DB vs Wells Fargo IB

DB

This is so pretentious.

I would say Wells Fargo. If this was a few years ago, the answer would be DB, but their IB business has been a sinking ship for a while. Wells has picked up some serious dealmakers and seems to have a favorable trajectory for M&A. Never rely on the "bulge bracket" label - so many people on this forum use it as a standard of measuring banks (i.e. the thread on DB vs. Jefferies a couple months ago).

What groups are both of you in?

Might want to change your username so as to better anonymize yourself.

I work at DB (in Europe) so am biased.

Both opportunities are pretty good. Wells Fargo probably has greater longer term upside potential in the U.S., but you need to consider it in context of execution risk. On a probability weighted basis, they are probably about the same. If you are doing 2 years and then going into PE, DB currently has more alumni which I'd guess makes recruiting easier.

What I would say is:

Wells Fargo: they are investing in their franchise and may very well build something akin to what RBC has managed to build (if not even better) in the U.S. over the next 5 years

DB: DB reached its nadir in 2019 and has since stablized. It is smaller than it was, especially in the U.S., but things are picking up. For example, they were recently sole advisor to Lotus on its de-Spac. The business will continue to grow and recover, but at a slower pace than before, as current management is more prudent. I doubt it will ever return to its peak in the U.S.