Currently weighing offers between the two, both for capital markets. I'm from Asia, so there is a chance I might move back to my home country after a few years.
I know here in the states, both firms share similar prestige with BofA slightly performing better on the debt side. But would the same be said in Asia? How would people think of BofA in Asia since Citi is literally everywhere in the world?
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Look up “Citi pulling out of Mexico” may be a sign of more to come, they are trying to “simplify” their business. Whether that means their commercial bank and their investment bank idk. Just some recent news that may be of interest you.
The Mexico withdrawal is not relevant for this forum, though understand how the news may be misleading. Citi’s withdrawals from international markets is purely consumer banking (and small business banking) with the freed up capital being used to invest in the Global Corporate & Investment banking business. If you’re on the CIB side, I’d actually view this as a positive.
Regarding OP’s question, Citi is the dominant international bank so if you’re choosing between the two and are looking to go back to home country down the line I’d go with Citi. BofA has a stronger leveraged finance franchise and US consumer and small business-middle market commercial banking franchise. Both are good firms, but if you’re considering international down the line, Citi is the place to be.
I also see the offer is specific to capital markets. Like I said, both are great firms. If it’s DCM, I’d give the edge to Citi. If it’s levfin, edge to BofA, but would consider how interested you are in working internationally when making your decision as ultimately both are great firms where you’ll get meaningful experience.
Hey, thanks for the thoughtful response. Really appreciate it.
I am 100% sure that I will be returning to Asia come 2030ish, and I think I might be changing role/firm once or twice her in the states before then. Given that I will be staying here for a while, which would you recommend for my early career out of the two?
And to add a bit more context, I'm currently in Corporate Banking in one of the two firms, and the two offers are both for loan syndication/origination. Do people usually lateral from CB to DCM in the first place? Thought I could always come back to corp banking if cap markets wasn't for me. I want to be as competitive as possible when time comes for me to move back to Asia, and figured having early IB experience would be beneficial.
I think it comes down to your own preference and what team you feel more aligned with.
From a thousand foot view, these are two very similar franchises with some high-level considerations being:
If you're going into a LevFin role, BofA is going to win more mandates, left lead higher profile deals. If its a team that does mostly investment grade loans, I think it's a toss-up. The advantage of going to Citi is that if you want to do banking as a career you could potentially move back to your home country with Citi while at BofA you'll almost certainly have to find a new job. Citi's brand is also stronger abroad making it potentially easier to market yourself.
But those are high-level considerations. I think the real questions to ask yourself are:
Things like working on interesting left lead deals and future career opportunities aren't going to be that different between firms. I think it's more of the day-to-day quality of life that should drive your decision making.
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