Top i-banking firms

[ahnuld]

According to the latest vault guide. Anyone who works at these places care to comment?

1. Goldman
2. Blackstone group
3. Morgan Stanley
4. Lehman
5. JP Morgan
6. Merrill
7. Citi
8. Lazard
9. Credit Suisse
10. UBS

[higher_energy]

interesting list - why is Blackstone on it?

[CrushinFelt]

surprised UBS is that low... although they definitely moved into the direction of churning out as many financial advisors as they can

[jumbojacks]

I think for an entry-level analyst, all that matters is who you're working under and the amount/type of deal flow your office is getting. I think the office/group of a particular firm is a much better way to rank these firms.

[whyherro]

There is a pretty fair gap between goldman and everyone else. Not in terms of work - the work at all of these places is pretty much the same. But goldman simply gets the best deals. BTW are you planning on interviewing for banking?

[ahnuld]

[ QUOTE ]
There is a pretty fair gap between goldman and everyone else. Not in terms of work - the work at all of these places is pretty much the same. But goldman simply gets the best deals. BTW are you planning on interviewing for banking?

[/ QUOTE ]

No,

while I feel I could have landed either one of the 5-15 american firms or one of the top canadian firms, I decided that im going to go pro (poker) when I graduate this spring. I just found this amusing as one of my friends got an offer from Citi and another got an offer from Lazard and they are pretty competitive with each other.

[whyherro]

ehhh I wouldn't say competitive here, you are talking about the two most fundamentally different types of banks you can get. citi is a huge global presence with a monster bs so can do lots of lev fin deals lazard can't mess with, and lazard is pretty much the most specialty boutique M&A / advisory bank.

Pretty tough decision for your buddy, lazard definitely has some sick appeal to it but citi gets great deal flow (although now might not be the best time to be working for citi...).

[ahnuld]

Well for the guy who choose lazard, it was easy. They have an office in our hometown so 1, the salary (150kish) goes farther in montreal than in toronto or NY and 2, he can stay where all him family friends are and not give up his life for 2-3 years like most i-bankers so.

[whyherro]

hahaha I totally assure you he will be giving up his life for 2 years.

even if your family and friends are 15 minutes away its hard to see them when you are working 100 hrs a week (and lazard is kind of known as being one of the hardest in terms of hours)

[chisness]

Is this a list of firms that denied giving me interviews?