<p>What is the difference in terms of pay and prestige?</p>
<p>For pay, what is the difference in average salaries for analysts to associates?</p>
<p>For prestige, how much different does each look on your Job applicant? If an employer saw you were at a BB vs. Boutique? How about for MBA School?</p>
<p>There is not much difference between pay and prestige at the Elite Boutiques vs Bulge Brackets. The main difference is the size of the deals they work on and boutiques are specialized. Therefore many dont have a capital raising business and will focus solely on advisory. Typically Elite Boutiques such as Lazard/Blackstone/Evercore, tend to pay bonuses above the street.</p>
<p>(For IB) Associate and Analyst pay varies pretty drastically, typically 1st year analysts get 70k+10k sign on bonus+ a year end discretionary bonus. 1st year Associates usually receive 95k+ 50k sign on+ year end discretionary bonus </p>
<p>I dont think that your options will be limited coming out of a place like Blackstone or Lazard for Bschool or PE/Hfs, however the BB name is alot more recognizable in other areas of corporate finance.</p>
<p>I would pretty much agree with the above poster. Beyond elite boutiques, however, the difference in pay is usually anywhere from a bit to a lot less for boutiques as opposed to BBs. For no-name or small boutique shops, analysts are often paid less than their BB counterparts with a 1st year BB earning 60-70k before bonus (and ignoring sign on bonus) while a 1st year boutique earning often around 50k before bonus and bonuses generally smaller for small boutiques than BB shops simply because those boutiques get much smaller deals and make much less money. For elite boutiques and strong MM shops, the above poster is pretty spot on with base pay usually about the same as BB and bonuses in the same range as well - anywhere from flat to slightly above BB shops (depending on year and so forth - and this is, of course, in general). </p>
<p>Regarding prestige, the prestige of an elite boutique or BB (as I often lump them together) vs. a smaller shop is pretty different. A smaller shop does not carry nearly as much prestige within the IB, P/E and V/C circles as an elite boutique or BB shop. While the work is often similar, these circles are pretty much name whores, so while you might be worked like a dog at a small boutique, it will be much tougher to break into a strong P/E fund considering both the shops name and deal activity are less prestigious. Regarding average and small P/E funds, your life becomes a little easier in that you can scoot by with a little less prestige since the BB and elite shop analysts will be looking more towards strong and better names. </p>
<p>For B school, while everyone loves a prestigious name, the quality of your work experience is more important than the name of the firm. If you are the typical analyst at a boutique vs. a typical analyst at a BB, then of course the BB looks a bit better. However, if you are a pretty stock BB analyst vs. a boutique analyst that has accumulated a wealth of experience beyond that of a traditional analyst applicant due to the smaller size and need from the boutique, your boutique experience suddenly looks pretty damn strong. B school is about selling your story, and if you have some strong experiences/accomplishments at a boutique shop, selling that story becomes much easier and more impressive. </p>
<p>At the end of the day, most people want to work for the elite boutiques or BB shops, but if you happen to miss that opportunity, don’t spend 2 years at a small shop feeling sorry for yourself. Network, go for those solid opportunities and deal activity as it presents itself, and really make the most of it - you can make pretty decent money and earn some strong experience from even really small boutique shops. </p>
<p>Good luck and PM me if you have any other questions.</p>
<p>IBanker</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses!</p>
<p>But does anyone know where we can find some kind of ranking to see how big the deals these banks make or how prestigious they are? I mean, there are the big name ones like GS, MS, and Lazard, but how do you tell after the big ones? Like which ones are “almost” there and which ones are doing the smallest deals on the market?</p>
<p>For somewher like GS, is it a lot more prestigious to work in NY rather than, say, Houston? Is it easier to get a job at the one in Houston? Is the pay a lot different?</p>
<p>It is no more prestigious to work in NY than Houston - in Houston you’d just be working in different groups than NY. For example, Houston is the hub for energy groups, just as Cali is the hub for many Tech groups. On the analyst level you will be paid exactly the same - whether the money goes further or not is based on location - for example, cost of living around Houston is less than in NYC, but living in Cali is generally higher than NYC. GS is GS, and if you are working in GS IB, whether you are in Cali, Houston, NYC, or elsewhere, you are in good shape.</p>
<p>IBanker</p>
<p>^Thanks. I don’t know if I want to be an IB, but if I did, would it be a lot easier if I went to Michigan over Texas A&M? I saw that GS recruits at TAMU (there’s 2 in Texas), at least according to TAMU’s bschool’s website. Texas A&M would be 75-80k cheaper for me. Would it be better to save that extra money, go to TAMU, probably be at the top of the class, and try to get a job at GS instead of going to Michigan (maybe not being at the top of the class) and trying to get a job at GS?</p>
<p>I think Michigan’s more heavily targeted than Texas A&M, especially if you get your degree from Ross. And either way, you’d have to be at the top of your class to get a job at GS.</p>
<p>But please don’t be so naive to pick your college based on whether or not a single firm recruits there.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t. But I bet it’s about the same for any other top finance job.</p>