Best ECM Groups?
For any ECM bankers, which banks are positioned the best [if you were recruiting into an ECM position] in the coming years for a career in ECM? Would you go with the top of the league tables like GS/JPM/MS, or are there smaller players like the EBs that offer the best career trajectory in ECM.
Also curious which specific coverage groups within ECM are the "best" to be in. For example, I know tech ECM has performed the best over the past decade but I assume things have slowed down there, so is it HC or FIG or maybe something else? Would love any input.
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here’s what you need to know about ECM groups and their positioning:
Top Banks for ECM:
Coverage Groups within ECM:
Elite Boutiques (EBs):
Career Trajectory:
For a career in ECM, aligning with a bank that has strong league table rankings and a robust presence in your preferred sector (e.g., healthcare, tech) is key.
Sources: ECM, the high finance brain drain, What are the best groups for JPM?, Credit Suisse, Barclays, and Jefferies Healthcare, ECM/DCM for Career Banking, ECM/DCM for Career Banking
Top-tier banks like GS, JPM, and MS are great for ECM in terms of deal flow and career opportunities, but smaller banks like Evercore or Lazard offer more hands-on experience and faster career growth if you’re good. Tech ECM is slowing, but Health Care (HC) and Financial Institutions Group (FIG) are solid, with HC being more resilient. FIG offers stability but less deal flow compared to tech or HC. The choice depends on whether you prioritize large deals or quicker responsibility.
Evercore ECM couldn’t be more irrelevant in healthcare these days.
What is WLB like in these groups at solid banks?
ECM? Do bank even do that anymore 😂
Try and get in the Equity linked group (“Converts”) if interested in building a really differentiable skillset. They work with hybrid debt/equity products (huge growing market; see: MSTR) and you’ll get amazing exposure as an analyst getting both sides of the financing spectrum.
You’ll have to have a solid grasp of financial derivatives and debt markets as well but some huge finance players have started their career off in Converts (Ken Griffin, eg). JPM dominates this space I believe but Barclays, GS, MS, BofA all really solid names as well.
I guess only those balance-sheet-heavy banks are able to support this type of groups?
ECM is dead for last three years - slowly coming in US. JPM/MS/Citi/GS are top teams
Ignore title, I have been working in ECM for a year now in Europe but will switch to M&A in the near term.
Regarding your first question there are usually 2 main players in the ECM business and that is IPO advisors (think Lazard, Rothschild, STJ, and opportunistically other household names) which handle the process management on behalf of the company (picking syndicate banks, challenging marketing materials and valuation assumptions) and syndicate banks - BBs, MMs (Jefferies especially) and Regionals (usually JBR or tier 3 roles for book diversification and local inst. and retail demand). Now depending on your long-term prospects it is also important to know that generally speaking, IPO advisory is more specialized but provides a less-risky revenue stream since advisors work for a fixed fee and they get paid regardless if the deal goes through or not (although they might charge a small % success fee on top of the retainer). On the other hand senior roles in the syndicate can make stupid fees on big offerings with a very low workload since a JBR mandate is usually a placement power check, and GloCos can push some of the qualitative workload to bookrunners to make their life easier.
As for groups, ECM in non-specialized boutiques is usually a standalone execution group with very little involvement in valuation since that is handled by the sector groups. ECM pipeline is influenced by current narratives in the market so in 2021 it was all about sales growth but the narrative since changed to profitability so you had Galderma and the likes going public. Sentiment is up now since a strong pipeline is carried from 2024, especially sponsors since EQT was really successful in the public markets, so wherever you might end-up sector wise there is a lot of ECM to do in the near-term. Special mention is HC since regardless of market sentiment there will always be a huge asset going public or a carve-out for a sub-vertical + biotechs raising $.
I cannot pronounce myself on converts desks since I have had no experience in that, it is a really "french" instrument which is usually used in pharma and RE, pricing is usually done with custom in-house tools, but exits are strong in fixed-income roles at HFs.
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