Best Response

In IB, pretty much everyone chooses M&A as their top choice group. A hidden jewel that often gets overlooked is FEG, or the Financial Entrepreneurs Group (Sponsors). No one chooses the group because of its categorization under "Alternative Assets" and the uncertainty of what "Financial Entrepreneurs" entails. It's a great, very technical group, that does no pitching (huge plus) because sponsors are so sophisticated. If you are strongly technical, try M&A, FEG, or Power and Energy. If you are more fuzzy and liberal-artsy, go with technology.

There are two metrics that will help you choose a great banking group. Inquire about how many associates are analyst promotes. This holistic metric will reveal both the attrition rate and how meritocratic the group is. These former analysts know everything there is to know about the group, so their staying on should be a hugely positive signal to you. The analyst-to-MD ratio will reveal how understaffed the group is. A low ratio (especially a ratio below one) means lots of work, potentially great senior exposure, and a strong chance of getting hired.

Group selection is a bilateral process. The interns rank their top groups, and the groups pick ~20 interns to meet-and-greet on the first day. Afterwards, groups re-rank the entire resume book, and summers rank their top six choices. I believe this year, the class of ~40 all got into their first or second choice group.

 

ibd at citi isn't as strong as it used to be. feg bankers aren't as highly regarded as sponsors bankers would be in other banks. other groups tend to look at them as subpar performers... with that said, this is an internal opinion within citi.

m&a is hands down the most sought-after group.

comms are known as the slave drivers. you get to do your own modeling, but be prepared for ridiculous hours. consumers is pretty much a frat house - don't know too many with excellent exit opps. they did get to work on the dollar general deal though.

industrials is really a toss up. many subgroups under the umbrella. it really depends on which subgroup you get and which associates you get paired up with.

don't know too much about the other groups.

 

I am not sure where you are getting your information from. Nobody said that.....A poster mentioned that the group is called Financial Entrepreneurship Group (Sponsors). I too am interested on hearing any new thoughts about the groups at Citi. There has been a lot of new hires/exits and I am interested in knowing if anything has changed.

 

Bump, I hear their energy & power was the best on the street last year. In terms of transitioning into PE, to the extent that the M&A group is not an option due to it being on the top of everyone's list, is there a possibility to transition into a top PE MF after analyst years in a solid industry group like industrials and power?

"We're not lawyers, we're investment bankers. We just call you for the paperwork. We didn't go to Harvard, we went to Wharton, and we saw you coming a mile away." - Suits
 

There was another thread on this ~1 month back. FYI @"ValueInvestor888" , Citi split TMT a few backs into Tech and Comms (media & telecom)

Top group M&A. Other than that ,Comms, Industrials, Sponsors, Consumers all have solid exits. This info has been shared many times before on WSO. search to find other recent threads.

HC not historically one of the stronger groups.

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”
 

Market-facing, modeling-light product groups that involve market overviews, updating quals and league tables, and monitoring performance.

 

^ what BS. Sponsors at Citi definitely does modeling (now whether the deal actually closes or not is another question lol).

Sponsors does have a pretty good balance and they work with all the megafunds, but placement has fallen off a cliff since a few years ago when they sent a class to Warburg, Carlyle (mezz) and Kelso.

 

To follow up, they do modeling, but again, they're getting on deals because they provide debt financing. So yes you'll do some debt financing modeling, but you'll also model the LBO.

 

^ I bet you work/worked at Citi Sponsors and you are keep highlighting their placement from a few years ago. But to be honest, it's not that impressive... And I guess I don't even need to talk about recent placements.

 

Well that's what I'm saying. Someone else in another thread said they sent kids to megafunds. That's false. Just want kids to know what they're getting into.

 
can_lah:
Well that's what I'm saying. Someone else in another thread said they sent kids to megafunds. That's false. Just want kids to know what they're getting into.

I know several kids from Citi who have gone to mega funds? Including many from this year's class? Or are you specifically referring to sponsors?

I'm just looking for a group with decent hours and people, I'm not fussed about exit opps as I want to stay in banking so the culture is much more important to me.

 

If you want decent hours work in a product group, but not M&A. ECM/DCM are generally pretty lax at almost every bank.

Most of the people you work with in other groups will secretly (and not so secretly) make fun of you and your shitty group and joke of a banking career... but thats really just a bunch of BS, go with whats important to you.

 

Can state for a fact (do not work for Citi or their sponsors group) that you do a ton of modeling. I can't speak to current PE placement but you won't be at a major disadvantage. Please take everything you read on these threads with a huge grain of salt.

Anyone of these jokers above making extreme statements either: a) are undergrads like you pretending to be bankers on a website. b) sad, delusional people who probably were dinged from Citi and work at some shitty no name boutique in Ohio. Talking shit to you specifically dbdbdip, not because I give two fucks about someone's opinion about a group at Citi but mainly because you're the type of person I'd pick a fight with at a bar, faggot.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 
Stringer Bell:
Can state for a fact (do not work for Citi or their sponsors group) that you do a ton of modeling. I can't speak to current PE placement but you won't be at a major disadvantage. Please take everything you read on these threads with a huge grain of salt.

Anyone of these jokers above making extreme statements either: a) are undergrads like you pretending to be bankers on a website. b) sad, delusional people who probably were dinged from Citi and work at some shitty no name boutique in Ohio. Talking shit to you specifically dbdbdip, not because I give two fucks about someone's opinion about a group at Citi but mainly because you're the type of person I'd pick a fight with at a bar, faggot.

haha. sorry man but no you are wrong. i'm neither a student nor a boutique banker. and i'd never pick a fight at a bar because it's just immature and stupid. have fun using your muscle somewhere else if you have any.

 

M&A, Media and Telecom, Industrials, Consumer. Arguably in that order, although you could find people who would disagree.

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”
 

my rankings above are based almost entirely on exit ops.

the one group I left out is sponsors. They tend to not do a lot of good execution work, so not ideal in terms of analyst experience (they'll argue otherwise), but their exits can be solid because the MD's go to bat for them.

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”
 

In terms of productivity, M&A, Industrials and believe RE are pretty good. Culture-wise it really depends on group/subgroup. TMT is split between Tech and MT. Both TMT and Healthcare teams get worked, not sure split of pitching vs deals. Re. FIG, the group is split between Banks & Specialty Finance (will call BSF) and Insurance, Asset Management & Financial Media/Technology (will call IAF). BSF is productive especially in SpecFin but culture not the greatest. IAF is so-so productivity but much better culture.

 

I agree largely with Bateman. The strongest groups are the ones that can really get the most leverage out of the global balance sheet. The only thing I would contest is the addition of TMT, but that may just be a recent thing.

I've got a friend in Citi's consumer group. She doesn't seem THAT busy.

 

Eh, I believe Citi industrials is the largest revenue-producing product/industry group of its investment bank this past year and has the global edge in equity and M&A across the Street. That said, I think they are nowhere near as strong domestically as they are globally, and I don't think there's an incredibly long/strong history of dominance even there. It may just have been a 2006 thing.

Where's your info coming from, Wizard?

 

heard its healthcare division is not at all strong from a very reliable source. cornelius, curious to know where did you hear that from?

i know i posted this on another forum, but i have been really curious about Citi's west coast tech m&a group. how strong are they?

 
prizedpig:
heard its healthcare division is not at all strong from a very reliable source. cornelius, curious to know where did you hear that from?

i know i posted this on another forum, but i have been really curious about Citi's west coast tech m&a group. how strong are they?

Citi closed their west coast tech office.
 

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