Villanova JD/MBA chances at boutique M&A
Hey all,
This is my first post so forgive me if I've posted this in the wrong place.
I'm going to be a 2L this fall at Villanova and I am currently in the top 5% of my class. I am also in my first summer of b school courses. In addition, I have 3 years of experience in finance with mortgages.
To my main question, I don't think I have a realistic chance at landing a BB A1 position in M&A after I graduate. However, I was thinking boutique IB, specifically M&A here in Philadelphia. What exactly would my chances be with the JD/MBA from Nova?
What should I do as far as networking?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Frank
Frank1477, my only concern would be that boutiques would see your resume and assume you would not be content with the salary that they can offer (I would expect under $100K) and would therefore not even bother interviewing you. That being said, the Philly area has plenty of boutiques:
Thanks for the reply Sil !! You raise a good point. As far as financials, I'm more concerned with the salaries in year 4 and up. I'm assuming that the M&A but I love finance and the business environment.
I think your salary at one of these boutiques will be close to $100k all-in (i.e. including the bonus). I wasn't really saying that you're overqualified, though, you technically are, but rather that boutiques will see you and go, "Well, this guy is probably drowning in student debt and is probably hearing about all these sky-high salaries from his law school buddies. He won't accept our $100k offer, and if he does, he'll try to jump ship ASAP, so why don't we make an offer to the less-qualified guy, train him, and then rest assured he'll at least stick around.". I spent a year as an analyst at a boutique, and this was my experience when we went through hiring analysts and associates. We regularly turned down BB guys who wanted to move to a boutique for lifestyle reasons because we knew they'd never accept our offers.
I am not very knowledgeable about other careers in finance. IB will probably serve you the best if your goal is to maximize your earnings. Starting at a boutique is not the end of the world, as you can always lateral after a year or two. If you're fine with accepting a below market salary at the beginning, I think IB would be a solid career path for you. I will tell you, though, that JD might seem like a waste of time, but it will really come in handy as you move up in IB. I'm in corp dev, and while I have no desire to take time off or pay for law school, having that knowledge would really come in handy during due diligence. Luckily, my firm has an amazing legal department that helps us out.
Boutique M&A first year associate is 125 base...where are you getting under 100k
From the boutique that I worked at. Just as a clarification, by "boutique", I'm talking actual boutiques, not places like Evercore, Lazard, or Greenhill.
I can't give you any solid advice since I am an Undergrad, but I am gonna say one thing, dont think that you do not have a chance at BB. Apply to all the BB and take the chance. Dont underestimate yourself.
As a JD/MBA, you will apply for investment banking associate level positions. You have a great shot at getting into a boutique and even bulge brackets with your stats. Base salary ranges for boutiques quite widely. Here's an article from last year with some figures to keep in mind: http://news.efinancialcareers.com/us-en/237433/associate-pay-banking/ I would be surprised if you couldn't land an associate position with a base of $125k and bonus ranging from $50k to $100k. This is based off of reports I've read and friends who graduated from business school with me last year. I worked in investment banking for five years and now work in investment management so my figures may be slightly out of date. Best of luck!
Thanks for the comment masterg.
That's very encouraging. I really wasn't anticipating much of a shot at BB from Nova which is why I started this thread...to speak to some people who actually know and have been through this sort of thing.
It doesn't surprise me that boutique salaries are variable. I would guess some boutiques have comp plans that rival BB and some rival the comp plan of a high school teacher.
Very pleased to heard that 125k base with the big bonus should be very much in play. I'll just keep the grades up, make the right friends and grind away!
you can get into BB from Nova undergrad, just a matter of networking- with an MBA/JD you'll need to do the same- but if you work on building connections over the next month or so it shouldn't be too big of a problem.
I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up in a mid-top tier BB bank in the next couple years...
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