33 Comments
 

Barclays has been positioning itself as a strong contender among European banks, maintaining its IB market share while others like UBS and Deutsche Bank have struggled. The bank has been growing through strategic senior and junior hires, particularly in its Tech group, which has been improving despite strong competition from other banks. Groups like Utilities, Financial Sponsors, Consumer, Healthcare, LevFin, and Industrials are noted as strong performers.

Barclays operates with a collaborative and progressive culture, which is often highlighted in surveys. Exit opportunities are group-dependent and influenced by individual factors like networking and interviewing skills, but the bank does not significantly limit exits overall. Deal flow has been solid, with Barclays taking market share from European competitors who have reduced their IB investments.

For 2025, Barclays is expected to continue its trajectory as a leading European bank in IB, with a focus on maintaining and growing its market share.

Sources: Thoughts on Barclays in 2020, What's up with the European banks and SA 2020? (UBS, DB, Barclays), 2020s Investment Banking Outlook, UBS won with CS, How is UBS in 2021?

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 

Def looks like its ramped up based on their earnings. In terms of exits, anecdotally the best groups are Sponsors, Healthcare, Tech, PU&I. Quick Linkedin pull from past ~2-3 years gets you:

HC: Carlyle, KKR, BainCap, TPG, CD&R, NMC, Veritas, THL, WCAS

Tech: CVC, Vista, Apax, GTCR, MDP, HIG, Veritas, Platinum, BC Partners

PU&I: Apollo, BX Infra, TPG, HIG, Tiger Infra, TJC

Sponsors is a bit harder to find (small class size)

Clearly, from any of these groups MF/UMM is possible. Up to you at that point.

 

Add Industrials, placement just as good as some of those groups (maybe not HC but at that point it’s by the person)

 

I really don't understand where the perception of the Sponsors group being a strong PE feeder originated. To my knowledge, there hasn't been a single placement to a MF (on the investment team, or otherwise) in the past ~5 years. In fact, the group has primarily retained talent (it is known for being solid culture), or juniors have exited to corporate.

 

Business SEEMS to be good, PUI healthcare, etc are incredibly busy right now. IMO culture is getting even better... obviously depends on group though (tech and industrials still kinda whack, but i feel like the average WSO poster would probs fit in fine with them). Healthcare is good culture but their placement process is more bizarre than Alabama rush 

 

tt won't let me there but the exit opps are certainly there it really just depends how much of a hardo you are/what your goals are... pe is not the promised land anymore and at least the people I'm around are kind of realizing that and pivoting 

 

Prospect in IB - Cov

Business SEEMS to be good, PUI healthcare, etc are incredibly busy right now. IMO culture is getting even better... obviously depends on group though (tech and industrials still kinda whack, but i feel like the average WSO poster would probs fit in fine with them). Healthcare is good culture but their placement process is more bizarre than Alabama rush 

Since it seems like there are a lot of incoming SA lurking here, I would probably rank the groups right now as the following. This is optimizing for both culture and exits

Tier 1 (MF/UMM Within Reach)

  1. Healthcare: Fine culture but very busy. Great exits
  2. Tech: Sweatier version of HC but culture has drastically improved. Also great exits
  3. PU&I: Legacy best group at Barc. Exits are amazing but more infra PE if you're into that
  4. Sponsors: Best culture and its not even close. More people choose to stay than go PE though

Tier 2 (MM/UMM Within Reach)

  1. Industrials: Sweatier version of Tech but I hear culture still blows. Big group. Also great exits
  2. Consumer Retail: Solid from a deal flow perspective.
  3. Energy Transition: Just lost some rainmakers but is legacy-wise a great group
  4. M&A: For some reason I can't understand places well despite never touching a model

Tier 3 (MM Within Reach)

  1. FIG: Sweaty group but the FIG pigeon-hold is so real
  2. Media and Comms: Weak dealflow, Known for being on one crazy deal per year and that's it
  3. Real Estate: Good luck doing anything besides REPE
  4. LevFin: Sweaty group but coverage is always preferred

Tier 4 (Oh No)

  1. Rest of Product: ECM/DCM, Restructuring, Global Finance Advisory, PCM, PubFin, LATAM M&A
 

Error ex occaecati eligendi. A dicta explicabo vero qui. Facilis earum optio repellat. Eum nihil est quia et et repudiandae. Eius nobis non harum et nisi mollitia. Harum veniam voluptate ex dolor aspernatur.

Vel quibusdam est deleniti voluptatem. Et enim quia delectus in animi qui. Voluptatem id reprehenderit rerum adipisci fugiat et sit expedita. Sed dolorem porro et perferendis mollitia nulla ut earum.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (77) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (71) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”