Credit Suisse vs Bank of America

following

Pick Goldman

CS has some really good groups and some really mediocre ones while BofA is more well rounded. Tbh your life isn’t gonna be that different regardless of your choice so pick the one where you like the ppl.

Take CS so I can get off the waitlist at BofA  : )

Fr tho probably about the same.

I think most people would consider CS / BAML / Barclays the same with Citi slightly under.

in 2022 CS is highly unstable just read the news. there is more than a minuscule probability it competes less in the barc/bofa/citi tier and more in the UBS/DB tier

BofA. CS is paying under street and is having quite a few problems with its business. For greater stability during this recession, go for BofA.

Talk to as many people as possible from each firm. You can ask about their opinion on outlook for their group, as a way of testing out whether one might be more likely to hand out a return offer for full time. Also, CS has been having a lot of IB people leave; it looks bad but does mean that since they have a harder time keeping people, that might give you a better chance of a return offer and later might mean more promotion opportunities (although bonuses will probably be lower short term). I'm not sure though; def ask around. But I think you're in a great spot and can't go wrong with either; even without a return offer it's a great name on the resume.

deleted

Honestly shocking how uninformed some of these responses are. For starters - congrats on your offers. CS and BofA are both very solid shops, and are (in my opinion, along with Barclays) better than Citi, and leagues above UBS and DB.  

Your decision should really depend on what groups you’re considering. For example, if I wanted to do C&R or REGL coverage, I’d probably choose BofA. If I wanted to do sponsors or M&A (CS M&A exits are a tad better than BofA’s M&A) I would probably choose CS. You’ll get looks from headhunters regardless. 
 

My point is, figure out what industries / products you would like to pursue in banking and make a decision based on that. You’ll honestly be fine regardless of what decision you make. 
 

As a side note, and correct me if I’m wrong, but CS upped their base pay to match the other BBs. 

Don't work at either but BAML all day for me - CS has been on a steady decline from the days my brother worked there (2009-11) whereas BAML has been kind of steady for the last while and pays well.  CS has a stronger legacy name though.

I would go BofA. I work at CS and my group had so much turnover the last 12 months it’s a little depressing. Good chunk of my analyst class has lateraled, all of the associates that are still around don’t want to be there / take advantage of the fact that they’re “un-fireable” and just go MIA on you. Most of the senior new hires are from non-BB shops. Bonus pool probably trash this year and everyone knows it. And the trajectory of the bank / the legacy your resume will carry is only going down. The only saving grace is that exits were still solid this year (plenty of MF, UMM). 

Is this for London or NYC? If NYC, clearly BofA otherwise it’s a bit more nuanced.

I might be a bit biased having been at BAML (when it was still called that way) but culture and working hours should be roughly the same between both banks and differs by the team even within the same bank.

Pluses for BofA include that the offices are in the City (close to St. Paul’s) compared to Canary Wharf and that BofA has been known to pay Analysts well while Associates are in line with street.

One point to consider is that I received feedback from some headhunters when exiting that some funds primarily look at the US BBs for their Associates but only came across this once.

From a lot of previous comments you can see it’s a pretty mixed bag in terms of which to choose. They’re pretty equal and like others mentioned, go with where you thought had better culture or which has the better product/coverage that you’re interested in.

Bank of america. credit suisse pays like dogwater

Pull any league table you want. Check Bloomberg. Check last year, check this year. Check global IB (including DCM and ECM), check M&A only, check US only. The answer is pretty clear that BofA is the better investment bank. I think if you could get some sort of guarantee to be in CS sponsors and you were dead set on exiting then CS would be the better choice. But for 99% of people the answer should be BofA. Thats before you get into how BofA was paying better and CS just matched. That said, CS has some really interesting buyside stuff in the AM arm so (its not IB) but if you were to go that direction CS would be a better platform for that. 

In aggregate I give BofA the edge, but it really depends on 1) what group you're going for, and 2) whether you want to be a long-term banker or are doing it for the exit opps.

In terms of groups, CS has some top-notch groups and has a clear edge in sponsors and LevFin. Anything else, I'd give a slight to moderate edge to BofA. As others noted, BofA is more well rounded and you can't really go wrong in any group there.

If you're looking to be a banker for more than a few years, I recommend BofA. It's a more well rounded and stable bank across all industries and products, so the lows tend to not be as low. Also, I've heard from multiple senior bankers (across banks) that the BofA brand name carries more weight across the board and opportunities will always be in play, while CS is a bit more niche/nuanced in terms of access to opportunities.

The way the banks operate is also completely different. From what I heard CS is run more like a free-for-all and has way less risk parameters (I.e. the recent problems), while that approach doesn't really fly at BofA. Despite the downvotes on this thread, CS's stock did decline more than 50% and did so for a reason, and you should not turn a blind eye to that when examining how it reflects the way the respective banks operate, which will actually impact your day-to-day (and your pay) in the short and long term.

If you're looking to do 2 years and dip, CS might be the better option, especially in the groups where CS has an edge. They send some folks to great PE shops. BofA does as well, but the headcount is greater and there are a lot of folks who also strike out or end up at low tier shops.

Those are my 2 cents, ranted more than expected

I would go wherever you have a better network in the top groups at each bank. If you don’t know people at either go where your school has more alumni. As comments above suggest we’re splitting hairs on banks, so exits and comp will come down to how good your group is.

This thread is full of CS cronies. BofA is the clear choice outside of a few groups (LevFin, sponsors).

BofA was slightly better BEFORE shit hit the fan at CS… and everyone is leaving CS now

There are some major CS dickriders here throwing constant MS any time someone leaves a comment even slightly critical of CS

Scoreboard baby.

League tables, stock performance, brand name. BofA is your answer

BofA - the average group at BofA is better than the average group at CS. CS is still good (I would take CS over DB, but would have a tough time deciding between CS and UBS), but a much less stable platform (as others have noted)

Don’t have anything to say here that hasn’t been said yet but wtf is happening on this thread … everything pro CS is rated as helpful and anything remotely pro BofA is getting MS’d to hell. CS interns hard at work I guess…

Credit Suisse sucks donkey ass. They're going to go down in flames this year just like Bear Stearns and if you're an intern there, you are completely screwed. Say bye-bye to your job. If you are a Credit Suisse employee you are probably stupid and can't get a real job. Bank of America has been better than Credit Suisse for decades and honestly we're probably better than JPM, so if you choose CS over BofA you are the dumbest person alive.