Best groups on Westcoast?

In my mind the top shops are Moelis LA,Goldman LA, CS LA, and JP Morgan SF. Of course ranking banks is bullshit, but as a prospective summer intern I want to know what office would give the best experience (deal flow, exit opps, people, culture, return offer rate etc.) What do you guys think?

46 Comments
 

All WC offices mentioned above have lean teams and more than enough deals for each analyst. From an exit opps point of view, Moelis LA placed far and away better than any other office last year (3 TPG + 1 Silver Lake from a 6-person class) although most of these offices will give you PE interviews at top WC shops. I've heard though that in the past year GS SF generalists placed better than TMT, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Return offer rates were high last year except for UBS LA (2/6) as a result of continued downsizing.

People are generally nice and more laid back than their NY counterparts, although CS LA and MS Menlo are hardcore.

Source: close friends who worked in LA/SF past summer

 

UBS is decent....probably below those mentioned in the thread, but above BofA, Wachovia, BS, Cowen, RBS, etc

when the Lehman Semi ppl moved to DB, they kicked out most of the old DB Semi team and some of those ppl moved to UBS

 

Agree with poster above to an extent.

GS, MS and CS are undisputed leaders in tech banking. Arguably GS and MS slightly head of CS.

I have a hard time seeing JPM as a tech player though, haven't really done any marquee transactions. Perhaps you can credit them for putting together the slide that has "JPMorgan's Summit Partners team" and having a TA Associates logo on the same page. Probobly the biggest tech banking blooper of 2006.

ML is decent got the Postini transaction done with Google, but other than that are a Right bookrunner or converts shop.

Deutsche Bank is not a tech player sorry, TZL. Just because you hire an all-star roster from Lehman, doesn't make you a top tech player. I know it's tough to have a Deutsche Bank business card and feel proud.

Also as an analyst you want deal experience and based on the hype of this board exit opps: GS clearly strong advisor with ridiculous exit opps: multiple TPG, multiple Silver Lake, KKR, Vector, Top hedge funds (Perry) etc. MS: Silver Lake, Hellman (although FSG), TCV, Hedge funds, KKR, Francisco Partners CS: Golden Gate, NEA Lehman: HIG ML: World Bank, Carlyle Ventures JPM: ??? Lazard: TPG Japan Bear: Lateral to a bulge, Summit Partners DB: Lateral to a bulge, Macquarie Bank (infrastructure fund), Newspaper front cover suicide UBS: Carlyle, Weston Presidio, General Atlantic, TCW/Crescent, Canaan Partners, TA Associates, Oak Tree x2 Wachovia: Newspaper front cover suicide Thomas Weisel: Newspaper front cover suicide, Summit Partners

 

Merrill Tech M&A - much better exit ops. You're not only learning a product group in M&A but you're learning coverage as well focusing on Tech. M&A's going to be easier to place into PE / VC if that's what you're looking for.

You've also got to understand ML is in Palo Alto, CS is in SF so if the city life is what you're looking for CS is clearly where you should go.

 

nystateofmind, you also gotta realize that CS' tech group has Tech M&A built into it. Thus you're not actually choosing between coverage at CS and M&A at Merill. You're actually choosing between the group that Quattrone built and... Merill.

 
ledger123gs tmt, ms menlo, qatalyst, csla (good exit opps to PE firms on the west coast), blackstone menlo(?)

is that it? is BX menlo that good of a group anyway? should one do a summer in NY, and then try to work in menlo full time? what groups do they have there? I thought BX banking consisted only of M&A and restructuring...

 

do not go to bx menlo...take offer somewhere else if you get a chance

lazard sf is OK. Not the best group around but you have the lazard brand name (and the hours i heard).

moelis LA is the shit, not so sure about moelis palo

in west coast, it's really just gs tmt, ms menlo, cs sf (used to be good at least, still has the brand name for recruiting), qatalyst for tech and north cali

cs la, moelis la, hlhz frg for socal

 
Ricqlesdo not go to bx menlo...take offer somewhere else if you get a chance

lazard sf is OK. Not the best group around but you have the lazard brand name (and the hours i heard).

moelis LA is the shit, not so sure about moelis palo

in west coast, it's really just gs tmt, ms menlo, cs sf (used to be good at least, still has the brand name for recruiting), qatalyst for tech and north cali

cs la, moelis la, hlhz frg for socal

Okay thanks a lot. GS FIG/Consumer is based in LA too right? Or am I totally off base?

Also, are you guys saying that these are groups that you would strongly consider taking over a competitive NYC offer (JPM, MS, elite boutique, etc) if you want to end up on the west coast... even though the technical experience may be better in NYC (I'm assuming)?

 

ms m&a team and also barcap (headed by former cs la guy) is pretty good in LA. Send a lot kids out to good westcoast shops.

 

GS LA is FIG and Consumer. If you don't have an interview with them already, you won't have much of a shot since they only take 1-2 analysts per year.

 
doddfrankyGS LA is FIG and Consumer. If you don't have an interview with them already, you won't have much of a shot since they only take 1-2 analysts per year.

didn't know rising juniors have interviews set up already when on campus recruiting is still many months away...

 

i heard from a credible source that the generalist group in GS SF placed better than TMT this year. top analysts in both groups get all the interviews they want. from what i hear GS senior culture isnt as supportive at recruiting however

blackstone menlo is a joke... both in terms of exit opps and deal flow

MS menlo get worked to the ground and not a great culture but they have good senior support and brand name when it comes to recruiting. arguably places better than GS SF (depends on the year though)

not sure why everyone on this forum drools so hard over qatalyst, they are still a step behind in placement behind GS/MS... maybe will get better with time

moelis strong exit opps and very supportive senior culture in terms of recruiting, but hours/culture are bad

JPM is also a step behind GS/MS in recruiting. have good MM opps but much harder to get the west coast megafunds

 
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