Funniest

Working you to death.

"Look, you're my best friend, so don't take this the wrong way. In twenty years, if you're still livin' here, comin' over to my house to watch the Patriots games, still workin' construction, I'll fuckin' kill you. That's not a threat, that's a fact.
 
West Coast rainmaker:
Rapid expansion...joking, but they did hire more than they should have. They're still a good firm.

The last I heard, they are not organized into dedicated teams. They want to be able to pivot according to deal flow, shifting people from M&A to restructuring and back. Therefore, the whole firm = sweatshop.

Wouldn't that be a great experience though, being able to work on a variety of types of deals?

 
Rambo:
West Coast rainmaker:
Rapid expansion...joking, but they did hire more than they should have. They're still a good firm.

The last I heard, they are not organized into dedicated teams. They want to be able to pivot according to deal flow, shifting people from M&A to restructuring and back. Therefore, the whole firm = sweatshop.

Wouldn't that be a great experience though, being able to work on a variety of types of deals?

Yeah, I like that aspect of the firm. But, to agree with above posters, LA is far stronger.

 

Coming in second to Houlihan in restructuring :)

They're really good and I hear they do work you hard but they also pay you really well. Above street comp. Same with Chanin and a few other of the restructuring specific guys.

Mainly known for restructuring - I think their M&A etc. is middle mkt stuff mainly, good at what they do but restructuring is the real gem.

if you like it then you shoulda put a banana on it
 
frgna:
Coming in second to Houlihan in restructuring :)

They're really good and I hear they do work you hard but they also pay you really well. Above street comp. Same with Chanin and a few other of the restructuring specific guys.

Mainly known for restructuring - I think their M&A etc. is middle mkt stuff mainly, good at what they do but restructuring is the real gem.

First I've ever heard of Moelis coming second to Houlihan in restructuring (above BX/LAX). Always wondered how people ranked these firms?

 
South Sea Tulip:
APAE:
Houlihan is number one only for sell-side restructuring. Moelis places behind them in that metric.

Small correction, but it's creditor-side restructuring, not sell-side restructuring.

Correct, creditor side. Lazard and BX are always tops for debtor.

if you like it then you shoulda put a banana on it
 

For being ridiculously overrated on this forum...joking. It is a good firm with good M&A deal flow (mostly middle market though..not nearly as many mega deals as firms like Lazard or Evercore..not saying this is bad) and a great restructuring practice. However, as above posts point out the firm has expanded at a somewhat disorganized pace and most of its current reputation is based on its former UBS LA glory.

I heard analysts are exposed to great exit opps though. In fact, to aspiring monkeys, that is basically what the firm is best known for: Great exit opps to big PE firms. Although, I'm not sure if that is still the case..

 

known for MDs actually pushing resumes and helping analysts exit to the buy side. Better for the business given the fact that this industry is primarily based on relationships. More connected associates to the buyside = potentially more deals for Moelis in the future.

Know couple of alums who have done this lately. But I think alot of the deal flow is diluted lately (but where isnt nowadays?!)

 

A couple of posters already point it out, but wanted to reiterate that Moelis, Lazard and Houlihan are top for debtor-side restructuring. For those who don't know, bulge bracket banks are essentially not able to play in this space because they're conflicted in the majority of cases.

If, as an analyst, you're able to work on both, M&A and restructuring deals, it gives you a lot of optionality in terms of career path forward. A lot of people will probably disagree with me, but i generally think that M&A prepares you the best for private equity jobs, while restructuring and leveraged finance (depending on the shop) prepare you well for distressed debt hedge funds. If you can find a job where at the end of your 2 years, you master the skill-set that's required for both PE and distressed debt, then you have a lot of freedom in terms of picking your career. There's not a lot of groups on wall street that will prepare you to have this many options.

 

What are the thoughts on Moelis' capital markets group? Can't imagine it would be that great of an experience given the lack of a balance sheet and looking at the website's advertised transactions (http://www.moelis.com/our-offering/capital-markets/SitePages/select-tra…) seems like it would just be dealing with a lot of smaller sized equity deals, private placements, and limited IPOs...any insight would be appreciated, interested to hear how a boutique's capital market group operates and how the analyst experience would be different from working at a BB or large Canadian bank + what the exit opps might be (or lack thereof).

 

Good catch advisory88... this kid's original username was hahaha or some stupid sht... all he does is pumping up / feeling insecure about his summer analyst position at Moelis. metalasian is another dude that does the same thing. Just wait a month.. pretty sure I could find out who you are with a phone call.. Stern, Moelis SA, Asian. Got it.

 
bunkerbanker:
Good catch advisory88... this kid's original username was hahaha or some stupid sht... all he does is pumping up / feeling insecure about his summer analyst position at Moelis. metalasian is another dude that does the same thing. Just wait a month.. pretty sure I could find out who you are with a phone call.. Stern, Moelis SA, Asian. Got it.

Chill. I asked questions about Moelis when I was being recruited by them. Because I had the chance to talk to a lot of Moelis people during the process, sometimes I contribute on this website when the topic arises.

Frankly, I could care less for what firms' reputations are on this website; for me, this website served its purpose during recruiting. If you want to put down Moelis here, you're free to say whatever you want - it's a forum. I'm not going to stop you.

And yes I'm asian, I'm glad you had the ability to infer that from my screen name.

 

People hate on shit here because they are 18 year old kids. Honestly, I am sure than the real bad ass Wharton and Harvard kids are no spending their time on WSO bashing stuff. The ivy league kids who come on here bitching and moaning like little girls probably make up the bottom part of their respective schools or have zero personality.

 

+1 Anthony. I have friends who work there and I can tell you it's a quality shop. But please do realize it would also be very easy for me or other people to point them to your stupid posts here. Going through your post history, it is easy to determine that you are not a born American citizen (don't want to out you, so I'll leave it at that). I don't want to get too far wit this, but I can make one call and figure out who you are in the next 10 minutes-- if I want to. Not to mention that the consequences could be bad for you. I am not going to do that because I am not a complete asshole. Keep a low profile and stop worrying about what sophomores on this site think.

To all prospective interns- You guys are easily replaceable, so unless you have that FT offer, keep your head down. If people know who you are and can trace history on here, I don't see it helping you get that FT offer. People get dinged for minor infractions all the time.

Not trying to be rude, but an insecure bitch like you doesn't belong at any firm on the Street. I am sorry for my tone, but you really do come across as a pussy.

 

The fact of the matter is, Moelis isn't as amazing as some people on the board make them ought to be. Probably not as established as a Greenhill / Evercore or even Perella / Centerview / Allen & Co. / Rothschild for M&A as they lack blue chip clients. At the same time, it is a quality shop that has had tremendous PE placement and restructuring deal flow and is expanding aggressively into the ECM game (co-managing several deals right now). Yes M&A is lacking but they still have time to fix that.

However, how good Moelis is for YOU depends on YOUR own experience. If you don't like it, having Moelis on your resume will definitely help you during full time recruiting because it is a respected place. A dumb piece of sht from Moelis LA who could barely count numbers got an offer at a top BB (GS/MS). So be happy that you got the fuking offer, work your ass off over the summer, make people like you, get a return offer, shop that sht around if you didn't like your experience, and you'll be well on your way to rich and success. Quit posting stupid sht on this forum and changing your username to try to stay anonymous.

 
bunkerbanker:
The fact of the matter is, Moelis isn't as amazing as some people on the board make them ought to be. Probably not as established as a Greenhill / Evercore or even Perella / Centerview / Allen & Co. / Rothschild for M&A as they lack blue chip clients. At the same time, it is a quality shop that has had tremendous PE placement and restructuring deal flow and is expanding aggressively into the ECM game (co-managing several deals right now). Yes M&A is lacking but they still have time to fix that.

I know the last UBS LA class had phenomenal PE placement, but how has placement been for the analyst classes since Moelis was formed?

 

People really need to learn a magical word -- it's called appreciation. I read so many posts with people bashing this, trying to make whatever they are doing sound like it's the best in the world, feeling so insecure, etc. Makes me sick. Moelis is a fine shop and a great name, be glad you are not working ops or something. You have to take whatever you get and make it work, life is inherently unfair. Stop pissing and moaning about it and get aggressive.

I said to a friend once how if I ran a school I would have no OCR. My reason being is it is the difference between being fed and going out and killing you're meal. I really wonder how bad ass all the Harvard and Wharton people would be if they didn't have every shop under the sun hitting them up. Just saying there is really something to be said about being aggressive, fighting for something.

One side note/rant. Every time I hear this crap about how a non target kid is assumed to be less than a HWS kid makes me want to throw up. As if accounting 101 at whatever target is magically better or something. Actually being better and being perceived as being better are two VERY different things. I really think a lot of people need to stop drinking the kool aid and shut their mouths and open their ears.

Frankly, my time on this site has changed my opinion on "target" kids in general and the whole banking industry. Not for the better I might add.

 
AnthonyD1982:
I said to a friend once how if I ran a school I would have no OCR. My reason being is it is the difference between being fed and going out and killing you're meal. I really wonder how bad ass all the Harvard and Wharton people would be if they didn't have every shop under the sun hitting them up. Just saying there is really something to be said about being aggressive, fighting for something.

If only it were that simple. The UK, for instance, has no technical OCR, but that doesn't mean that banks don't stop by OxBridge, LSE, Imperial, etc every week; they just do it under different auspices.

There was a post earlier this week on "Why do Harvard kids go in to banking..." and OCR (official or not) is definitely a major part of that; kids who would never have considered banking eventually change their mind when they hear how awesome it'll be for the 500th time.

 

Regardless of who it is compared to, it is plainly obvious that boutiques have become the favored place to work over the BB's since you don't have the government riding your ass everday over what car you drive, how many rounds of golf you played last weekend and where you go on vacation. There should be a new ranking category that just compares boutiques

 

Valid point, boutiques now seem more attractive than most BBs. However, one must keep in mind that boutiques only offer M&A and related services, whereas I assume Vault rankings interview people from S&T a.o. as well... For example, I don't expect a forex trader from DB rating Evercore more prestigious than SocGen, although this is certainly the case for M&A.

 

Boutiques will never take the place of the BB unless they make the extensive global push like Lazard has done, and that quite frankly is far fetched as by convention they target specific niches within the market. This crap is seriously overrated. Give us a break. Most BB will end up paying back the cash and most can within the next 1-2 years; other BB in Europe have not even taken any i.e. CS, BARC, DB. If you look at hiring raids for top talent, it isn't simply the "boutiques"; look at Nomura raids, or Barcap raids, or DB raids; do you understand the sort of guarantees they are giving new hires? Not trivial in my opinion.

 
glowinthedark:
Boutiques will never take the place of the BB unless they make the extensive global push like Lazard has done, and that quite frankly is far fetched as by convention they target specific niches within the market. This crap is seriously overrated. Give us a break. Most BB will end up paying back the cash and most can within the next 1-2 years; other BB in Europe have not even taken any i.e. CS, BARC, DB. If you look at hiring raids for top talent, it isn't simply the "boutiques"; look at Nomura raids, or Barcap raids, or DB raids; do you understand the sort of guarantees they are giving new hires? Not trivial in my opinion.
 

Moelis is a solid boutique, no question. But the "new Goldman"? Give me a break.

For all the talk of boutiques taking over the world, if you look at the biggest deals going on, you might find 1 boutique advisor, and then 3 BBs. Boutiques will never be able to supplant hte BBs unless TARP restricts all compensation, just because M&A advisory for most companies involves more than just the advice (think financing, ability to round up capital, etc).

 

Glowinthedark, your probably right about them not taking the place of BB, but Boutiques are looking like the best way to go right now. There are a couple different factors that can be discussed about each ones pros and cons. PM if you are interested in chatting about it further. :-)

 

I can see why SENIOR guys would want to jump to boutiques (options are essentially worthless now, pay ceilings likely to come), but at the junior level, the argument for bb v. boutique remains the same. Depends on what you want. As for Moelis being the "new goldman", that's complete bullshit. There is only one goldman. Just like there is only one michael jordan. This kind of crap isn't uncommon:

http://www.portfolio.com/views/2009/04/24/JP-Morgan-Is-the-King-of-Fina…

But like I said, I think its crap. Goldman is goldman, period. And Moelis might be up-and-coming, but it's still a new and relatively unproven firm. In terms of prestige I wouldn't put it above any BB (BoA and Citi excluded, although I imagine some would even argue that these failing institutions still carry more prestige than a relatively unknown boutique).

 

Moelis is not looking to turn into the next Greenhill, Evercore, or Blackstone M&A -- they don't give a rat's ass about the "boutique" model in the everyday definition of the term.

Moelis wants to do what Lazard is too afraid of doing: they want to really solidify their advisory (M&A/restructuring) roles and then build upon the success of that platform by adding capital markets operations and other non-advisory arms. Moelis himself has said this in numerous interviews - they want to be a FULL-SERVICE investment bank, not just some "boutique" that does mom-and-pop M&A deals. While way too premature, the comparisons to Goldman aren't that farfetched.

You're witnessing it right now. I interviewed with them not too long ago and heard it from the horse's mouth: their MD pipeline is stacked with a capital 's'. They are really fleshing out their restructuring group and continuing to add M&A bankers for when the market recovers. That's only Phase 1. Over the next 12-18 months, you're going to see more Moelis hires into non-advisory roles -- they hired Petrosino from Bear, who used to run lev fin. With these senior hires, I strongly suspect Moelis to not only continue to do advisory work but some large scale financings as well.

 
GSmonkey:
Moelis is not looking to turn into the next Greenhill, Evercore, or Blackstone M&A -- they don't give a rat's ass about the "boutique" model in the everyday definition of the term.

Moelis wants to do what Lazard is too afraid of doing: they want to really solidify their advisory (M&A/restructuring) roles and then build upon the success of that platform by adding capital markets operations and other non-advisory arms. Moelis himself has said this in numerous interviews - they want to be a FULL-SERVICE investment bank, not just some "boutique" that does mom-and-pop M&A deals. While way too premature, the comparisons to Goldman aren't that farfetched.

You're witnessing it right now. I interviewed with them not too long ago and heard it from the horse's mouth: their MD pipeline is stacked with a capital 's'. They are really fleshing out their restructuring group and continuing to add M&A bankers for when the market recovers. That's only Phase 1. Over the next 12-18 months, you're going to see more Moelis hires into non-advisory roles -- they hired Petrosino from Bear, who used to run lev fin. With these senior hires, I strongly suspect Moelis to not only continue to do advisory work but some large scale financings as well.

When are they planing to start building their capital markets?

 
GSmonkey:
Moelis wants to...build upon the success of that platform by adding capital markets operations and other non-advisory arms.

With these senior hires, I strongly suspect Moelis to not only continue to do advisory work but some large scale financings as well.

You said it right there, and it's complete bullshit. MAYBE, in 5-10 years they will have some sort of capital markets business, but to say that these guys (or any boutique for that matter) are going to usurp a powerhouse like GS is as ridiculous as saying Obama doesn't flip flop on issues.

 

Oh, and btw, yes, I know LAZ has a capital markets arm but they're really not a big player in the space. Everyone knows their bread and butter is advisory work -- LAZ CM is more a formality than anything else, esp relative to the prestige of their advisory group.

 

Being called "the new Goldman" was from the bankers who compete for deals on a daily basis. Goldman is known to have the aggressive ambitious type of behavior when competing for deals and I think Moelis has the same aggressiveness.

Other bankers have probably felt that they resemble Goldman in that aspect when pitching or sourcing deals. So in terms of having the same first rate culture I think Moelis can justifiably be compared to Goldman.

 

Moelis left UBS because they weren't lending aggressively enough. After he left, UBS did what Moelis wanted to do - built a huge HY/loan pipeline and get into MBS/ABS. UBS got hit because they couldn't syndicate - if Moelis' practice had been running ~2 yrs earlier, he would've gotten hit too.

Building up both restructuring and M&A might yield a more resilient business that the standard BBs, but it sounds like Moelis is making the same idiot mistake banks always make - hiring too many people and trying to be too many things to too many clients.

I agree that boutiques will become more popular because they're reliable and don't overextend. Moeiis may attract a lot of top talent right now, may even grab a lot of business and develop into a BB. But then they'll make the same mistakes most BBs have made - Goldman isn't even Goldman anymore. And I think Moelis is also inflating themselves - prime example is all the shitty senior UBS credit people they've taken.

 

Moelis is a good firm. Ken Moelis is a great guy. They are certainly on the rise.

But before we compare Moelis to Goldman, shouldn't we first compare Moelis to its current peers in its bread and butter of M&A Advisory?

Take a look at Q109 M&A League Tables: http://www.thomsonreuters.com/content/PDF/financial/league_tables/ma/20…

Look at Worldwide Completed: Lazard, Rothschild. US Completed: Greenhill, Macquarie. Worldwide Announced: Evercore, Lazard, Rothschild, Blackstone. US Announced: Lazard, Greenhill, Evercore, Rothschild, Perella Weinberg, Gleacher.

Now, I know that any of you who look at the Q2, Q3, Q4 2008 League Tables in 08 will immediately note the presence of Moelis in all of them. However, isn't it a little surprising that "the new Goldman" didn't place at all in Q1? Perhaps a fluke, but still, leaves something to be wondered...

 
Full-service investment bank?? Are you kidding me? Maybe in 30 years.

Strong unaware brah. I also never implicated that the process was going to happen overnight - of course, it'll take awhile. I guess "reading comprehension" skills aren't really a prerequisite to community college, right xqtrack? Jokes, jokes...

“Building a premier global franchise is a top priority for Moelis & Company,” said Ken Moelis, Chief Executive Officer of Moelis & Company. “In addition to Mark’s extensive client relationships and advisory expertise, he is an outstanding builder of businesses and the ideal person to lead our efforts in Europe. Mark’s appointment is an important step forward as we build a global full service investment bank and continue to provide superior advice and solutions to our clients.”

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_…

 
If you seriously think that all there is to starting capital markets operations is hiring a couple of MDs with experience in LevFin, you clearly have no idea how investment banks do business.

Please show me exactly where I said that all you need to start having a capital markets practice is a levfin guy.

Seriously. Where?

 

It's complete bullshit to think they'll add a capital markets arm?

Moelis is the chesty girl you saw walking around gym class in HS -- top heavy, but disappointing when you go down. I agree that the junior level guys aren't nearly as impressive as BB analysts simply because BB recruiting still > boutique recruiting. More times than not, GS/MS and the rest of the bulges will recruit more talented kids than GHL, EVR, Moelis, or any boutique -- even in this market.

 

To clarify--I don't doubt that Moelis and Co. wants to be a full service ibank. I also don't doubt that they will be able to start capital markets operations relatively quickly.

The only thing I doubt is that those operations will come anywhere close to rivaling Goldman or any other BB, at least not in the next 30 years. Calling yourself a full service investment bank and actually rolling with the big dogs are two entirely different things. Broadpoint, Jefferies, Raymond James and the like are all "full-service", but if you mention them in the same breath as GS/MS/JPM, you'll get laughed out of the room.

And even if I went to community college, I wouldn't feel bad about it. That's one of the joys of being a secure, well-adjusted adult.

 
xqtrack:
To clarify--I don't doubt that Moelis and Co. wants to be a full service ibank. I also don't doubt that they will be able to start capital markets operations relatively quickly.

The only thing I doubt is that those operations will come anywhere close to rivaling Goldman or any other BB, at least not in the next 30 years. Calling yourself a full service investment bank and actually rolling with the big dogs are two entirely different things. Broadpoint, Jefferies, Raymond James and the like are all "full-service", but if you mention them in the same breath as GS/MS/JPM, you'll get laughed out of the room.

And even if I went to community college, I wouldn't feel bad about it. That's one of the joys of being a secure, well-adjusted adult.

I think it is questionable whether Morgan Stanley belongs in the same class as JPM and GS.

 

Does Moelis has S&T department? I thought S&T is the revenue generating machine of Goldman

iluvseamless:
Thoughts?

Underlining just how far the bank has come in such a short time, respondents of Vault’s 2009 Banking Survey—which asked hundreds of bankers to rank the prestige of banks they compete against—called Moelis “the new Goldman Sachs,” saying it “might be the best place to work on Wall Street.”

http://www.cnbc.com/id/30699636

 

Cashcow, how can you ask for advice and then give out such misleading information? I think you're living in the past and your statement is wrong.

And to the op, you post dozens of threads comparing this bank vs that and asking about reputation and prestige. There are multiple threads that already discussed every bank you've compared and contrasted. The search button is to the top right.

 

OP - do a google search or go on Bloomberg. You must be naive to think that they have done 0 deals. If you know anything about restructuring, you would know that they did exceptionally well last year. M&A was slow in general last year, but they did see some action.

 

nextbigthing, they did nothing in M&A. What are you talking about? As far as restructuring, it's a complementary skill set and anyone going to Moelis to do just restructuring is pigeonholing himself. Plus, you think an analyst really does much in a restructuring project? I've had experience with restructuring projects at a BB's Lev Fin group and they involved laboring through the offering circular.

Yea M&A was slow in 2009 but Evercore, Greenhill, PWP, Centerview, Rothschild, etc. still had excellent years. Moelis has absolutely no coverage. Prime example is the healthcare team there, Rick Landgarten, the former head, disliked the culture so much that left after 3 months and now its just a patched together group. Ken is more of a marketer than a banker. People working there are miserable.

They also don't pay well. Street at best. Check how much the elite boutiques are paying their analysts and the check Moelis's pay.

The only thing going for the analysts are the prospect of mega fund placement but I guarantee you if they don't pick it up on the M&A side quality PE shops will not knock on their door. Reputation only gets you so far.

Also, this year's class is going to be more than 15 people. You really think all 15 will get exit ops?

 

I agree with cluelessbanking. Moelis is the MOST OVERRATED boutique on this forum...why so many college kids get hard on when they talk about Moelis? They did absolutely nothing in M&A space last year (09) and we've seen no pick up in the dealfow so far this year...The placement CashCow was talking about was a result of UBS LA legacy. Culture is awful, pay is below Street, and analysts do tons of pitching.

 

Well, the link I posted is for the most recent class.

We'll have to wait until the summer to see how the next class places, but I highly doubt a place goes from placing 5/6 analysts into megafunds to placing horribly.

Are you really telling me that Moelis has pretty much collapsed in the past year?

 

^ Nice new account.

Anyways, Cashcow you're wrong, the most recent class actually did not have good exit ops. It's quite simply they took a very talented group of kids one year and now everyone with talent has left. You can basically say it's a shell of its former self, which goes the same for UBS LA.

 
cluelessbankinghopeful:
PWP and Centerview started around the same time and are performing quite well, so can't blame the lack of success at Moelis on timing. PWP is already a very strong player in Europe, especially France and Centerview is the best consumer shop on the street.

Well, let me theorize here... A better economy --> easier for a bank to make deals happen, so I think the downturn is mostly to blame. Some banks will succeed during tough times (those you mentioned), some won't (Moelis), and each to varying degrees. Since that degree was large for Moelis, there seems to have been a problem with them specifically (someone enlighten me here), BUT, considering the extreme cyclicality of M&A, surely the economy played a dominant role.

 

Sure, the M&A market is cyclical, but that doesn't mean companies are not doing deals. IF you have good coverage on an industry, you WILL do deals in that industry. Consumer products is arguably the most cyclical industry out of all of them and was suffering during the downturn, but there were still deals done in 09, Pepsi and Kraft/Cadbury. PWP was on one and Centerview was on both. We saw 3 MEGA healthcare deals in 09. If Moelis had industry coverage, they would have been on one of them. Evercore and Greenhill did just that.

Furthermore, the whole point of having a restructuring business is to combat the up and downs in the M&A market and still bring in cashflow for the firm. As stated above, Moelis missed on two of the biggest restructuring deals we have seen this past decade.

So you tell me where the money is coming from. They hired 100+ people over the last year or so. How will they be paid? If they are not paid, they will surely leave. We have already seen that at Moelis.

 
cluelessbankinghopeful:
Sure, the M&A market is cyclical, but that doesn't mean companies are not doing deals. IF you have good coverage on an industry, you WILL do deals in that industry. Consumer products is arguably the most cyclical industry out of all of them and was suffering during the downturn, but there were still deals done in 09, Pepsi and Kraft/Cadbury. PWP was on one and Centerview was on both. We saw 3 MEGA healthcare deals in 09. If Moelis had industry coverage, they would have been on one of them. Evercore and Greenhill did just that.

Furthermore, the whole point of having a restructuring business is to combat the up and downs in the M&A market and still bring in cashflow for the firm. As stated above, Moelis missed on two of the biggest restructuring deals we have seen this past decade.

So you tell me where the money is coming from. They hired 100+ people over the last year or so. How will they be paid? If they are not paid, they will surely leave. We have already seen that at Moelis.

The only 2 points you made relevant to a rebuttal of my points were: -Consumer deals. I would argue that not many consumer deals were done. Sure, you right correct that "deals were done" - but there surely would have been many more during a recession. -Industry coverage. OK, so maybe no industry coverage was a major contributor to Moelis' dry spell. That AND the economy.

To address your other points: -Healthcare is one of the least cyclical sectors. -I was not talking about restructuring, rather M&A. -I don't know/care where the money is coming from...I explicitly stated I was referring to M&A deal flow when I said "success" - not restructuring deals, profitability, etc. My point is that M&A activity is higher during upturns & that surely an upturn would have greatly facilitated M&A deal flow for Moelis.

 

Just trying to be objective EasyE so people can make an informed decision about their future. I did not get rejected by Moelis but am astonished by the lack of culture at the firm. Perhaps bkm125 could verify this, but the current analysts/associates are not happy about the mass lateral hiring they have done over the past year or so. The firm expanded way too fast and now having trouble paying everyone. I will be starting FT at one of Ghl/Eve/BX/Laz and have no need to spread false information on here about a lesser firm...

 

what makes a company's culture so bad? is it just bad hours or is it the way people are treated by bosses / peers?

also, a complete lack of deal flow (like before the current resurgence) meant people leaving the office by 7-8pm. if the culture is so bad because people are worked non-stop, doesnt that mean they are working on deals? i understand pitches take a lot of work, but, its not like the only thing banks do is execute deals.

 

While I agree with some of the posts, college kids who don't know the landscape should stop commenting on the 'facts' and misleading those who are using this forum as an objective sounding board.

-M&A dealflow: dropped off much more than their peers -Restructuring dealflow: they are among the top restructuring groups on the street by deal volume. Saying that they didn't 'adapt' is contradictory - when the market is up they do M&A, when the market is down they do restructuring - seems like the best adapting business model I've ever heard of. The idea that restructuring is just a 'complementary' skillset to M&A and that restructuring analysts do nothing is retarded. The last time I checked, Blackstone Restructuring, Lazard Restructuring, etc all place considerably better than average and certainly their M&A counterparts. If you have worked across products, you would know that M&A is the most process-driven and offers almost no learning -Moelis placement was due to UBS LA legacy: the current analyst class was undoubtedly unique with all of the UBS LA guys moving over, but considering that every single one of the second and third years in LA is leaving to megafund or top mid-market fund, I find it hard to argue that it's only the UBS LA analysts -Pay is bad: don't really think the tens of thousands difference really matters, considering that they are going to Carlyle, KKR etc and making multiples what others who didn't are getting paid -Lateral hires upsetting working environment: probably true of their regional offices like NY where they are expanding but don't think they've done any real hiring in LA

 

At a point 6 months ago, Moelis had over 50 restructuring mandates. Now just because these deals take more time (bankruptcy is basically 12 months minimum unless things go extremely smoothly) and only the biggest show up on the front page of the paper doesn't meal Moelis isn't doing well.

They have been killing it in restructuring (and are essentially a restructuring shop at the moment) but everyone is right about the top down pyramid. They are stretched extremely thin and it is never fun to work to 4 AM every night, but is even worse with no real "culture". That being said, analysts will still place well as restructuring is the "hot" sector for analyst experience in the eyes of many buyside shops.

 

You have got to joking to put Moelis restructuring in the same sentence as Lazard, Blackstone, Evercore, Rothschild and PWP restructuring. I don't know if there is a term for MM restructuring deals, but that's what HLHZ does on the debtor side. Moelis falls in that category. Shtty, 2B or less deals that no one knows about. There is a reason why firms like Jefferies and RBC get made fun of on this site even though the analysts get good experience at those firms. No matter where they are on the league table and how many mandated deals they have. It is okay if Moelis aspires to be the RBC of restructuring, but just don't expect to get the same level of glamour and prestige as Laz or BX. Again, I know people at Moelis and the firm as a whole is not doing sht on Dubai. Ask any analyst at Moelis right now they wish they are doing more PE and M&A deals.

Give me Delta Airlines, Northwest Airlines, CIT, General Motors. THEN you can put Moelis in the same category as the aforementioned firms.

As far as exit ops, distressed HF or PE is the way to go if you are in restructuring. I don't personally know anyone at megafunds buyout groups from a restructuring background.

 

im just gonna say this: i dont know what you've been through clueless but you are really, really bitter about Moelis. i can definitely understand some of your points but your condescending tone just clouds all of your posts and hurts your credibility here

 

Clueless, you obviously don't understand restructuring at all. The number of $2bn plus bankruptcies is so small that not being on these deals does not necessarily speak to the quality of the firm or even more importantly, the experience in recruiters eyes. Being mandated on these deals has much to do with the firms longstanding reputations, just as guys like MS will always be on the biggest M&A deals because they have longstanding track records and are known names that can be sold to corporate boards.

I personally would never want to work at Moelis but I can promise those analysts working on "shitty $2bn or less" deals will get recruited better than anyone who hasn't been on the biggest M&A or LBO deals of the year. A majority of analysts at all of these firms spend most of their time on "shitty $2bn or less" deals regardless of the sector. Considering the lead debtor advisor on a $2bn restructuring would be making $20mm+ and the work actually performed is much more technical than standard M&A, the skill set will always be highly valuable. There is a reason at the junior level those "shitty restructuring bankers" from places like Jefferies and HLHZ have the ability to get hired by places like BX and LAZ whereas you will never see a Jefferies M&A guy being hired by MS.

Additionally, given the fact your group Moelis with HLHZ shows you have no clue how different firms are viewed within the space. HLHZ, Chanin, Jefferies and others are known for milking monthlies and being a "process manager". Firms such as Moelis, and you aforementioned Lazard, Rothschild and Blackstone are known for their ability to "drive the process" and come up with creative solutions.

Then you have a further breakdown of creditor vs. debtor side work. Most old school guys will always prefer debtor work but in this day and age where most of the corporate debt in these bankruptcies are owned by hedge funds and prop desks you can often make better contacts and create more interesting exit opportunities at the junior level on creditor side work.

You can think whatever you want about the overall firm, but the analysts working on difficult and creative restructurings will continue to be some of the most highly sought out by recruiters even if the deals were "shitty $2bn or less".

 

posted this earlier, but didn't know how much information i want to give. Moelis has 50 MDs WORLDWIDE. There are about 20 in NY and as of this year, there are about 15-18 analysts, so with a little less than a 1-to-1 jr to sr banker ratio, the work assignments were definitely going to be jacked up (spoke to an associate, said analysts were pulling on avg 100-130 hr weeks).

However, Moelis was looking to hire about 20 SAs for this summer alone... I don't know how many ended up signing, but they are making efforts to make sure the number of analysts they have can compensate their rapid growth.

 

Don't worry about me guys. I'll be at a firm that does 20+ billion dollar restructuring deals and top 10 in the m&a league tables while working for sensible bosses while Moelis is stuck on MM deals. I made my point. The people reading this forum will decide whether Moelis belongs in the same sentence as Greenhill/Evercore. I don't want to waste my breath anymore.

To the person that said big restructuring deals are extremely rare. Well, we saw some of the biggest and more complex deals in the past year or so. I am sure the analysts that had the privilege to work on these deals had the time of their lives and will be a step ahead of the game come buyside recruiting.

For those of you that have no idea what I am talking about, some of the largest restructuring deals in 2009 included General Motors, CIT Group, Chrysler, General Growth, Lyondell Chemical Company and Rusal, and if you are an "elite boutique", you do these deals. My intent wasn't to denigrate Moelis as a firm. Rather, I was looking for confirmation on the fact that they are INFERIOR to Greenhill/Evercore/Laz overall, Rothschild in restructuring, and PWP and Centerview in M&A. I know this sounds elitist but so is the person who coined the phrase "elite boutiques". Clearly, Moelis is not an "elite boutique" as many on this board consider them to be.

Good luck to all. I don't have anything against the people that will start at Moelis. I'm sure you guys will have a memorable experience.

Peace.

 

Don't forget Ken Moelis left UBS because he wasn't able to control their balance sheets and do MORE LBOs. The man lucked out big time as UBS crumbled soon after his departure. I can't even imagine what would have happened if he had stayed.

We'll see in 5-10 years where Moelis & Co is going to end up. Luck can only take you so far.

 

i dont see how that list does anything to change clueless' earlier claims. there's basically no m&a on that list, and most of the restructuring is middle market. nobody's questioning that its a solid firm that will give solid experience to analysts, but mid-market restructuring deals don't mean that it should be placed in the "elite boutique" category. if you want to work 120 hour weeks on 500mm creditor sides or 100mm co-managed offerings, then go here.

i think whoever called them the "Jefferies/RBC of restructuring" definitely had it right on, and that kind of makes sense too, considering their restructuring team basically is jefferies anyway. you'll get a great experience, but you'll be worked like a dog and won't really work on any marquee deals, though they still have time to prove us wrong.

 

I don't know if anyone from Moelis LA frequent these boards, but one of my best high school friends interned at Moelis LA this summer. He had a horrified time and in turn accepted a fulltime offer at Morgan Stanley after receiving a return offer from Moelis LA. No one who has worked at Moelis I've spoken to liked their experience. I know I come off a bit brass at times but I state the facts and I have deep connections within the industry. Obviously there is no one for me to prove that on a board like this. So its my words against theirs. You pick who you want to believe. Just think for yourself before committing to a firm for the next 2-3 years of your life.

Again, best of luck to everyone.

 
cluelessbankinghopeful:
I know I come off a bit brass at times but I state the facts and I have deep connections within the industry.

you have deep connections in the industry when you haven't even started your analyst stint yet? lol get off your pedestal kid.

whether you go to Moelis or GHL, its the same in the end if you get good experience. ive know kids from regular MM's and no-name boutiques who have all placed into great buyside shops...

 

". there's basically no m&a on that list, and most of the restructuring is middle market. nobody's questioning that its a solid firm that will give solid experience to analysts, but mid-market restructuring deals don't mean that it should be placed in the "elite boutique" category."

I agree twilight girl, I read over their deals too and its very unimpressive.

 

I guess its still early days to be making these judgements (myself included) but I think they have a lot of potential.

Surely their deal flow is above average for someone of their age?

 

Sadly, experience isn't all that matters. Some of the mega funds ask for candidates from specific shops / groups, so no matter what your experience is you might not even get the interview simply because you aren't at a good enough name-brand bank. You can get good experience anywhere, but the bank obviously matters.

 

Clueless, of your list of most interesting/large restructuring deals: General Motors, CIT Group, Chrysler, General Growth, Lyondell Chemical Company and Rusal - Moelis is on 2/6 General Growth and Lyondell. And of course, you somehow forgot Dubai World, which makes that 3/7. Also funny that you state you have deep connections to the industry and point to a summer analyst you know at Moelis LA who got an offer but went to MS instead. There were only 4 summer analysts there, 3 of which got offers and 3 of whom accepted. The one that didn't receive an offer, but apparently claimed that he did, was a full retard - there is a hall of shame dedicated just to him.

 
Mr. White:
Also funny that you state you have deep connections to the industry and point to a summer analyst you know at Moelis LA who got an offer but went to MS instead. There were only 4 summer analysts there, 3 of which got offers and 3 of whom accepted. The one that didn't receive an offer, but apparently claimed that he did, was a full retard - there is a hall of shame dedicated just to him.

Looks like he's lying based on your info??

Also is it just me, or do you guys think "twilightgirl" and clueless are the same user with different accounts? They bash the same firm within minutes in 2 threads, this and //www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/elite-boutique-exit-opps

Even there they have consecutive posts and both users keep using "i" instead of "I" to start their sentences (not many people do that on WSO). Too much of a coincidence?? Both use "i" consistently in most posts. That, along with consecutive posts when trying to bash the same firm makes me suspicious. I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that the kid got rejected by the firm and just wants to say bad things. Nothing wrong with that, just an observation. I know he will start bashing me now, not that I care.

 

Why do you guys even waste your time listening to CLUELESSbankinghopeful, he's obviously trying to stir up confrontation.

Never base your overall impression of a firm based on ONE kid's experience. (Especially one that's not accurately depicted. I know the kid CLUELESSbanking THINKS he's talking about). Either Moelis is a great firm or not. And I think it's a bit early for you guys to make these grand predictions/assessments.

 

hey, mr. white, just curious, i don't see the lyondell and general growth restructuring deals on Moelis's website. do you have a link to the news article where you read it from? thanks.

were there any m&a deals they were on that are missing from the website that prospective monkeys should be aware of too?

 
ventadota:
hey, mr. white, just curious, i don't see the lyondell and general growth restructuring deals on moelis's website. do you have a link to the news article where you read it from? thanks.

http://www.moelis.com/news/newsDermont.php

read last paragraph of the story. they did creditor side on lyondell (as well as on tribune). evercore is doing debtor on lyondell.

 

As I said before, college kids who don't know the landscape stop commenting on the 'facts'. Do you really think Moelis placement was so good because they are only as good as Jefferies/only did non-marquee middle-market deals? I know the second-year analysts personally and just between the 5 of them that everyone on this board talks about, they worked on the restructurings of Tribune, MGM CityCenter, Fontainebleau, Station Casinos, General Growth, MGM Studios - and those are only the ones I've been told. You can't be serious saying they don't do deals

 

This is hilarious. I know the "full retard" White is referring to. I work at a BB's west coast office and we all know about him. I wouldn't call him a full retard since he's at an Ivy League school but its pretty much common knowledge that he gets his way with recruiting because he's black. Apparently he lies too? Probably lied his way into the Moelis SA gig? Maybe he is Mr. Clueless himself? lol

Moelis is definitely not as bad as clueless makes them ought to be, but this board for sure thinks too highly of them. I would say they are a notch below Greenhill/Evercore/Laz but still a good boutique. Like many have said in this thread, they are sluggish in terms of large cap M&A deals.

and nextbigthing, you are a fucking creeper with the last two posts. I hope I never have to interview you.

 

Moelis has over 20 restructuring mandates and is now in the top 3 for restructuring. Just because they are not spending on marketing to populate their websites with deals does not mean they are lazy or deal-less. Please try discussing your opinions with people actually working there (I am not), before coming to any conclusions. Everyone I have spoken to, from KKR to Warburg Pincus knows Ken Moelis well, and THAT is why analysts are getting placed and will continue to get placed. I don't see why there is so much hostility on the blog. Just do your research. If you don't learn how to do your due diligence now, chances are you never will.

For those of you who are incredulous on the # of deals they are on, check out the Deal's bankruptcy deal tables. Also, Moelis' revenues just surpassed Greenhill, which means they have a larger compensation pool.

For more information on banking & PE, please visit http://leverageacademy.com/blog.

 

Of course it's a wannabe bank. It's only been around for little over 2 years with aspirations to evolve into a full-service operation capable of underwriting both debt and equity capital. I'm sure it will get there.

 
BankingRUs9:
BKM125, I was at the Wharton Private Equity Conference at Bellevue in Philadelphia with a friend from Moelis and they were discussing distressed debt & restructurings at one of the panels. There was a networking discussing after when we approached senior professionals from different private equity firms.

Oh ok - I was picturing you in interviews or something and it just seemed strange.

 

Here is what Moelis has done so far this year (M&A US Target, from Thomson ONE Banker)

Financial Advisor Number of Deals Ranking Value inc. Net Debt of Target ($Mil) Moelis & Co 6 156.50

Worse than Piper Jaffray, Robert W Baird & Co Inc, William Blair & Co, Stifel Financial, Sandler O'Neill Partners, Jordan Edmiston Group, Tudor Pickering & Co LLC, Needham & Co Inc, Imperial Credit Industries Inc and bunch of random shady boutiques easily surpass Moelis on the league table both in terms of value and #of deals. And you are telling me they are the most elite boutique sending kids to KKR, BX and TPG? MY ASS!

They really suck big time

 

Moelis. easily.

you would be one of only a handful of guys, would be working one on one with some of the biggest dealmakers in the industry. not only would this be a ton of respomsibility but you wouldnt be just another tiered analyst at GS or MS. even exit ops, everyone knows Moelis's name, and im sure a strong rec from him or any of his potential partners would get you in anywhere

 

well right now there s probably very little infrastructure (ie analysts, associates, proper computer software etc) It did open on Monday after all. So you might want to weight that into your decision.

Took them a lot less time to grab their first big deal vs. PW Partners.

 

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Consectetur eos rerum recusandae molestiae illo perferendis quaerat. Omnis ducimus quibusdam velit molestiae. Sed aut amet dolor id quisquam.

 

Quisquam iure dolorem quas quas. Hic non reprehenderit similique molestiae distinctio in. Itaque explicabo iste architecto eos facere quia quis. Eos sit ad facere non quae.

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Take it for all it's worth.
 

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