What are some reputable groups at UBS? What are some good questions to ask for networking?
Hi,
I recently accepted an offer to work at UBS for the Investment Banking summer analyst program, and I was wondering what is the general feeling about the different groups at UBS? I am a Information Systems & Computer Science major so I am looking for a more quantitative group with exposure to finance (which is not one of my strengths). Also, what are some good questions to ask the groups when I network with them either via phone call or email? Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!
Also, does anyone have any suggestions on how to get up to speed on Modeling / IBD (either online resources or textbooks?)






For prep, look at either
For prep, look at either Breaking Into Wall Street at mergersandinquisitions.com or the WSO guides. Also, in before the "are there any reputable groups at UBS at all" comments.
Sponsors and LevFin are top-notch there.
A lot of people do certain things to add days to their life. I do things to add life to my days.
What are some good questions
What are some good questions to ask groups? What is the best way to network into a group in terms of group selection?
Stonejuggy, If you are
Stonejuggy,
If you are looking for some really good material I would suggest "Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers and Acquisitions" (Wiley Finance) [ http://www.amazon.com/Investment-Banking-Valuation... ]. I would pretty much guarantee that if you asked someone at UBS what you could read to hit the ground running they would suggest this book.
What UBS location will you be interning at? If it is a location where I've made contacts I can give you better information.
stonejuggy wrote: What are
What are some good questions to ask groups? What is the best way to network into a group in terms of group selection?
Talk to HR, tell HR you'd like to talk to people in the groups you're interested in, talk to them, talk to more people, go to the sell-day, ???, profit.
The best groups - as stated before - are going to be Sponsors or Leveraged Finance (still operate pretty closely) if you want a shot at megafund PE and M&A if you want a broader set of exit opps. Should be obvious, but avoid ECM and Private Funds Group (you would almost be better off quitting).
Thanks everyone for your
Thanks everyone for your comments they've really pointed me in the right direction.
@God of Wine, I will be interning in the New York Office.
I guess my main concern is that since Finance isn't my strongest attribute, It would be hard to get into the competitive groups such as Leveraged Finance and M&A. I am from a semi-target school, so Alumni contacts and leveraging the University will also be difficult given there aren't that many alumni in these groups.
So if I know my 'application' to these groups isn't as strong as other finance majors - would you recommend me to just network and network and try my best, and rank one of the competitive groups first? By ranking a group first, I lose competitiveness in my 2nd choice, 3rd choice etc. What would be a group that is not as competitive, but would provide a strong experience with exposure to Finance and would fit my background?
Do you still have your
Do you still have your time-sheet from your UBS Superday? Chances are someone who interviewed your pod or another pod is either a director of some sort in M&A or LevFin. Find that sheet and grab the names on it. If you are still dry after you try this I can give you some leads.
stonejuggy wrote: Thanks
Thanks everyone for your comments they've really pointed me in the right direction.
@God of Wine, I will be interning in the New York Office.
I guess my main concern is that since Finance isn't my strongest attribute, It would be hard to get into the competitive groups such as Leveraged Finance and M&A. I am from a semi-target school, so Alumni contacts and leveraging the University will also be difficult given there aren't that many alumni in these groups.
So if I know my 'application' to these groups isn't as strong as other finance majors - would you recommend me to just network and network and try my best, and rank one of the competitive groups first? By ranking a group first, I lose competitiveness in my 2nd choice, 3rd choice etc. What would be a group that is not as competitive, but would provide a strong experience with exposure to Finance and would fit my background?
At the end of the day, if you're likeable and you put in a sincere effort to better understand what these groups do and to express your interest in these groups to the analysts you talk to, that will probably be adequate.
No one expects you to be able to build a full credit, LBO or accretion/dilution model on day one. A good number of summer analysts in M&A go the whole summer without putting together an accretion/dilution model. No one really gives a shit whether or not you came from Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford/Wharton either. What people do care about is that you're a person they can work with, hang with and teach for 9 weeks.
So long as you do what I said and rank your preferences honestly (based on your interactions and what you think would be best for your development going forward), you probably won't get into a group outside of your top 3.
Hey no homo - Thanks a lot
Hey no homo - Thanks a lot for your comments, this feedback is really useful! I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what are some good questions to ask groups? Or what is a good way to network? (Just put yourself out there and bother them a lot? or ask for conference calls, etc.)
Thanks!
Read
Read mergersandinquisitions.com for information about how to handle group selection. There are some very informative articles there and they summarize all the info you'd get here quite nicely.
A lot of people do certain things to add days to their life. I do things to add life to my days.
HAHAHAHAH Just laughed for a
HAHAHAHAH
Just laughed for a good 30 seconds when I read the words "reputable" and "UBS" in the same sentence. Holy crap, thanks for the laugh. Who cares what UBS's best groups are - they're all shit. Just do your best to GTFO and into a real BB.
duke seriously? could you
duke
seriously?
could you just go away please
nohomo and pivot will try to
nohomo and pivot will try to tell u there are reputable groups.
besides janitor, ubs has 0 reputable groups. thanks and good luck