Wharton WITG - SSG vs Tacops vs Industrials

Trying to figure out which group is best - can anyone give some information on the exits of each of the WITG groups? I'm a rising sophomore in one of the lower tier teams and hoping to move up to one of the top groups next year (have done dev team, pitches, ect.). I've also heard there's some beef between the PMs of Tacops and SSG as well - would networking with either group of PMs adversely affect my chances?

 

Is this actually true? I'm not trying to pick sides just trying to learn

 

Of course you're not going to get a return when you tell them you're going to WP or KKR PE...

 

Can't tell if you're serious or not... This is as much of a meme as the incoming freshman post. This may be a bit outdated since I graduated, but here's my two cents based on what I know of the current seniors and from interviewing students during the OCR process. I was on two of those three teams when I was on-campus, and I genuinely enjoyed my time there, so just looking to pass it forward.

  1. With or without any of the above teams, you're going to be fine. Just because you're on SSG or TacOps doesn't mean you're going to to learn any more than being on any of the other teams. A large part of the people that end up going to the top sell-side and PE jobs end up having a passion for investing and read in their free time. You don't need to be on X and X team to do well at Penn or any other school.

  2. A large part of WITG is who the PMs are. If the seniors in the club actually care about it, then they'll do their best to teach you. If they don't, then you're going to get a pretty ugly experience. Seems to me you got stuck with latter, but there's no point in tiering the teams. There are up years and down years. As much as you think those teams are good now, go and see who's leading them next year to make your choice. There's a chance the track record dissipates since I think most people know Wharton is deteriorating.

  3. If you want to talk about recruiting, just go look at the website. You have KKR PE, WP, and HL RX for SSG, BX TacOps and Anchorage Distressed for TacOps, and EVR RX for Industrials. I think it's fairly obvious which team has the best placement for careers... Being upfront here, Industrials is nothing like it was in the past. I've heard tons of jokes being thrown around about the current PMs - one of the team members even managed to reach my work gc for appearing in an article about paying money to get a seat in a finance class.

  4. Currently work at a EB RX - we've interviewed a number of students from all the WITG teams. We gave out one offer to a kid in SSG and called a couple more, but they all ended up taking offers from the places the PMs are going to or were going to, so the track record is there. The current sophomores in SSG are better than the sophomores in TacOps or Industrials. Why this matters is because they'll most likely be leading the groups next year or the year after.

  5. If any of the current PMs for SSG and TacOps are here, for your sake, grow the fuck up. This isn't to all of you, but there's notable beef between two people, and it's actually the most petty thing I ever witnessed. I respect both of you a lot, but seriously, get over yourselves. If you got blacklisted from every restructuring group on the street, it happened for a reason, and it's probably not because you're stupid. Stop trying to blame other people for being nearly impossible to work with. If you're going to go out of your way to phone every connection you have on the street to cut someone from the processes, you're no better of a person either. Grow up, you're not in preschool anymore.

 

Lmao at how you say don't tier the teams but literally proceed to tier them based on exits. Why not just be completely honest? Don't try to play the nice guy.

 

I think regardless of which team you join, you'll be fine. You can't change the fact that people will always pull for their own. I'm sure SSG places into PJT/HL/EVR and Megafunds just as much as TacOps places into BX and Moelis. Which would you rather have?

 

Tell me about it - it's literally wharton culture in a nutshell. But who knows, with on-cycle as early as it is, I'm not even shook...

 
Most Helpful

I'm not going to comment much on which team is better, but I think the job placement speaks for itself. You have a group that sends literally all of its members to PJT RSSG or its comps. If you want to do a quick linkedin search, you'll also realize which group has also taken a good proportion of the MF jobs out of undergrad. In the end of the day, you can literally read to get as good as these guys. Only a fraction of them have worked at a hedge fund and can say they even know a little investing.

Speaking on the beef, it's hilarious - any passing WSO people will surely get a chuckle at what goes on at Wharton. @ the PM's - the fact that both of my firm's summer analysts from Penn went to the staffer after they heard you were recruiting here and told them to cut you speaks volumes about your personality. Get over your ego - everyone already knows you weren't in the group you said you were in, and it's not hard to fact check with a fund and HH that recruits from us every year. I've never actually seen someone legitimately get blacklisted, but this is the closest you'll get. On the opposite side of things, please also get over your arrogance. You're a super smart guy, and everyone knows that, but please stop faking the nice guy attitude. It's really annoying when everyone knows you'd be willing to backstab even the other PM's to get the best offer on the table.

@OP - pick your team based on who the PM's are for next year. I think the worst batch is finally out after now with the seniors, so have fun. Sure, being on any of the teams listed will get you guaranteed interviews with nearly every group on the street, but at what expense? Do you think any of the current PM's would "tarnish" their name to help you? Are any of the PM's willing to sit you down and prepare you? If the answer is no or idk, then maybe reconsider. I enjoyed being able to get drinks and goto BYOs with my group and not have to deal with some petty bickering between seniors. Hopefully the current juniors are a lot better...

 

Don't want to stir the pot, just FYI that information is not falsified. Anchorage did make 2 hires recently from different years (am unsure on distressed exclusively, believe the role was cross cap structure) and I know both individuals well. Don't want anyone to get the wrong idea since rumor/misinformation hurts everyone involved.

 

As some of the other people have said, it really just depends on who the PMs are next year. All the groups have solid PMs coming in. Try to get a grasp on who are genuinely nice people and will be helpful to you, and not just for recruiting.

 

Another idea would be to just ask the current freshman on both teams which they like better. They'll probably tell you about their experience and maybe even refer you to a PM to chat. At this point, it seems that people have their innate biases, and there's also significant drama between teams. If you ask a random person at Penn, I'm sure they'd speak highly of all 3 teams, so just ask people that've experienced it for themselves. Based on what I know, all the freshman on all three teams have really enjoyed their time there. I'm sure none of them know about all this petty beef, so they'll just tell you their honest thoughts

 

Graduated Industrials member - when did Wharton become this toxic? Seems like this is one of the silent majority type of things where an odd bunch come here to shit talk one another. I'm 99% sure none of you guys were even accepted into these teams because if so, you'd have like 1/3 of the group in this thread. Knowing the PM's personally, I doubt any of them would be up at 10:30AM reading this shitpost of a thread. Hell, one of them wakes up at like 4PM every day.

You're going to be fine no matter which team you join. You guys are blowing everything out of proportion when it comes to the drama. It's an undergraduate investment club, jesus christ. Honestly, you're better off finding one mentor that's willing to help you out and teach you the ropes. Two of the people I worked with when I was on-campus just signed with us for SA2021, and I personally vouched for them. Don't listen to bs people saying one is better than the other - just find the people you like

 

This whole thread makes Wharton sound absolutely miserable. I’d rather study classics at Harvard and waltz into some mid tier group at MS.

 

this thread is ridiculous. What's a bunch of WSO people going to tell you about a Penn investment club if not for team members to anonymously boost themselves? go ask actual Penn students not internet strangers. but if you want advice.

joining any of these three teams will set you up for success. What's not mentioned here is 1) theres overlap in team members between the groups, 2) most people in those three groups know each other, 3) PMs tend to move between teams or get tapped for others, and 4) each of those groups has a different learning structure and work amount, but at the end of the day 5) every WITG group pretty much does the same thing. what really matters is the PMs, which by the way, good exits or being smart does not mean being able to teach well or being a good mentor, the latter of which is most important.

about exits. half of the kids don't have their exits listed on the website (and they're going to great places), and the truth is pretty much all of the PMs in the past few years of every WITG team has exited incredibly well (that's a reason why they get picked). if you can even get into one of the three selective teams you wrote, all three teams have consistent placements (i'm talking about over past 4-5 years) at certain very elite opportunities, which has been very distressed or PE heavy.

 

Not really that true? Not because WITG is helpful but because most students join WITG - it's like QFS here at NYU, everyone is a part of it

 

Graduated from a different target, but I've worked closely with the Penn and WITG kids through an intercollegiate org. No matter the team, the students that the club produces have always impressed me, now more than ever with OCR and the pandemic. I ditto whoever said the mentorship matters. In the end of the day, there's more than one way to learn. How do you think the PM's got to where they are today? I can assure you it's not from just WITG. Rather, it's a cumulation of different experiences. Some of the freshman I interviewed for my org 3-4 years ago are now running these teams. They knew next to nothing back then, but now they're doing passing it forward and entering the workforce. Realize that with or without WITG, many of these kids would've been just fine. Sure, it helped, but there's always a way to learn.

 

My experience: currently graduating from Wharton, barely joined a finance club during undergrad, now an incoming FT at a top BB.

Everyone’s applicant profile is different but shit like this DOES NOT matter in the grand scheme of life.

My advice is: interview with the clubs, choose who you naturally click with, and try to find a mentor or someone slightly older who can help guide you along the way.

Don’t overthink it; having one PM connection WILL NOT guarantee/get you a job, as they are coming in at the junior level with little pull anyway. What matters most here is networking, building your social capital, and bumping into a lot of people that can help you amass an impressive amount of knowledge.

Most of all, enjoy your social life at Penn and don’t let OCR run your life and cut into important bonding time with friends.... you never get those years or this experience back.

 

Current freshman in WITG but got rejected in the fall like most kids from SSG. That being said, I've largely enjoyed my experience with the club. Most people only do the investment team, but I think one part that's forgotten are the GBMs. I've learned a lot about investing through the presentations this year, even if only 5-10 people show up. There's always a case study or pitch, and through Q&A, I learned a lot about how think about investing. I'm always in awe how one person does so much for the club.

Even though I'm not on any of the teams you've mentioned, I've gotten access to the people that run the groups fairly easily. They're super nice guys, and if you reach out to them with questions, they always respond. At the end of the day, I don't think they're only going to help SSG or TacOps kids. Rather, they'll help and teach people interested in finance.

 

Love how the rest of this thread is dragging one dude, and we have one wholesome freshman trying to actually respond to the post.

 

Trying to give actual advice if the OP is still here - this thread is ridiculous

Honestly speaking, you should just ask whoever was presenting at the GBMs to teach you. If he's willing to build decks and stuff week after week, then chances are he's also willing to help you out one on one. If this is who I think it is, he's a great person to work with - rarely do you see someone leading finance clubs who started off knowing nothing about finance. It's always been someone who came from a finance family background that worked with family connections, not a random joe in premed or compsci

 

Don't think OP wanted to cause any drama, but this comment probably answers your question the best. Talk to other students about their thoughts.

I'll second the GBM thing. Last year, they were brutally boring. But this year, I've shown up to 3 random ones, and it's funny because it's just been the same person presenting something new. Kudos to him for not just giving up and for actually caring about the freshmen and sophomores, but I guess that's why he's where he is today. No club at Penn is going to hold your hand - you get what you put in. If I were you, why not first reach out to your PMs and give them feedback? If you really dislike it, then go talk to other PMs. There's no need to ask people on WSO, where the majority don't even go to Penn.

 

Everyone knows PIA is the best investment club at Wharton anyway

 

I can shed light on the details because I'm getting info real time from my previous kiddos.

Long story short, this club (WITG) is considered the peak at Wharton, specifically one of the three teams listed by OP. They're all super competitive to get into, and there's supposedly beef between teams.

^^Alumni in the organization went and started calling out the current PMs and seniors. Mainly, there's one guy that supposedly worked in Anchorage's Distressed Group, which is a sick place. He told everyone on-campus he had a great summer doing special situations, but he also opted to recruit Full-Time for EB RX, including my firm. Why? Well, logically speaking, doesn't make much sense to go from Anchorage Distressed to EB RX. This implies that either he wasn't confident about a return or he wasn't actually in the group. Either way, FT didn't go well for him - other kids at Penn went to MDs and VPs and got him auto cut from all the processes.

This thread has definitely made it around to all the WITG PMs and members. Feel bad for the current seniors dealing with this headache, but I can't say I disagree with the comments. Everyone at my firm has already shared this link, and it's apparently common knowledge this kid was a bad apple.

 

lol guess thats why hes the only person who listed on his profile that " He anticipates returning to Anchorage Capital full-time as an investment analyst." everyone else was like "he will be doing XYZ at ABC".

saying that, there are quite a few people who seemed to have done various HF/PE etc in 1st / 2nd summer then did EB RX then joining there full time. Is that because those investment places dont take grads and do internships only?

 
Analyst 1 in IB - Restr:
Long story short, this club (WITG) is considered the peak at Wharton

"the peak"

Top kek lmao

 
Controversial

I'm sorry, please understand that the information you have is imperfect and you're hurting someone you likely don't know well by spreading that misinformation. If that's your goal, fantastic; mission accomplished. If not, then it would do well to clear up some things:

  • The person in question signed his offer a good while back and, while a gamble, this was not like a typical hedge fund sophomore internship (as in, there was a material chance of returning based on good performance)
  • Anchorage does not have a so-called distressed group. The firm is split up by sectors and the most junior employees (AKA the two new hires) work on a combination of performing and non-performing before transitioning to exclusively distressed at more senior levels
  • Did the person worked in distressed at Anchorage? Yes, that was surely part of the summer experience. there was probably some performing credit stuff in there as well, as is typical of recent out-of-college FT hires. Somehow along the line you people have managed to twist this and even convince some people that the guy never even worked there... Christ almighty

As some others have already said, please grow up. Spreading rumors in group chats with other FT people based on incorrect information is arguably just as immature as the so-called "beef" between PMs. Whatever you think happens at Penn has been completely blown out of proportion. This is all absolutely disgusting.

 

Although I think it's absolutely unacceptable to lie about working somewhere, cut the kid some slack. He's like what, 21? 22? He clearly worked at the fund, just not in the group he said he was in. He also interned at another hedge fund before then, so clearly he's competent to some degree.

This is literally Penn culture. People shitting on one another behind people's back, but really, on a public forum? All of you guys are just salty you went to some MM IB or shitty bulge. I don't personally like some of the seniors right now either, but you don't need to take time out of your day to drag them. Grow up guys, seriously.

 

Yeah jfc even if you don't care for these guys that much stop ragging on them on a public forum. Super shitty.

 

“lower tier team” lol as a PM I would drop you from my team if your identify became public... absolutely ridiculous to try and team hop within a school club.

 

Honestly, @OP, you've caused a lot of drama for a lot of people. Why even come to a thread like this to post about different teams. I'm probably on one of the lower tier investment teams and know you, but why not just ask other students like me? You're literally asking for drama, so hope you're happy now!!!

I sincerely feel bad for everyone referenced in this thread. As someone who prides myself in being at Penn and in WITG, it sucks seeing the actions of one person bring down and org. I know a few of the juniors and seniors have stressed a lot about planning, so this thread is a big fuck you to them

 

Honestly, @OP, you've caused a lot of drama for a lot of people. Why even come to a thread like this to post about different teams. I'm probably on one of the lower tier investment teams and know you, but why not just ask other students like me? You're literally asking for drama, so hope you're happy now!!!

I sincerely feel bad for everyone referenced in this thread. As someone who prides myself in being at Penn and in WITG, it sucks seeing the actions of one person bring down and org. I know a few of the juniors and seniors have stressed a lot about planning, so this thread is a big fuck you to them

 

In his defense, as someone who went through this many years ago (disconnected from the drama but was part of WITG when it was younger and clearly much more relaxed) - getting upperclassmen to make time for you and actually give you honest answers isn't the easiest. Can see it above with someone saying they would cut a person for trying to move to a better team - people's egos get wrapped up in anything they are involved in.

 

Would still make a great 34th Street article - all my friends in it have long graduated however would be an entertaining deep dive for others (CAS students would love this drama)

 

This post honestly needs to just die. It's not doing OP any good, nor is it helping any of the people referenced. He's still a college student - the semester isn't even over. We're in the middle of a pandemic, imagine if people came after you like that? It doesn't matter if he deserves it or not, people have feelings. People always exaggerate their achievements and their job. It's a part of life. I'm sure no one meant to misrepresent or lie, so get over yourselves and grow up.

I would think the 1st year restructuring analysts would have something better to do than comment on this thread. As someone who knows all of these people personally, it's fucking ridiculous.

 

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"Markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent."
 

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