Deutsche Bank London Culture / Reputation
Acutely aware of DBs general propensity tor getting battered on this forum, but nonetheless keen for some insight:
1. Sector Teams: Consensus seems to be that LevFin and REGL are the top groups, how are Industrials, TMT, and C&R? In terms of reputation and hours / broader culture. Any other decent / standout groups?
2. Junior ‘WLB’: Wishful thinking maybe, but any semblance of protected weekends? And then again broadly curious about hours across teams for A1/2.
3. Repositioning / strategic shift: just buzzwords and signalling, or any meaningful impact on reputation and prospects?
Any other DB London tidbits would also be appreciated and would help decision-making. TIA.
bump
Industrials is known to be the best team and a sweatshop. Levfin, REGL, TMT are also solid. Rest is very weak with the worst being HC
Yep cheers, seen this sentiment echoed elsewhere on here.
Any breakdown within Industrials? Not sure if/how verticals are allocated but sounds like a pretty big team.
Services is the largest vertical and the most active. Others include the classic industrials ones and are quite balanced
LevFin, Industrials, TMT and REGLL - the rest are atrocious
DB HC worst team in UK, terrible seniors and no deals. It destroyed many top analysts… REGL Infra Consumer TMT better but best teams at DB are LevFin, DL and DPG
Good to know w.r.t HC.
Forgive the cluelessness but - DPC and DL?
DPG is distressed products group, DL is direct lending. Both part of Fixed Income and Currencies, both do well
IND, LevFin and TMT are the strongest teams. Fig has been getting good momentum and has better culture. Recently also started M&A exec group
Interned at DB London over the summer, (in FIC not IB) - LevFin and Industrials both seemed the most pursued groups on the O&A side. Industrials absolutely is a sweatshop but seems to do well. Other teams not so sure, I think healthcare etc. is nothing special, they also have some cool unusual teams like SETG. Overall vibe is pretty good, results have been great for DB as a whole and stock price has done great although so has European banking sector in general. Generally optimistic vibe, and although Frankfurt is the HQ, the London office kinda feels like the centre of the operation given the foothold in the US isn't as strong (and LDN office is brand new purpose built in a superprime location). Repeatedly heard/being told that O&A is a "growth area" for the bank and that seems true, solid sized SA class and plenty of recent senior hires, and return offer rate seemed perfectly fine so hiring seems good. Still not as strong as FIC but they are trying to get it there - still a ways to go to be competitive in M&A with other bulge brackets to be honest. DCM fine, ECM doesn't seem up to much. Opinion on CEO is high, DB was bogged down by litigation for a while which seems to be over, has helped morale and DB's reputation. Grad offer is £6k sign-on, £65k base for FIC, I assume O&A gets the same as we're both under the Investment Bank and I can confirm summer analyst pay was identical. Cafeteria overpriced and a bit mid. Front desk are lovely.
Take with some salt because I was in not in O&A so this is adjacent viewpoint and FIC has been killing it so I have somewhat rose-tinted glasses about the whole place.
What does sweatshop mean? 09.00-2.00 regularly? Sunday?
Think constant 3am 6/7
Can't say anything for definite but I think actually later than 2 regularly and a lotlotlot of facetime culture
mate you’re an absolute legend for this, cheers!!
You headed back as a grad?
Yes! You're very welcome, but please take it all as conjecture lol
This is such a great overview. Can you expand a bit on your summer experience FIC at DB and whether you're looking forward to returning? Received the same grad offer you described without having done the internship. Cheers!
Hey, yeah super excited to go back :) congrats ont hr grad offer that's very impressive without the summer. I will ping you my LinkedIn if u wanna connect?
Any advice on what desks to pick for fic, or just good desks there in general? incoming at deutche and thinking between macro credit, fx vol and rates fol. Im a maths student who can code and want to optimise for interesting work and buy side exists, prefferably less on the fundamentals side and more kinda semi systematic.
Saw they opened O&A off cyle for September, anyone know if there’s a way around the 1 application/year limit, pretty annoying when banks have this
Yeah it's annoying, my friend had the same problem. Honestly don't think so and if you apply with a different email they'll know and potentially blacklist :(
Ft at db - avoid hc, ecm, dcm etc, best team would be levfin. Strongest industry teams are industrials followed by tmt. Regll, infra and utilities a level below but still do some good deals. Consumer and fig are decent, fig is a focus area but they’ve hired too many analysts recently so waiting for deal flow to ramp up.
This ranking consistent with how competitive the networking process will be, most people will aim for ind and tmt. Tmt has better work life balance, juniors usually leave the office ~10/11 and work from home until 12-2am. Industrials you will likely be worked very hard. Heard about interns getting called into office 9pm on Sunday (not sure how true but regularly worked weekends), and consistently working past 3am. Rest of the teams were better in terms of hours.
Conversion at db historically very high. Top teams mentioned above usually convert everyone if they are good enough. They also take the most interns (4-5). Rest also have high conversion but my team converted 2/3, and seems to be the case with quite a few others.
Super helpful, thanks. Mind if I PM you?
Yeah feel free to
Super helpful, do you know what the exits are like from Infra and REGLL?
Bump
Is Business Services the same culturally as Industrials or are they somewhat separate?
I am on the buy side but have dealt with both DB Industrials and DB Services teams on some situations. People in services were much sharper, particularly their seniors are very knowledgeable and would argue some of the best I have worked with across other banks
How does Industrials, tmt, REGLL and Infra compare on exits?
Any updates for M&A, REGLL, HC, FIG and I&U?
Can anyone provide some colour on their UK Industrials and Business Services team? I applied for an associate opening in that ream recently, so I would like to know what is the team like in terms of deal flow, culture, strongest verticals.
The top team at DB, very sharp and sweaty. Very strong in services
That’s true for the Global Industrials team. UK industrials is legacy Numis and very different.
How different is the UK (Numis) Team vs the Broader Industrials Team? In terms of work, prestige/ reputation?
Do the UK Team hold the pen on the model in UK situations (public/ private)?
And then, is there any cross staffing between UK and EMEA teams or they operate independently and have their own separate coverage universe?
Interested in knowing that as well.
Delectus ipsum occaecati expedita. Magnam dolorem ab et suscipit atque quia. At voluptatem vel quia esse qui corporis assumenda.
Amet voluptate odio quia molestias dicta officia. Ut quis vel eligendi eos magnam in. In non totam sint dolor ab et eligendi. Molestiae sit reiciendis dolorem quia illo et veniam.
Ratione rerum id doloribus ratione consequuntur aut. Amet maiores error qui reprehenderit rem possimus. Debitis et cupiditate placeat quaerat. Laborum iste voluptatem esse dolor aut.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Aut temporibus consequatur praesentium aut eos ut aut. Aut veniam porro officiis excepturi est et. Est amet quidem nihil expedita facilis aliquam. Deserunt non error voluptates molestiae. Laboriosam provident hic deserunt nisi ut accusamus ad. Sapiente pariatur provident nostrum praesentium quam ratione voluptatem.
Error maiores et animi est a et. Libero architecto et ea ullam consequuntur aut fuga sequi. Distinctio vel nisi ducimus est. Commodi incidunt quo in excepturi. Voluptatibus atque corporis delectus nihil ut deleniti quia. Molestias aliquid ut impedit ea sunt consectetur est necessitatibus.
Qui dolor omnis consequatur sed dolor. Voluptatem quis quos eaque velit laboriosam et alias. Vel sint assumenda sint accusamus dolorem similique quidem.
Tempore labore repellendus eveniet voluptatem repellat quo sed aut. Est et cumque facilis. Eum adipisci doloribus laboriosam quaerat. Quod officiis nam nemo corrupti quo est.