As the oil and gas industry grew over the last few decades more companies have made their headquarters in Calgary, alongside that came the growth of financial firms.
With Calgary as a booming location for worldwide investment capital, and a center point for the commodity industry, the future looks promising. There are over 1600 individual oil and gas companies based in the city which means there are a lot of investment deals to be had, and everyone is trying to get a piece of the action.
In the last few years we have seen the arrival of bulge bracket firms like J.P Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Combined with our already large and growing Canadian based banks including RBC Capital Markets, TD Securities, Scotia Capital and CIBC World Markets, the competition is heating up.
Finally we are now seeing larger boutique firms offering specialized oil and gas financial services. Firms such as First Energy Capital, Macquarie Tristone and Peters & Co bring technical and financial expertise catered to energy firms.
Company sizes range from a few people to hundreds, and well over 30 separate banking firms, which I could find, the industry is still closely connected and everyone is well known. There are all the banks, oil and gas companies and other industry professionals all within a 9 block radius. With a closely held community it is quite difficult to break in, what are some good ways to build connections?
With a promising future for the local industry, we just want to have a seat at the table for when it takes off. What are your thoughts about the industry in Calgary and its future?
A great book to read on this topic is, Stampede - The Rise of the West and Canada’s New Power Elite
and two links for related articles;
http://albertaventure.com/2012/02/new-money/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/streetwi…
TBH I don't know too much about Calgary, but it looks poised to become the Houston of Canada in terms of energy banking (if it isn't already.) Houston is known for being far and away the place to be for energy, and I have heard that the culture can be a little insular like you mentioned for Calgary. That's just part of Texas though - very different than NYC and if you don't know how Texans operate you won't survive.
Great stuff - always exciting to see new frontiers growing.
I wish it was Vancouver instead, a much better city to live in.
O&G is definitely the main industry and just about everything finance is usually related in some way to O&G.
Anything like ER, banking, trading etc will only grow in relation to O&G and will never take on the size of other major financial cities. The industry itself will continue to grow and there's lots of opportunity available.
It's still got a bit of that old west mentality to it and often you have people just catching a lucky break or just knowing the right people. It does get very competitive as you move up and can be difficult to compete against the well connected folks, so networking becomes key. But I will say this, once you are on the inside, doors start opening up and it truly becomes what you make of it.
I agree with the Vancouver comment. It would be a great city to live in, but unfortunately the money is in Calgary. Better pay and lower cost of living. Van sure is awesome to visit though
I work in Calgary (at one of the mentioned banks) and can vouch for most of the comments. The city is very closely knit (even in terms of new hires) and definately closer to Texas since everything that happens here is related to energy.
Not as fun as Vancouver but the pay and deal flow is better. Also, the city shuts down during the Stampede in July for 10 days of partying.
Given that you work in Calgary, do you have any advice for someone trying to get in, not having any connections in the industry?
have sent u a pm.....plz check it.....thanks
have sent u a pm.....plz check it.....thanks
Got a bunch of PMs about this so rather than retyping everything, I'll post it here.
Everything about how to prepare/break in: read the million other threads about this. Its the same as everywhere else, you'll need some combination of top notch grades and experience. In Calgary, it is expected that you be interested in energy so be prepared to demonstrate during interviews. Groups are run very lean and you will meet everyone/most before a hire is made, so 1 person can sink your chances.
Target schools? Ivey, UCalgary, UAlberta, UBC (to a lesser degree) are all well represented in Calgary. Most Canadians care less about where you went to school (assuming its a decent university) and more about what you've done. So don't let that stop you from reaching out to people in the industry.
The Houston of Canada is spot on...still will be second-fiddle to Toronto.
Would have to pay me to go back to Toronto unless it was a top mining group (might be different if it was anything like Montreal or Vancouver). The whole country revolves around the energy and the materials industry, may as well be where the money is.
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/group-post/investment-banks-with-offices…
Good group to join if your interested in Calgary.....
http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/group/calgary-finance-industry
This didn't age well after the oil slump in 2014
hahahah. i used to work at goldman and the gas desk is there and my god their quality of life was such shit in like 2015-16
Highly doubt Calgary will be the next power house. It had its run when oil was $100+/barrel and it made more sense to support higher cost Canadian projects, but the city has been as good as dead since 2016. It’s hard for me to believe the city would regain its former glory in the short run solely based on O&G. Even applications to O&G related engineering programs have declined significantly since - and who can blame the students? At the very least the city (rather Alberta in general) would need to diversify into other areas where the city can be competitive. I would not put my own money anywhere in Alberta for the next 5-10 years unless I see an extremely compelling opportunity.
agree 100% from what i saw calgary is the second city after toronto when it comes to IB presence/opportunities etc.. way better than montreal and vancouver
Lived there for close to 3 years. By far my least favourite major city in Canada - the only redeeming quality is that it is located near some very beautiful nature so if you're into outdoors, might be a good bet.
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