<p>I've been reading a lot of the posts on this forum and a lot of people seem to look down upon boutique investment banks. I honestly don't see that many downsides to working at a boutique ibank. What's with all the negativity?</p>
<p>There are big boutique banks that have hundreds of employees (Lazard, Evercore, Moelis, Greenhill, Perella Weinberg) and small (<100man) shops that have very few employees. The bigger boutique banks are just as good (if not better) than many bulge bracket banks in terms of pay/presteige/exit ops. However smaller boutiques are relatively unknown, work on smaller deals, and do not have the same pay or exit ops as bigger boutiques/bulge brackets.</p>
<p>I mostly agree with Maxellis’ post. I wouldn’t cut the boutiques necessarily by size though, bc some exceptions like Centerview, Qatalyst, Allen & Co., and Gleacher pre-acquisition are also as well-regarded as bulge-bracket banks.</p>
<p>The reason people generally want to work at either “bulge-brackets” or “elite boutiques” as opposed to “middle-market” or “random boutiques” is because of a combination of pay, career branding, and corresponding exit opportunities that are associated with the first two categories.</p>
<p>It is always going to be difficult to go to a major PE fund or hedge fund after a stint as an investment banking analyst; but it is much easier to go to Blackstone or TPG from GS/MS/JPM than it is for an analyst at Thomas Weisel. Most people out of college enter investment banking for the exit opportunities, so hence the attraction towards banks that provide better exit ops.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with working at a boutique bank - in fact, you can often get more exposure to deals, models and senior bankers quicker, especially as an intern. </p>
<p>That said, there are pluses and minuses to everything - in addition to the above, boutiques often have better hours and a better work/life balance. However, they often pay at least a bit less, if not more, the deals aren’t as big and it isn’t as attractive as working in a BB or top boutique to private equity and other buyside. </p>
<p>If you are interested in IB in general as a career and you are ok with the lifestyle money tradeoff, then a boutique (and by boutique, I mean the small boutique shops, not MMs, or elite boutiques) works for you. If, however, you want to work on the bigger deals, and move to the buyside/PE eventually, the bigger shops or elite boutiques are the way to go.</p>
<p>PM me if you have other questions.</p>
<p>IBanker</p>
<p>I agree with these comments - ill just add that there IS something wrong with some boutiques. There is an open secret on the street that some boutiques exist on the charity of the bigger boys. Basically, an MD or an established industry insider peels off to start his own boutique, with the rolodex of relationships he’s established, he is able to sneak into various deals as co-manager, surviving on tiny slivers of charity but doing no actual work. The analyst that is brought into this kind of environment will be doing nothing of substance. You will not be active on live deals, you will be putting together company profiles and marketing presentations all day long. That’s what you have to watch out for with the boutiques - obviously thats not an issue for any of the firms mentioned here.</p>
<p>Nothing wrong with boutiques like EVR, PWP, BX, GH, etc. In fact, people are flocking to boutiques now. I’d easily take any of those over BAML, DB, UBS, CS, etc.</p>
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