<p>Is there any difference, pay-wise, between a boutique firm (not like Lazard or anything like that) and a Bulge Bracket?</p>
<p>Of course there is.</p>
<p>By how much? In our school paper, there was an article about this guy that got an analyst offer from Stifel Nicolaus (a boutique in Baltimore) and he said hes expecting 6 six figures with bonus included.</p>
<p>bulge bracket firms will do more deals and deals that are worth more than deals that a boutique bank will do. of course there are going to be guys who make a lot of money in the boutique setting, but for the most part bulge bracket guys will get the biggest deals ergo the biggest paychecks. </p>
<p>that being said, if you're only going into ibanking for the money than you probably shouldnt be getting into it at all. people choose the boutique setting because it has some things to offer that a bulge bracket doesnt (lack of any sort of heirarchy etc.) and often times companies that are private have more leeway in the way they run their business (which translates into more employee freedom). you really shouldnt be choosing your career based on how much money you will make.</p>
<p>Actually Im not even interested in IB. I was just asking the question cuz my school paper had an article about this dude that got an IB offer at a boutique and was surprised by the similarities in salary to that of a BB firm. But I guess theres a difference in size of bonus in the future.</p>