DB or Wells Fargo
I have offers from both banks, and am curious about their differences in exit opportunities, prestige, and deal flow?
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Group specific? Would take WF REGAL, FIG, M&A and probably sponsors over DB.
Thank you ECM prospect. While Wells is hiring a ton almost all of their deals are financings and DB has way better exits.
For groups that prospect ECM mentioned, WF has better exits from what I’ve seen
Thanks for the insight, Analyst 1. I am VP2 at a bank that has worked across both in the past. As you may or may not know, people on this platform often don’t use their real titles or care to. WF REGAL has been consistently top 3 on the street in transaction value, believe #1 for ‘23.
FIG is overall a solid group and M&A would get them M&A reps. Would argue that WF sponsors is in a better place than DB as well. Not sure what is so controversial there.
My schools alumni usually place into pretty good coverage groups and lev fin for both banks
I would corroborate what ECM prospect said. Wells has some really strong established groups (REGAL, FIG, Industrials) and then some rapidly growing ones as well (Sponsors, M&A). Depends what group you are looking for honestly, but both banks are great options and congrats on the 2 offers. Feel free to pm me if you have any more specific questions.
Guy at the top of the thread is spot on. It's very group dependant and really depends on what you want to do. Congrats on the 2 offers.
WF Sponsors over DB? Lmaoooo
They hold pen on models and got the CS head of sponsors. from a friends friend in the group they are actually pretty busy
Depends on the group
My schools alumni usually place into pretty good coverage groups and lev fin for both banks
10 years ago I'd say DB. Now I'd say Wells. Management at WF has stated a goal to grow the IB. European banks in general haven't been hitting as hard post-2008. It's just not a priority for them.
Similar thoughts as previous post on RBC vs. DB, but WF is even worse than RBC. IMO, WF is where RBC was like 3-4 years ago in terms of reputation and growth phase, WF is still only getting on deals purely for financing and getting credits that way solely. See comments about RBC vs DB below without additional commentary for reference:
If you’re not sure about IB long-term or the buy side, the best move is to pick the bank that gives you the strongest foundation and the most options later, and that remains DB.
From an exit perspective, recruiting is heavily inertia-driven—headhunters and buy-side firms stick to the same target firms they’ve always recruited from. While RBC has improved in recent years, DB still benefits from its historical brand, deep alumni network, and the fact that it remains classified as a BB in recruiting circles. Headhunters and funds simply don’t have an incentive to change their target lists when there’s always enough talent coming from traditional BB/EB pipelines. The reality is, that DB analysts still place into more MF/UMM PE and PC seats at a much higher rate than RBC, and that’s unlikely to change short-term.
From a work product and execution perspective, my personal experience working across both banks has led me to see a clear difference. RBC often wins deals based on lending relationships rather than execution strength. I’ve been on deals where DB contributes meaningful work, while RBC’s involvement tends to be more passive, driven primarily by its balance sheet rather than deal execution capabilities. That’s not to say RBC doesn’t have strong teams, but if you’re looking to build technical expertise and refine your skill set, DB is the stronger choice from my experience in banking.
At the end of the day, IB is about building a career foundation that ensures strong earnings and career flexibility no matter what path you take. The soft skills, network, and experience you gain from working on high-level transactions will benefit you for life. If you’re weighing DB vs. RBC, DB gives you the better platform to maximize your options and set yourself up for the strongest trajectory in finance but both banks will set you well for any future career plans!
I think RBC and WF is neck on neck honestly based on al league tables out there.
From a purely exit opportunity and deal flow perspective, that’ll depend on the group WITHIN the bank as mentioned in some of the comments in this forum. While you can compare the bank solely on IB revenue generated (to which WF did better in 2024), seeing which industry coverage you want to get into or what specific product banker you want to dive into and comparing those are the best way to go about when curious about deal flow and exit opportunity. I’ll be leaving prestige aside for this response.
Framework I personally use: Better coverage / product group = more deal flow = better reps / talking points in interview / experience = stronger exit opportunity
I won’t go much into details into which specific coverage groups are better or worse within the two banks and will leave the research up to you but using the framework above, I believe that’s the best way to figure out. One clear cut example of comparison is REGAL. You will hear this often that WF is a strong balance sheet bank and uses it to win deals and that’s true. Real Estate is a financing-heavy industry (especially on the debt side) and WF has been using their strong balance sheet to win not just financing deals but also M&A deals within that space increasingly. This naturally has made them stronger in the REGAL space and it’s a coverage group that is well regarded not just within the bank but across the street. The results has been that the analysts in that group get better deal flow, better experience, and thus better exits compared to DB REGAL coverage team.
So point is, don’t just compare the bank - reflect on which industry you want to learn about/get exposure on, research the group that aligns with that industry you want to learn about, and from there you can go ahead and get a better comparison and pick the best fit. Just my 2cents
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