Citi IBD Groups - How is deal flow and experience?

Wanted to know everybodys opinion on the best 3 groups to get into at Citi in terms of analyst experience, dealflow, prestige, and exit opportunities (all lumped in together). I know there are some threads out there that I have read through but just want a simple list of 3 groups based on the most up-to-date happenings at the firm. This is EXCLUDING M&A, since I believe the group is full from returning summers already.

Thanks.

226 Comments
 

yep every1 goes into generalist except SA's.. great to hear there are some spots still available in M&A but its obviously going to be a long shot with every1 shooting for it... my real inquiry was about the best product/industry groups after accounting for M&A, all else being equal... any suggestions? have heard everything from consumer to industrials to energy to communications, etc. and wanted to know if you had to just pick 3 what would they be?

 

Not sure about this bank and the group. You should ask what deals they have done?

What is certain is that UBS had the top energy group along with Barcap and their entire team went to Citi recently. Citi Comm has always been top of the street and Citi Industrial has been strong too and competes with GS mostly (see: Southwest buyside advisor role in Airtran M&A).

FIG and Industrials are the biggest groups at Citi, but FIG pidgeonholes and usually isn't worth it unless it is Goldman Sachs FIG.

 
goldman in da houseStrongest groups at Citi are M&A, Consumer, Industrials, TMT, Sponsors from what I hear. Probably M&A / Consumer for exit opps.

why do you say consumer has better exit opps than sponsors or even TMT?

 

Anyone knowledgable on this matter?

"We're not lawyers, we're investment bankers. We just call you for the paperwork. We didn't go to Harvard, we went to Wharton, and we saw you coming a mile away." - Suits
 

Consumer retail at Citi isn't as solid as it was. I'd go industrials or sponsors. In either of those teams you're sure to get on enough m&a and refinancing mandates to talk about at interviews 10 - 12 months into the job. I would steer clear of Citi SF but Citi London isn't too bad (still strong next to barcap DB CS and UBS which says something). I think their London consumer team might be at MS Nordic m&a now btw, 2008 must've seen a mass exodus of sorts

 
capmthenwaccm

Consumer retail at Citi isn't as solid as it was. I'd go industrials or sponsors. In either of those teams you're sure to get on enough m&a and refinancing mandates to talk about at interviews 10 - 12 months into the job. I would steer clear of Citi SF but Citi London isn't too bad (still strong next to barcap DB CS and UBS which says something). I think their London consumer team might be at MS Nordic m&a now btw, 2008 must've seen a mass exodus of sorts

What are your thought on Power/Energy? Do your comments on Industrials + Sponsors hold true for the London office?

 

Just FYI- The culture at Citi FIG is absolutely awful. Realize that the people/culture you surround yourself with can make or break your experience. But to be honest I think most FIG have bad cultures across the Street.

I know a recent Citi FIG analyst tell me more than half his FIG analysts quit before their 2 yrs were up - it was that bad - and analysts didn't get along with each other either.

 

Have heard really good things about the dealflow in Industrials and M&A. Consumer/Retail was on the Tim Horton's-Burger King deal last year, so I'd assume they aren't too shabby either dealflow wise.

As for PE placement (if that's your thing), M&A has placed the best, but go with the people you like. As for hours, Citi works pretty hard, in general.

 

Have heard M&A, Industrials, and TMT are solid; TMT probably works the hardest out of all 3. Also heard Healthcare is up there with Industrials/TMT for coverage, any reason you aren't considering them? They were on Shire/Abbvie before it blew up, I think.

Source: friend is 2nd year analyst at Citi, feel free to PM for additional questions/specifics and I can ask him

 

M&A. M&T. Sponsors. Industrials. RE. Consumer

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”
 

I've worked closely with the Citi real estate guys many times and have a buddy on the desk. They're at the top of most league tables and I've heard they outperform most groups within the bank in terms of revenue. They work long hours, even for IB standards, but exit ops are strong. Keep in mind that REITs are extremely capital intensive and, while Citi does get strong M&A mandates, a sizable portion of the group's deals are capital markets related. That said, Citi's REIT equity platform usually tops the charts and so does its REIT financing platform, which is somewhat of a hybrid between IBD coverage and CMBS / large loan.

PM if you'd like - I know the Citi real estate teams well.

 

I found this from a Citi job posting on my school's career site: ‐ Alternative Assets ‐ Consumer ‐ Diversified Industrials ‐ Financial Institutions ‐ Healthcare ‐ Power ‐ Real Estate ‐ Technology/Media/Telecom (TMT) Also, within investment banking, Mergers & Acquisitions Group supports the efforts of our industry

 

I would definitely say M&A and AAG (alternative assets group or financial sponsors) have the best placement. AAG is a smaller group with an awesome culture. I'd also probably have to say that analysts in that group work half as any other group while still having the same exit ops.

After that, Industrials and Consumer are probably the best. Consumer is a much more bro-y culture while Industrials is a huge group that has a little bit of everything.

Are you going for a summer analyst spot?

 

kelystein,

I am interested in M&A at Citigroup. I will be a senior in college in the fall and am very interested in doing M&A and Citigroup is one of the banks I would like to interview with. Do you currently work there (or have you in the past)? If you could help me out with some questions, I would greatly appreciate it... and let me know if you would rather talk about it off the message board.

Thanks

 

Look at league tables a little maybe? I prefer energy and industrials when it comes to industry groups, but I think ECM or a product group would be good as well. (ECM has shorter hours in general)

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."
 

there is a post on this from a couple days ago.

“Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be”
 

in regards to best groups, does anyone have additonal insight? I have heard they have good sponsors group ...true?

 

The people in healthcare seemed to be people I could work well with. Also, I am more interested in industry coverage rather than product. I am open to other suggestions for top groups too, but I also wanted to know how healthcare ranked

 

I have heard that, at least at the analyst level, Citi is doing pretty well. I am not sure where they are on the league tables, I have heard the analysts are being kept busy on actual deals. HC seems like a good sector to be in going forward. Regardless of the reform's outcome, it is going to stir up a ton of activity for banks 2012-2014.

 

Industrials focus - know your auto/transportation/chemicals verticals.

Clients include Caterpillar and they were lead advisor on CAT's recent f**k-up in China (woops).

 

Leggo do you have nothing better to do than to constantly post on WSO? You've posted 190 times since last week. Give it a rest.

 

IBchimp, I totally agree with you... This kid has just found out about this forum and has nothing better to do instead of constantly posting things he reads on the net here. He gets some news on the net and post it here as his comments to sound a genius... like the "Investment Banking business model" post... Leggo: if you are so good, why do you still don't have a internship offer?

 

lui:

I guess I do post quite a lot on the forum... But what does that matter? Why start unnecessary shit in response to others' actions when it doesn't add any value to the forum?

  1. What on earth is the "Investment Banking business model" post?

  2. I've never claimed that I was "good". I do exactly what you say. I simply relate what I have gained from news, experience, friends, etc. and post it on the wall in response to people's questions. Isn't that what WSO is essentially for? (On the other hand, you could consider my posts spam for the simple fact that I post quite a bit. Nonetheless, my comments are relatively useful compared to your bullshit comments like the one above)

  3. No need to hate on those who are successful and received offers. I may not have gotten a BB IBD offer, but quite satisfied with the offer I have recently accepted for a BB CapMarkets gig.

 

I remember the Investment Banking Business Model post. That was very funny; although it wasn't Leggo's post.

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/investment-banking-business-model

It belongs to mergerarb15 who (at the time) seemed to be posting mindlessly all over the place; so I understand the confusion lui. If any of you haven't read the IB Business Model thread, I recommend it. It's good for a laugh for the first few responses, then the OP gets very annoying.

 
Charles-perryNone Citi is dying.
++++++++++++++++++++ Charles-perry (Senior Baboon, 242 Points) on 1/22/13 at 6:26am

Does anyone have any ideas of what I can do this summer? I've landed 0 interviews after that 1 BB IBD interview even though I've been applying/networking for months now. Really don't get whats going wrong for me/what I don't have that they want.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Please rank the banks in order of who ignored you most

If the glove don't fit, you must acquit!
 

Looking for dealflow and international exit ops if that makes sense. Looking to spend 2 years in the US then go international.

 
dunston17In HK the stronger groups are TMT (consisently top 2 on the street), Industrials and FIG is certainly on the rise.

Dunston, by saying stronger do you mean more deal flows? I heard GIG is also doing pretty good.

 

^^^

Yes - they have the most relative deal flow and are also larger in group size, which is a direct result of the number of mandates won.

GIG / Industrials are one and the same.

 

Can I get a bump on this? People have said Communications is a good group, is there a sense of how it ranks with other firms' communications groups?

 

Top Consumer groups = Centerview, GS, Laz, Citi, PWP, DB in that order. BAML has Kenneth Tuchman, who was a rockstar at Lehman and Wasserstein but the group as a whole is no where near the aforementioned shops.

Wasserstein Perella was by far the best when it existed so just track where the top bankers there went. Lehman used to be good too.. UBS was number 1 on the street when Blair was there but he is now at Centerview.

As far as Citi HK, its an absolute joke.. Industrial sucks. Their former Head, Shariar (sp?) left the firm literally 3 days after he cashed out his stock without saying goodbye to ANYONE on his team. FIG is a joke now that McNamara has left. He was a really nice guy that everyone liked but was pushed out due to internal politics. Their China team is going through struggles right now as the two co heads, Eugene Qian and Rodney Tsang, don't like each other. Basically a lot of internal power struggles across the board and their coverage is terrible. TMT is the only bright spot left.

 
ekudekudWell it's just quarter 1. Also, Citi's always been pretty good. Just last year they slipped up a bit.

GS just sucked this year.

GS sucked?? Deals outside of the top 15 largest deals accounted for 75% of their deal value, and they're still #4. That to me is very impressive. T-mobile/AT&T deals come and go to every bank every year - I want to be in a place that does a shitload of deals with a shitload of clients - and that's why GS is consistently good. And that's why they also generate the highest fees per capita - because they're reaping lead advisor fees on a slightly lower total volume of a higher number of deals - instead of co-advisor fees shared with 6 other banks on a couple of huge deals. Citi did only 60 deals...that's a full 1/3 less than what Goldman did. Take out AIG and T-Mobile and they suck.

  • I don't work at GS
 

Fuck, Morgan's been killing it. Still, only one quarter so far.

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 

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I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 

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