List of investment banks in Calgary?

Damn, as a fellow Calgarian, I would've loved to have heard some answers to your questions. Where are you at now, buddy?

From what I have heard it's best to be at RBC or CIBC in terms of the Canadian banks in Calgary. Some of the US banks have set up small offices and have been fairly involved. I have no idea how the compensation compares to Toronto, and wouldn't mind knowing what compensation is like at the boutiques. U of C and U of A do well in recruiting compared to in Toronto, but U of L doesn't. With that said your chances coming from U of C or U of A are probably better at the boutiques. The hours are just as bad, and from what I've heard banks in Calgary tend to not have separate M&A groups.

Nobodymonkey, thanks for the info.

The compensation thing really is interesting.

I also have knowledge that the hours are pretty damn bad, but only from one source at GS...in Calgary. I'm not sure what kind of coin is thrown around, but for the 70+hr weeks, it better be decent. I know LEH and others have small(ER) shops here, but not sure of who else beyond that. Anybody else out there with some pertinent info?

Well its been a while since I posted this thread, and I now have a few answers to my own questions that I can share with you guys.

Hours seem to be 70+, but I suppose that is pretty standard in I-banking.

RBC and CIBC are top banks, however their are several boutiques most of which have comparable or worse hours than the big shops.

CFA in Calgary, unlike NY and Toronto, seems to be highly valued, and many analysts who don't burn out move directly to associate.

Also, I am not currently in banking, but have chosen instead to pursue trading.

I am a VP in a top shop in Calgary and, for obvious reasons, I am not going to rank my preferences per your question 1). I will say that there are fairly large discrepancies between a good shop and a not-so-good shop. I don’t dispute CIBC being one of the top shops, as are TD and Scotia. RBC does a fair number of deals (think third or fourth in town), but they also burn through their people at about double the rate of any other shop in town. I would generally not recommend folks go there unless you have no other option and are willing to work at a sweatshop. In terms of bulge banks, Goldman, Morgan, Lehman and Merrill have offices; Citibank has a coverage guy but no execution team.

Compensation is generally the same or better than Toronto. The energy groups in most top shops are a very large component of revenues for Canada. Most folks are paid well for their work. Hours for analysts are typically in the 70 to 90 hours / week; associates 60-80 and reduce as one gets more senior. The majority of Calgary bankers work on oil and gas deals, although there are a few power and utilities groups around. There is also the odd pipeline deal around.

The advantage of doing oil and gas is doing a large number of high-profile deals. It is a very busy sector these days. The skills are the same as other industries, with specialized versions of DCF models being employed as well as your ever-present precedent transactions and comparable company analysis. Frankly, there is little that is different except perhaps a better understanding of the more technical nature of the oil and gas industry is typically appreciated by the clients. The disadvantage is that you are often seen as specialized in the sector and there are few lateral opportunities in Calgary outside of banking.

It is true that many shops in Calgary, particularly the smaller boutiques, like the CFA designation and strangely it makes a difference for certain candidates. There is no good reason for this.

There is no equal chance from any university, Calgary or otherwise. Calgary is the same as other places, where placing well at a high-quality institution will give you more credibility. Ivey places a very large number of students into Calgary investment banking. The University of Calgary’s CPMT program places almost all of its students into ibanks. University of Alberta puts one or two students a year into Calgary. There are probably one or two UofT alumni in Calgary, but generally they are not present and I have never come across a Queens commerce grad in Calgary investment banking. I do not know what UofL is, but I can assure you that no place I have ever recruited at starts with an L. We see the odd UBC student come to Calgary as well.

Nayls, thanks for the insights. Do you have an idea of how comp compares at the boutiques as opposed to the larger banks? I know that they are involved in less of the high-profile deals however alot of M&A activity goes on in the small-cap space.

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/why-are-there-so-many-canadians-o…

Universite, I really wish you would shut the fuck up. You make ME hate Canadians.

OP, take this the right way; you're gonna have to find them yourself. That's how finance works. Calgary has every major BB, the Big 5, the bigger known MMs, specialty O&G shops like Peters and Co, etc..

I'm assuming you went/go to school in Canada; get on LinkedIn; start matching alumni from your school to profiles on company websites and fire off e-mails to everyone you can find. Explain your situation and background and ask to know more about their jobs and career paths. Don't ask for a job, develop rapport. I hope for your sake you aren't one of those pipe dreamers with 2.9 GPAs from University of Manitoba or some shit. Good luck and be realistic,

Cheers,

IG

Thanks for the advice.

I'm creating a target list for banks to apply. Awesome post, thanks!

bump pls

You're awesome, CatsCradle. Thanks a lot!

I am interested in this stuff too.

Calgary is a big energy town. There is a good amount of E&P activity, as well as oil field services companies (like hydraulic fracking). Some BB's have regional IBD offices in calgary focusing on energy.

The culture is similar to Texas, from what I understand. It's kind of a cowboy culture. Not sure who on WSO lives out there (I'm in Houston), but I'm sure there are good opportunities out there. From what I hear, Calgary is a cool town.