These are newer advisory firms whose deals aren't quite as big as the elite boutiques' yet, though some advise on very large transactions. Most were set up by famous senior bankers who left big banks.
The firms
- LionTree, media, telecoms and tech
- Zaoui & Co., London
- Robey Warshaw, London
- M. Klein & Co., New York
- Dyal Co.
- Lakeside Capital Advisers
The honest bit
Most of these firms are tiny. Several don't run a graduate programme at all, and when they hire juniors, those juniors have usually trained at a bigger bank first. If you're an undergraduate, I'd treat these as somewhere to end up in three years, not somewhere to start.
The exception is a firm like LionTree, which is larger and has hired analysts directly.
If you want to work at one eventually
- Start at a bulge bracket or an elite boutique and do excellent M&A work.
- Specialise. These firms tend to have a sector or a style.
- Build relationships. At firms this size, people often join through someone they've worked with.