slightly less specalized job functions than at a BB. I would take them over any BB save GS, MS, or maybe Lehman. Maybe over them but would have to think about it.
Why Lehman?
Firm pays very well, too, btw
I consider Lehman only slightly below GS/MS in terms of prestige, but I think its better than Citi/JPM/all the other BBs. Also their culture seems like the best and the fact that they are the only BB to recruit at my school for non-operations positions.
they have some serious hitters at the senior level.
aside from Perella/Weinberg, they have the former head of IBD at MS, former head of M&A from ML, former head of LevFin from MS.
serious upper talent.
Former head of GS's euro division as well.
any more for any more? how about their hedge fund side?
PWP does HF?
Have bought about 5 or 6. Check Factiva.
Perella Weinberg - How does it stack up? (Originally Posted: 02/05/2013)
What are your thoughts on the firm? How does it stack up to the different bulge brackets (Credit Suisse/MS, etc)? Particularly at the analyst level
never heard of this place before, maybe i should use the search function....
It's a very prestigious firm.
very prestifious
personally, I'd take it over all the BB's except maybe top groups at GS/MS/JPM if u like the BB culture
bump. any details about their program. not much info on the threads here.
Generalist program at the analyst and associate level. Focus on M&A, you will probably get restructuring work. I hear they kill their junior people, but that its very rewarding. It is a lot of work and you are expected to perform above your level. I hear they push people pretty hard but you will learn M&A inside and out.
They get a handful of very cool assignments (primary adviser to NYSE on the ICE deal, advising FDIC on ongoing assignments related to the financial crisis, etc). That said, a lot of their stuff is a bit smaller than what some BBs might get.
Long story short you will work a ton and learn even more. Very good, very reputable firm.
London isn't true generalist
.
How would you contrast it to experience at different bulge brackets?
great shop, but only if you want to be a career banker. nonexistent exit ops - they shun away head hunters so virtually nobody gets a solid PE job after their analyst stint. small analyst classes. I think NYC takes ~8 summers. definitely very different from BB
i've also heard the pe exit ops. A majority of their analyst class have gone on to pe. Don't see any megafunds however which may be indicative of lack of head hunters or of small class sizes. Exit ops to b-school, particularly hbs, are strong. Comp is also at or above street.
Perella Weinberg - Compared to other boutiques? (Originally Posted: 02/21/2009)
What do you guys think of PWP (NY office)? Exit opps? Prestige? Lifestyle? Culture?
How does it compare to other boutiques? How about BBs?
Also, would it be a good choice for SA, and FT?
Any insight would be appreciated.
Holy Menorah Batman!
I thought it was Perella Weinstein! No wonder I didn't get past the first round.
The world has changed. And we must change with it.
Search the topic. It has been discussed to death.
PWP is definitely prestigous, but the bulge brackets, especially MS, JPM, Goldman, and CS have a lot better exit opportunities for both b-school and buy-side jobs. Verses the other boutiques, PWP started in '06 so it really doesn't compete yet against Greenhill, Lazard, Evercore, Blackstone M&A, Moelis, Centerview etc for deal flow, but its still a good opportunity if thats all you got at this pt. Most of the junior ppl there also have practically zero experience if you look on the web page. One guy worked at Sirius and another was just some random kid from UofF. I'm def not hating on the firm, b/c it is still good, but in comparison to BB and other boutiques there really is no contest.
I think if you want to do banking long term, PWP could def compete with the other firms a few years down the road. But, if you are thinking of PE or HF 2 or 3 years out, the other elite boutiques and BB firms are much better. In terms of culture and lifestyle, its pretty laid back for the most part, but the hours are the same if not much worse than BB firms. Hopethis helps.
Also, realize that there are boutiques that started after PWP, like Centerview, that would be considered more successful/prestigious, so you can't even blame PWP's lack of recognition purely on its short history.
With that said, I'd say that Greenhill, Lazard, Evercore, and Blackstone M&A would be better bets for a young analyst, since name recognition down the line would be more important than for a senior banker.
I think PWP (or any boutique really) is a better place to be than any of the BBs. From a culture standpoint, its a growing firm versus one that is/has been firing people -- which also means higher change of getting FT offer if you're looking to be a SA. Prestige is equivalent (if anything higher for boutiques), unless you're in a really really top BB group. Exit opps are unclear for PWP because they haven't graduated a full analyst class yet, but I'd expect the partners to want to make sure people place well in order to enhance future yields.
As for PWP versus other boutiques, it really comes down to what you think of the people. I tend to think of all the ones you mentioned as in same group prestige-wise; their deal table rankings can vary so much based on one deal (i.e. InBev). But all these firms have deal flow.
Perella Weinberg is super prestigious, I'd take an offer there over any BB, especially in today's market where half of GS IBD 1st year class is getting moved to Investor Relations and Ops. Do you remember how much hype the Street gave this "IB All-Star Boutique" when they formed? This is text book "elite boutique" stuff. Just cruise their website and look at their bench. It's kind of crazy to think they have all these hitters under one roof:
Joe Perella - WSJ described him as "The Godfather of Dealmaking" Peter Weinberg - Former CEO of GS International, former Global Head of GS IBD Terry Meguid - Global Head of MS IBD Philip Yates - Global Head of ML M&A William Karakous - Global Head of MS Lev Fin Dietrich Becker - Global Head of MS Industrials Paulo Perreira - Head of MS M&A Europe Scott Bruckner - Head of MS Europe Technology Andrew Bednar - Head of BofA M&A Amr Nosseir - Head of MS Middle East Group Ihsan Essaid - Head of BofA Media & Communications
They've been getting big time mandates recently as well, Wachovia/Wells Fargo, U.S. Tobacco, and they just got named by the FDIC to advise on the bailout.
They don't call PWP the most over-rated boutique for nothin'
In terms of raw talent, Perella Weinberg probably is a cut above most of the other boutiques out there. Just look at that list above, that kind of caliber is tough to match. If you even look at the bios of most of their people, the over riding themes are Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Harvard Business School. If you look on Moelis' website, they have a bunch of CIBC, Bear Stearns and there's all kinds of random schools like UC Santa Barbara, Kansas, Maryland, etc.
what the hell are you talking about dude it equally has the same diversity. If anything they have more columbia people on their roster.
I just looked at the Moelis and PWP profiles, and while you are right that there are "non-target" bankers at Moelis, it seems like most of them have strong or unique backgrounds. CIBC may not be the strongest bank out there, but I believe their lev fin group in LA was solid before it closed. Moelis wouldn't pick up a team that didn't have talent, and you can imagine if a senior guy was poached, he would bring along his best analysts, which may or may not have come from non target schools. I think that it's a non-factor, especially when you consider that most of these candidates were top students from their respective state schools.
Yeah, but the junior people at the company have ZERO experience. PWP is a great firm, but at the SA or analyst level it just doesn't compare. Look at some of their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years, as well as the associates. I got an offer there after a week of waiting, but I think almost every other boutique and the main BB firms have better exit opps, deal flow, and prestige. One of my friends works there from UofF, who didn't even do a S.A program. It seems more like a place to go if your in banking for 10+ years and you want something with more focus and stability.
Yeah PWP has people from Arizona State, UofF, Gettysburg and some other no name schools. And there quite a few MS partners, but most of the other people are concentrated around BofA, JPM, Citi, Merrill, Houlihan etc. Its really hard to come to conclusions off of this though.
Perella Weinberg - Any intel on this firm? (Originally Posted: 10/22/2007)
Anyone have any intel on this firm? Culture? Deal flow? Compensation? Prefably intel on the associate level.
Thanks
Ultra-prestigous firm. There are a lot of great senior bankers that used to be global heads. Do a search on them, and I'll sure that will bring up a lot of names.
As far as compensation, I've heard that PWP gives its first year analysts 80K + sign + bonus, so I assume that associate comp. will be above street.
Make that 95 k first year analysts plus sign on Bonus
Great group but no deal flow - don't know whether or not the firm will be here in next 2-3 years.
Bellepheron - what's the background on your statement? how/where from do you know this?
Check their website under advisory transactions and look at league tables no where near Centerview/Gleacher/Greenhill/Evercore.
You are taking a significant risk by joining the firm. So Joe Perella's name on it but the guy is 80 and on his deathbed.
I like to think of them as the Yankees, a lot of big names but no synergy between them.
Uber-prestigious. They're extremely selective (much more so than the BBs) in who they take. In my experience, most kids that get offers have turned down GS/MS to go there.
hmm...they called me and asked for interview but I turned them down as I have an offer from JPMorgan...do you think that was the right decision? surely bonuses are better at BBs?
Bonuses and base are much better at PWP than BB... Definitely tough to turn them down for an interview- b/c they are so selective. Have you accepted your offer from JPM? If so, then it was the right move-- Best not to ruin your rep on the Street. If you haven't made a decision on that offer, I would've taken the interview in a heartbeat. Would rather go to PWP than just about all other BB's. Working with their stars would be an amazing exp.
Even if they gave lower base and lower bonus than BB's, I would still strongly consider PWP. The experience that you get there is unbelievable.
yeh but starting your career, isnt it better to start off at a well known brand like JP, then move to boutiques like PE, etc. after a 2/3 yr stint?
Not doubting the strength of the group and team but I would have gone BB rather than PWP because of the brand equity. You want to be a pyramid, start broad at the beginning of your career and specialize later. JPMorgan is a great bank with lots of history, Jamie Dimon's a great CEO. You couldn't have gone wrong with either choice but in terms of exit opps, I would have gone for JPMorgan.
I also don't see how the business model works. Less deal flow + Better pay at junior level + Management top heavy (more pay at senior level) = Firm's capital eaten away by now?
Within the finance community, it's certainly tough to beat the prestige of that place. Probably more star power than any other bank; the people running that show reads like a who's who of Wall Street. Perella: Absolute rainmaker, needs no explanation. Weinberg: CEO of Goldman Sachs International. Meguid: Morgan Stanley Global Head of IBD. William Donaldson: Wall Street legend, Founder of DLJ. The list goes on and on. I've heard through the grapevine that everyone at the lower level are either top performers from from MS/GS Perella and Weinberg brought over with them, or poached rockstars from the other BBs. Being an M&A Advisory focused firm, business is obviously not going to be booming right now though.
sure they might be prestigious,but you also have to remember the firms they worked at when they did get those groundbreaking deals. I still think its best to start off at a BB, and then specialize after couple of years stint.
Plus, if you meeting girls...what sounds better "I work at JPMorgan" or "I work at PWP"...
Better to have a global brand on your CV at the start, and when you sick off BB and cubicles, then move into boutiques where they would value your experience and pay you well for it as an associate...
what do you guys think
Agree, at a BB, you will get better technical and modeling experience. As you develop your career, you start to develop transactional experience and at that point it's good to be at a boutique. But no where else are going to learn the technical skills than you are at a BB.
I agree, in that working with a BB at the start of your career would give you a broader experience and skill set. But still, working at PWP isn't about the prestige or the money.
In my opinion, and I might be biased, but working with several department heads from MS, DLJ, Goldman, etc. would do wonders mentoring wise. Watching them go to work and make rain all day every day is something I would put in the back of my mind as inspiration and as a model to go by. You'd learn so much on a daily basis from these guys that you wouldn't be able to learn at a BB. You might work under an associate at JPM, whereas at PWP, you'd work under an associate who's on the fast track to becoming the next superstar.
It is true, though, that the modeling experience and broad transactional exp. at BB would probably be greater and possibly more bneficial. You would also have a stronger deal flow, depending on what group you place in at BB than at PWP, I assume. The deal flow at PWP can't even compare to that of GS TMT, MS M&A, UBS LA (pre-Moelis shake-up).
You are assuming that the senior guys know you exist. You think Joe Perella and Terry Meguid are just going to stop by each day and say hello, Baloogafish, how was your weekend?
Indeed, but you have to realise the firms they worked at...it was the brand and the place they worked, which gave them the name in the financial industry.
To some extent, analysts at PWP would be largely seen as just a medium to execute deals, pitch, etc. whereas in BBs...they actually want you to progress and make a name for yourself...
in PWP, you will always be a shadow behind the big names, and the chances of making a name for youself at PWP would be limited compared to a BB, where they genuinely want you to take more responsibilities, etc.
if that makes any sense?
...
How would you rate the exit opps of say JP vs. PWP?
Better exit opps for JPM due to the greater deal flow, greater transaction exposure, working on deals of varying sizes, and the fact that you got a chance to interact with other parts of BB department (e.g. Sales when working on Capital Markets deal). Plus, you have developed a wider network of people, which can be useful later on. In PWP, your network is much smaller.
i think the exit ops from PWP would be on par with many BB based solely on the fact that there are so many big guns there with so many connections that a few phone calls to the right people can get you at least interviews with many shops. although people may disagree, i think the top guys at PWP would want to see you place well as it helps them draw in additional talent each year.
If that was true about all the BB's giving you better experience/technical skills/exit opps, why are so many people with GS/MS offers turning them down for the super-prestigious boutiques like Evercore, Greenhill, Lazard, Perella, etc. I know several people each year that turn down GS/MS to go to those places and there were more who did the same thing with Moelis this year.
I don't know where all this hearsay talk about people turning down GS/MS is coming from. Look at the facts on their website: the only people leaving GS/MS are laterals, people that have already built the technical skillset at BBs. Look at the people that started as first year analysts on their website. Look at where they summered. One guy has no summer experience, straight from UF. One person worked at Charter Mac and Toys R' Us. Another person worked in MS Asia. MS Asia is no MS M&A. Look, I think it's a great firm and a great company but everyone seems to have stars in their eyes because Perella's name is on the sign. Take it for what it is, a pretty good boutique that has a strong name backing but is nowhere near other boutiques in presence and dealflow. They just recently started a year ago and still run the risk of any startup firm. I would take any BB experience over PWP. If I wanted to lateral from a senior position (VP or higher) to another sell-side role, then yes, it would be a great opportunity. But not straight out of college.
Bellepheron is right about the technical skills. PWP/Moelis couldn't teach you half the technical skills that a ML or JPM could teach you. He's also right about the Perella/Moelis name and star figures. Even if they don't perform as expected (see Perella), people will still be naturally attracted and interested in them, simply because of the star power that they have- think Lakers with Shaq, Kobe, Malone and Payton.
I like my Yankees analogy better. Biggest payroll in MLB but can't get past the first round of playoffs. Big names no dealflow.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the technical training and experience you get at a BB would be better at the analyst level than at a boutique like PWP or Moelis, where they don't have as formal training programs and the deal flow is smaller. I think you would learn more in a BB as an analyst than at a boutique.
That was absolutely true maybe 2 or 3 years ago. These days "elite" boutiques are going blow for blow with the BB's and in many cases, especially recently, beating them to the punch. On average, live deal experience is probably more abundant at a boutique considering how few people they have on board. Just look at Perella doing Wachovia / Wells Fargo, Moelis doing Bud / InBev, Greenhill & Evercore doing Pfizer and Wyeth / Schering Plough, etc. the list goes on. That's also not counting restructuring assignments that BB's currently get none of. PWP and Moelis' restructuring groups have been shooting out the lights with restructuring deal flow recently and at the analyst level, both those places are generalists, so as an M&A analyst, you get cross staffed on restructurings as well. Unless you're in FIG, at BBs we've basically had non-existant deal flow and have been pitching our faces off since starting last July. The game has markedly changed over the past year and the bottom line is that "elite" boutiques are starting to take significant market share from the BB's, which means a lot more live deal experience, especially at those places like Moelis or Perella who have a fifth of the analysts they do at BBs.
I think these days recent college graduates would pick Lazard, Moelis, PWP, Greenhill, Evercore in a heartbeat over most of BBs.
I think a bellwether sign of the times was PWP winning that assignment advising the FDIC back in January. Does anyone have that article? I forget if it was FT or WSJ, but the upshot was that every bank on the street pitched in the bake-off and an elite boutique came out on top.
Hi so I had a phone interview with PWP and just received an email from HR to call and give me status update etc. Wonder what this means and what PWP's recruitment process is like. Thx!
was this for summer analyst? if so, NYC or SF or London?
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