Deciding among BB offers

I've narrowed my options to Citi and Barclays. Would love to get people's opinions on which of the two would be better in terms of experience and exit opps.

Both are generalist, but Citi Industrials, FIG, RE are possibilities based on how I have networked. Don't think Citi M&A is possible as I did ER at another bank this summer. Thanks.

 
Best Response

know a number people in Citi M&A. They have 1-2 spots this year, assuming everybody who got an offer accepts (hard to see somebody turning down Citi M&A unless they got top group at a top BB).

If you want PE, and you think there is a good chance that you'll end up in RE / FIG at Citi, BarCap might be a better call, as they do all of their M&A in the coverage groups and you probably won't be in such a niche industry.

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Citi M&A trumps, but their deal flow hasn't been great this year. So take that with a grain of salt. Also: keep in mind that Barclays has M&A within all their coverage groups, who own the model regardless of the product.

For industries: Cons/Retail: Citi trumps FIG: Barc trumps only because it also has M&A within coverage TMT: It's a toss up, but I think Barc would trump for the M&A aspect as well Sponsors: Citi trumps. Bigger balance sheet; own the model Industrials: Citi trumps Healthcare: either or, but M&A within coverage prob makes Barc more appealing Real Estate: don't go to Barc Power/NatRes: Barc

Hope that helps!

 

I go to an HYPWS and can tell you that the kids who ended up at Barclays this year were notably better than the kids who went to Citi. Citi was the last bank to recruit for the summer, so maybe that played a factor. However, I did meet a lot of Citi people during accelerated recruiting this summer who worked in industry groups and they ALL told me they were trying to leave because Citi consistently outsources its M&A to its product group. Barclays, as everyone has pointed out, does M&A in each industry group. I think that in and of itself is a huge deal and I would take Barclays without question unless you can get Citi to give you M&A before you sign.

 

As most people have said, this is mostly group dependent. It's definitely difficult to keep that in mind when you have generalist offers, but one's experience can vary widely within a bank.

Overall though, I would say that Citi has more strong groups than Barclays. Strong groups at Citi: M&A, Industrials, Consumer, TMT (Mainly telecom). Strong groups at Barc: NatRes. Also not sure if this happens for Barclyas FT offers, but I know for SA, IBD generalists could also get put in capital markets (DCM, ECM, levfin). As far as I know, Citi IBD only includes IBD and not capital markets.

 

That last line is actually incorrect. I have a friend who was placed into a fairly esoteric group in DCM at Citi and was extraordinarily bummed.

He thought he had M&A locked up from networking with alumni, and I will never forget the look of sheer horror on his face as he opened the email with his placement. We were sitting next to each other and I just remember looking over and seeing his knuckles turning white as he gripped the edge of the table.

Haven't heard from him in months, should check in and see how he's doing.

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