Hi everyone, I really didn't see much relevant discussion on these offices in LA/SF. Coming out of school in the Bay Area, I wanted to know about these firms before recruiting really kicks off, if you have any insight please add. This is for 2021 SA.
If you have any insight, feel free to add, thanks
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Going to plug my LA banking post in this thread:
https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/ib-in-los-angeles-banks-groups-c…</a">https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/ib-in-los-angeles-banks-groups-c…
Just curious, why just list these firms that you mentioned?
Thanks for that, really wanted more insight than a couple of lines into each firm; your post was helpful though. I remember going through that thread before
Mostly MM that you listed. I wouldn't do HL CorpFin - limited exit opps there. These groups are all quite tiny and low-key too (I didn't even know BAML had an LA office).
If you're interested in LA, your best best are Moelis LA, CS LA, HL LA (RX),
Tons of great tech groups in SF out there, but HL and RBC are certainly lower-tier. I could list at least 15 groups better than both of these in SF - lots of threads on this site there. Also I didn't even know LionTree had an SF group - think they do most of their work out of NYC.
Any insight on some MM groups in LA? Rothschild, Wells Fargo, Lincoln?
Lincoln’s SF group is newer, only a couple years old. Coverage is split with the NY office. Recently had an $800M software deal close. Too early to tell on how analysts exit from the office, but Lincoln has been doing well in the MM space and place well in LMM/MM PE.
I thought HL LA places well into mm pe?
Barclays LA is excellent and so is MS LA. I know Barclays has an excellent culture and really good exits; MS on the other hand is pretty sweaty.
Second that - Barclays LA is excellent, MS LA tends to have a lot of turnover (i.e. early analyst exits). Also Citi LA from what I've heard is very small ~10 ppl.
Would you say Moelis LA is the best shop on west coast?
That might be a bit of a stretch... Don't forget GS TMT is in SF. Certainly one of the best in LA though.
I second what the other guy said but would like to also add MS Menlo Tech. Moelis is def the best LA shop though, not best west coast.
Interested in BAML LA - culture? what does the group cover? hours?
BAML LA is a good group. One of the bigger BBs in the LA area. Analysts and associates are generalists.
It covers random deals through one of rain makers in the office, FIG, media, and emerging markets (which is BAML speak for MM). There are quite a few MDs on the emerging markets team across the country. LA is one of two execution offices for the emerging markets team, executing all deals west of the Mississippi. So you could see deals in Portland or SLC, for example.
Because half of the team covers MM, there is a lot of PE interaction, and thus frequent exits.
I don't know too much about the hours at the analyst level, but from what I have heard, it's not HL level.
Very helpful! Thx
I am also curious about this office. Does anyone have any more info?
have heard liontree is a sweatshop but seems like junior bankers out there get great experience and strong dealflow
Does anyone know how GS LA stacks up to the other top LA shops from an exits and reputation perspective?
It's super small (20 people or less), with very few (or no) senior folks. I think they do healthcare and industrials if I recall correctly. Can't speak about exit.
In other words, if you wanna work at GS, it's NY or SF.
They also do C&R and are trying to push the cross-markets group (GS speak for MM).
They work very closely with the SF office. If I recall, they consider themselves and the SF office as one group for all coverage areas, not including tech.
Not sure how involved he still is in day-to-day "banking" activites - but the GS co-chair of M&A is based out of LA, so there's definitely some senior presence.
On the west coast GS has been switching back and forth between the regional (West Regional Advisory - WRA) model, vs. breaking teams into specific coverage groups in each location (e.g. Aero in LA, Biotech in SF), other than tech, of course.
My impression is that LA is still a strong team, but it's going to be very small - so you have to know what you're getting yourself into.
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