Best LevFin Teams in London for exits
I am not interested in League Tables but pure experience.
It seems like DB, Barclays and UBS are coming out ahead of a JPM, GS and BS banks like BNP and HSBC. Can someone working in PC comment on how the market is looking at different franchises in 2025? I am considering a lateral move from a Tier 2 bank and would like to know how to best position myself for a credit fund in 1-2 years.
Not in PC but you are spot on with the rankings. DB LevFin is top of the street and provide really good learning experiences. Sharp associates and seniors and quick churn all point towards the right direction. Barclays is getting up their and with a strong sponsors team LevFin has a lot of stuff to do. UBS is building itself up again but I would say the gap between DB, Barclays and UBS are substantially large within each other.
GS, JPM, still carry the weight of the name but are very process oriented so the learning experience is limited. Not a bad place to be as a senior though but if you are junior, you want to be at the first 3. Cannot comment on BNP, HSBC.
You got any insights from the team at DB? Just heard that culture is a nightmare, so not sure if worth the exits. Barclays and UBS seem to be a bit better, but that's just a view from someone not really knowing those teams.
Its okay from what I have heard (close school buddy in the team). Problem is the high churn so if people always come and go so culture is always changing. But the team now seems to be okay from their insight - hours can be long but facetime isnt a massive thing there so they come back and login whenever they want as long as they 'get it done' which is how it should be.
At the end of the day its banking, yo do your years and get out but if you are a lifetime banker (which I am sure is too early to decide), then you will have to navigate the culture issues. However, high performers get rewarded in the team so its a trade-off.
Do a coverage group if you care about exits, unless you specifically want to go to a credit investing seat. LevFin is largely process work and the “modelling” you do is outputs from an operating model that you will not have built. At the end of the day it is a financing seat, even if the “best” one
Agreed for the most part but Barclays, DB have some actual thinking to do so it is less process orientated than the likes of JPM/GS. However, really sharp people do leave to PE from LevFin but you wont be seeing those MF exits. PC Exits will be beautiful though.
You can always learn to op model and it will pretty standard after 6-7 months on the job. You will have to put in the work though and think like an equity investor i.e. what is driving the business forward, strategic advantages VS intense FCF analysis.
The best LevFin bankers can be amazing in PE but the best coverage bankers wont be insane in PC is what I was told by a sector MD.
I don’t disagree that you will be able to find PE exits, but lets be honest - if you want to learn how to op model it will be 100% on your own time (at least at any american BB).
For a typical coverage banker you are not running an op model 6 - 7 months into the job (rare situation, probably more likely in easy coverage groups like consumer or TMT with a lot of associate oversight) so doubt you will get the reps as a LevFin banker. For what it’s worth I never saw the LF guys once go into the op model when I was in banking. They requested coverage to plug into their templates and then they just played around with LBO outputs (with coverage having to run any “downside” scenarios committee wanted)
Any Insights/views on Citi LevFin?
You generally want banks that are product driven vs industry driven i.e. DB, CS (not sure how it works with UBS now), BofA had pretty good exits historically to a mix of PE / Hybrid / Special Sits / Private Credit funds. Banks that are more process heavy (GS, MS, JPM) historically had weaker exits. I don’t think anyone will hold the GS or JPM name against you - you might just have to do more prep on the side.
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Any views on Barclays LevFin? Any updates on culture/holding pen on models/comp? london
santander
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