“My mentoring session with Andre was extremely valuable and gave me the clarity and direction I needed at an important stage of my application journey. He was kind, approachable, and generous with his time, creating an atmosphere in which I felt comfortable sharing my experiences, asking questions, and discussing my doubts openly.
One of the most helpful aspects of our conversation was his guidance on how to organize and communicate my personal story. Andre helped me understand how to connect different experiences into a coherent narrative, identify the elements that matter most, and explain their significance more clearly. His perspective was fundamental in helping me see how to present my background with greater confidence, purpose, and authenticity.
I particularly appreciated his advice on what to avoid. He helped me recognize that including every detail does not necessarily make a story stronger, and that being selective can make a message much more effective. Our discussion gave me a clearer understanding of how to avoid unnecessary repetition, keep my narrative focused, and ensure that each part contributes something meaningful to the overall application.
Andre also provided valuable guidance on how to organize the application process itself. He helped me think more clearly about priorities, how to approach the different components, and how to make the work feel more manageable. Having a clearer structure has made a difference to my mindset: instead of seeing the applications as one overwhelming task, I now feel better equipped to approach them through specific, achievable steps.
Another important takeaway was his advice on how to use the coming days effectively. Our conversation helped me understand where to focus my energy, which tasks deserve immediate attention, and how to establish a realistic plan. I left the session with a stronger sense of direction and a better understanding of how to balance thoughtful preparation with consistent progress.
What made the experience positive was the combination of practical guidance and encouragement. Andre offered suggestions in a considerate and constructive way, helping me reflect on my choices while also making me feel supported. His kindness made it easier to engage honestly with the process and to see areas for improvement as opportunities to strengthen my applications.
Overall, this session was fundamental in helping me understand both what I want to communicate and how to move forward. I now have a clearer approach to telling my story, organizing my applications, avoiding common mistakes, and planning the next few days with intention.
I am very grateful for Andre’s support and for the care he brought to our conversation. His advice gave me useful tools, renewed confidence, and a more focused approach to the work ahead. I would highly recommend a session with him to anyone seeking thoughtful guidance, practical direction, and a supportive space to develop their application narrative. The session helped me turn uncertainty into a clearer plan, and I feel much more prepared to make the most of the time ahead and present my experiences in a meaningful and convincing way.”
Only applies for NA stuff-
Winners: WF and RBC: performed better this year than in years past and is improving.
Losers: UBS: performed worse than the pro-forma combined entity. We have to truly see next year to see the real effects since it was going through merger pains and integration pains for most of the year, but not looking good for the pro-forma entity. I am not saying it's finished for the firm and weak 1H performance is perfectly understandable but weak 2H performance signals there is trouble there. We'll have to see what 2025 holds and it's possible they do better, but there are clear signs of weakness.
Is Wells actually doing better from an advisory perspective? I know they’ve made some big hires and seem to want to grow but growth seems very slow. They have very good capabilities on the lending side so you would think they would be able to leverage that into advisory deals.
Can actually speak to this since I have a really good friend there.
In short, WF does in fact get a lot of additional advisor credits where they don't do much still BUT now there are more and more deals they are winning where they serve as the lead advisor. It's obviously not a BB yet or rival to it despite what the league tables tell you, but there is more and more work where they are actually the lead advisor which is very encouraging. For reference, previously it was almost all of them doing barely anything or mostly lending but sometimes getting credit for relationship reasons, but now they are seemingly winning more deals as either the lead or not due to pure lending relationships.
Also want to note that deals due to lending relationships aren't a WF-only thing, but all BB and large banks do it. RBC also does the same thing as WF, but also has similar trends from the experiences of my friends there thus me grouping both of them together.
How did Piper Sandler do?
I think good, atleast in Houston
Jeff had a great year
Citi did well this year. MS back at #2 after a bad covid stretch. Top EBs performing as expected.
Santander?
Just the worse UBS. News made it seem like they took significantly better seniors than UBS did but league tables in what CS was strong in (LevFin & Sponsors banking) show UBS dramatically outperformed them in terms of improvement. Last I checked deal logic UBS was top 3 in new LBO lead lefts and top 5 in overall lead lefts for sponsors deals, Santandar wasn't top 10 in either. UBS LevFin and Sponsors franchise went from okay to one of the better ones on the street, whilst Santadar's really hasn't been able to step up to the big leagues.
Also, just have friends at both banks from the transition and the UBS ones seem to have more deals/stuff to talk about for the resume.
JEF has made some big shifts and would say they won 2024 with growth
And yet they screwed over their bankers yet again (other than Rick, Brian and the boy bureaucrat head of IB)
No one cares about how institutions do, only how individuals do
+1 on WF and Jeffries. Source: https://wsjapp.dealogic.com/scorecard
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