Thanks. I would wait until you have at least 2 solid deals you can speak about in interviews. Making the move is mostly about networking with other bankers and following up repeatedly. See the article on lateral hiring on this site for examples.

And Brian, do you have any tips for someone like me who stays in a regional boutique and wish to move to EB/MM? The average deal value for us is approx USD 50mn. Sometimes we have larger deals (>100mn) and don’t have an industry focus but a regional focus. (Asia deals). In your view, When is the time to prepare to move? (One year or longer)

I am looking forward to moving into a MM/EB with a better-known name. I haven’t decided if I want to go for PE but I am sure I want to keep on working in M&A.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

That is a good question. If this is a summer internship offer, I would go with the MM bank with the better-known name even if it’s in a region where they don’t have much deal activity. The reason is that for internships, you can always move around afterward, and the brand name tends to matter more than what you did on the job since you’re only there for a few months anyway.

If this is for a full-time role, you could potentially argue that the MM boutique that closes many deals will give you better experience if your goal is to stay in IB. However, I’d say that even in that case, you’re still probably better off going with the better-known MM bank if you’re interested in buy-side roles and do not plan to stay in IB for the long term.

You can probably do either of those coming from those firms. I haven’t really followed FTP’s growth, but if you want more of a scientific answer, do a search on LinkedIn and see where 20-30 FTP Analysts from the last few years have ended up. I would guess it’s probably a mix of MM/smaller PE, growth equity, VC, and corp dev.

I don’t know much about them, sorry. They seem to have advised on some large/well-known deals based on the website, but I haven’t done specific research on the firm. I’m not sure they are a “regional boutique,” probably more of an industry-specific boutique. So there will be exits, but probably not to PE mega-funds or large hedge funds because the spots at those places are just too limited.

Thanks. I would go with the top MM in NYC for NFP hospitals because for something like the IFC, brand name/recognition matters a lot. The work may also be seen as more relevant.

Wanted your gut feeling on boutique vs top MM/low BB based on my situation:

Starting w/ a TL;DR, boutique M&A across multiple industries in low CoL area vs top MM in NYC for NFP hospitals, in context of IFC Investment Analyst exit in 2023. Details below.

I am choosing between a regional boutique (one office, ~15 people) as an experienced analyst doing M&A across industries in a low CoL area I currently reside in, or a lateral analyst at a top MM (though HR contact calls themselves a bulge bracket) in NYC focused on NFP Hospitals, which is the industry I have been working in for ~1.5 yrs.

My goal is to apply to the IFC as an Investment Analyst in January 2023, possibly go the impact investing route a few years after that/later in life or some career route similar to that (though I am not writing off PE, Corp Dev, or lateraling to another bank).

I like the culture of the boutique and the team there is great, granted they come from accounting/boutique banking backgrounds and do not come from top schools. Lifestyle is good, with 60-70 hours being the worst of it when properly staffed. However, since I am only planning on entering banking once for a 1.5-2 yr stint, is it worth it to take such a dive in prestige and some pay? After factoring in NYC CoL and conservative bonus estimate, I would make about the same or a little more at the more prestigious as the boutique (a lot more with an optimistic bonus estimate). Base varies by 5% between the two.

My background is undergrad from no-name school and masters from LSE, both in accounting. Internships in middle office MS and audit Deloitte, and FT experience in healthcare consulting at T20 CPA firm.

Side note, M&I has been incredibly helpful and arguably the main influence in how I have crafted my journey to the present opportunities since my sophomore year of college. It took me a while, but have finally won an offer in banking and your free content has been huge for me.