What are the best healthcare IB groups? Specifically which location is best for each firm (NY/SF), and which groups have great dealflow/exits. Any color as to what each firms' main verticals are would also be great.
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CVP
CVP, Lazard, JPM
which location for each of these? NY vs. SF
LAZ still on that tier? Would assume EVR and PJT better now
EVR>>PJT>>>>>>>LAZ now
CVP first tier, GS JPM Evr Laz and Citi all in second tier. Most teams cross staff between ny and sf for deals but majority of seniors sit in ny
What about MS?
Would say on par with GS, similar deal flow and high presence in large cap biopharma and healthcare services
Citi has been winning a bunch of mandates and this China biotech stuff looks promising…
what china biotech stuff can you elaborate? is it under the MD Ling Zhang? heard hes a rainmaker
Ling is a woman dawg
gs la
Where is this list coming from?
biopharma: jpm, cvp, leerink, cowen, jeff, MS, GS
Not in any order btw. If this was ordered CVP would be so far above the rest for sellside m&a it's not even funny
cowen lol
CVP is so good that I have heard from colleagues at various other banks that their MDs straight up went in knowing they'd lose to CVP on the sell-side and just spent their time trying to be the buy-side advisor of anyone worthwhile. CVP is so much better than the rest, it's comical.
Lmfao it's funny because I have heard literally the exact same thing from both BB and EB bankers...
I think it's just the truth across all banks. I have heard this from PE associates across BB/EBs, too; it was the case at the ex-bank, too. CVP wins most of any sell-side bake-offs they are in; a lot of non-CVP sell-sides that are decently large are just cases where CVP didn't want to do that deal. It only works as a strategy because CVP is on every single large-cap HC deal, so it doesn't make sense to select anyone else when CVP is pitching. Tokat at CVP is the best at what he does; he does like 10 large-cap M&A deals himself a year, just a crazy level of dominance by CVP in HC.
interned at one of the top BB HC groups this summer, focusing mainly on biotech / bioharma. the CVP skill gap is obscene. It’s not even like a Qatalyst vs GS TMT / MS Menlo dynamic where GS/MS still have solid market share, in biopharma CVP straight up murders everyone.
Out of curiosity, what differentiates the CVP team from all the other biopharma/biotech teams out there
Objective ranking here, split between exits and deal flow:
Deal Flow (5-year rolling):
1. CVP, JPM
2. GS, MS, EVR
3. Citi, BofA, PWP, Laz, Moe (good for services)
Exits
1. GS, MS, JPM, EVR probably all with 50%+ MF placement rates
2. Moe (Services exits well), Laz
3. CVP, PWP, BofA, Citi
Context; don't work in HC IB but have many friends including family in the space. In terms of exit, top-tier BB in flagship coverage groups typically have any MF looks. Boutiques in HC vary, CVP SF for example would see almost no buyside looks but kill in deal flow.
any thoughts on location for each?
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Damn this is some blind leading the blind convo between two interns here. The quality of realized exits is not indicative of the looks you can get at this level of banks. The reason you dont see CVP or LAZ SF move to MFPE is because the type of people that self-select into biotech IB is highly unlikely to be interested in large cap buyout. Also the class sizes for are tiny for those groups.
Rest assure MFPE do not actually give a fck what coverage you are in. IB work is not real work anyways unless VP+. All they care about is brand name and once you are at the interview room its up to you to convert. The HHs are absolutely hounding these guys, especially CVP, with looks.
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False, CVP is way better than JPM, it's not exactly close. I worked in HC, and MDs will actively go in and not bother doing sell-side pitches because we know CVP will win it (have heard similar from colleagues at other banks too). If CVP is in an HC bake-off, they win every time (obvious hyperbole is hyperbole before you give me a deal they didn't win on; but they win the majority). JPM is IMO the second strongest franchise, but the difference between CVP and the rest is huge (also very reflected in HC M&A fees; CVP dominates and is on quite literally every single mega-deal).
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Del
Sure maybe on current exits but you’re kidding yourself if you think CVP analysts aren’t getting looks anywhere they want lmfao most just don’t wanna exit to the same degree as GS/MS/JPM kids cause it’s a good place to be lol
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Would say CVP, JPM probably has highest deal flow franchise, then BBs like MS / GS / Citi. Will caveat that CVP completely dominates all biotech bake-offs, but the nature of being hyper-focused on biopharma means very limited exits to PE. In terms of exits, I would say any of the to BBs (JPM, MS, GS) will be your best bet
JPM HC has got to be the single most overrated HC group on the street… Probably 4 or 5 in biopharma, barely 3 or 4 in medtech especially after key departures, good at services, middling at best in hcit, and completely non existent in lsdx, it’s a franchise that has fallen in the rankings over time and should not even be even close to categorized in the same tier as CVP
on a five-year rolling deal volume basis JPM is certainly the top bank in healthcare bar none. CVP has taken a lot of share last 2 years and is probably top at the moment, but with ebbs and flows of volume would not bet on it lasting. JPM is certainly one of the best HC franchises and certainly would be in the same tier as CVP, IMO higher because of the legacy and reputation that will last decades.
Really depends on what you're going for.
Biotech / life sciences are way different than the services / HCIT side.
The biotech / life science / digital health side was very interesting to me. I understood digital health / service well, biotech often went over my head. I knew enough to answer basic technical for biotech / life science companies.
Despite the interest, I never got past an IB first round at the HC groups I interviewed with. I admittedly wasn't great at technicals and I didn't fit culturally with a lot of bankers I spoke to outside of the few firms that gave me an interview.
Another late add but if I did healthcare banking out of college and wanted to do MM Healthcare PE, Jefferies does a ton of deals in PE-backed HC services. They have storng peer banks that compete against them but from my understanding, JEF is consistent in bringing deals in this space. I've seen JEF bankers exit to interesting lesser known more operationally focused HC firms out there that work primarily on the services / provider IT side.
Where does Jefferies HC stack? On the Life Sciences side, they brought over JPM guys and also were sellside advisors on the two mega biotech M&A deals this year? How about services?
Also, how about other HC focused banks like LEER, Cain Brothers? Isn't HL also doing well this year?
Great bank for MM sponsor-backed service deals. Unsure about life sciences.
Any color on MOE Life sciences?
Speaking purely on deal-flow and not on exits (as I don’t know much about that part anymore), and taking into account both M&A and financing mandates
CVP, GS, JPM, MS, BofA, Evercore
Important to keep in mind that while not splashy, financing work does pay a lot of the bills for most banks, particularly given the ongoing equity capital markets need in biotech, and financing packages (bridge loans, long-term bond financing) for large biopharma / other acquirers to buy companies.
I’ve put CVP first just given they’ve had such a strong dominance in sell-side M&A, which even holistically I think does outweigh the fact they don’t do financing work. Particularly given relative scale of their teams.
But for the rest, it does take into account where banks tend to land on both fronts. GS tends to be towards the top in both (often buyer’s advisor if CVP is sellside, and often LL BR) but not always. JPM tends to be stronger in equities vs. M&A and just is a big shop which drives volume, which gives them a very slight edge over MS, plus the benefit of a big balance sheet. MS similar to GS but would argue slightly worse on both fronts re: positioning on M&A and equities. BofA is certainly best of the rest of the BBs in HC by a meaningful gap, but on less M&A total and will take financing seats to the right of GS/JPM/MS, while also having a big balance sheet to draw on. Evercore will have some good M&A roles at times and decent 2/3rd seats on financing but overall rounds out the list
Shops like Leerink really only appear in equities, Lazard only in M&A (and honestly I feel they’ve + other boutiques have gotten some of their M&A lunch eaten by CVP)
PS HC
This post has hyper focused into Biopharma and exits so just want to map it out a little better. Biopharma and HC services are 2 very distinct groups with different banks leading. Also, Biopharma has a lot of M&A and a lot of cap raises and ipos (not this yr but in general).
HC services: BB (the big 3 eapecially) do a good job here and banks like Jeff and Gugg certainly have a presence. You will see more traditional exits here because PE doesn't rly do Biopharma (yet. I suspect that could change in the future). HC services and HC IT companies are much more traditional HC and have the stable cash flows that sponsors look for, so a lot more sponsor activity.
Biopharma M&A: CVP without a doubt is leading the pack right now. Search up any recent M&A deal and CVP is most likely running sell side. Tokat is a gregarious and smart guy who has made the practice incredible. Some other notable ones are JPM, EVR, GS, but there's a big gap tbh. Less traditional exits if that's what you want but deal flow is incredible at CVP and Biopharma will always have a need given the nature of patent cliffs and the industry.
Biopharma capital raises & IPOs: there will always be a need given the facts that early stage biotechs are pre revenue so they need to ipo and do capital raises to stay afloat. Leerink leads the pack here by far. However, JPM, Jeff, Cowen, and basically all other balance sheet heavy banks play a role here (because the more money the merrier. But Leerink and JPM are usually the top). Let me know if I missed anything monkeys.
I really appreciate this -- to clarify though, most of services work is done in NY, while biopharma is primarily in SF? Are there any exceptions to this rule?
Unfortunately most of it is done in SF (CVP, MS, EVR, LAZ, GS).
Some exceptions I know of are Leerink (Bos, NY), MOE (LS group = NY, but much smaller than the others), and Jeff (NY, sweaty). Think Gugg has a VERY small presence in Boston, but don't bother with that one, more ER focused.
A list of ones I am unsure about (but I think they have a presence in NY) are JPM, BOFA, & TD Cowen.
Since this thread is so active, can people speak to the culture in any of these top HC groups? Literally haven't heard a thing so anything is appreciated (top BB groups, CVP, Jeff, TD, Leerink, etc.)
Avoid JEFF and TD Cowen if you care about your mental sanity
Jeff fair but Cowen? How's it so bad?
I enjoyed interacting with folks from MTS Health. If you nerd out to healthcare, their bankers really know the industry well based on my experiences talking to them. The only one I didn't get along with has left the firm to one of the other firms you listed.
Is it Leerink by any chance that he moved to?
How are the perks, culture and hours at CVP SF?
Top of street comp. Hours could be tough but they hire a lot of analysts with a background in bio (think pre-meds). Would be a different kind of banking than your typical HC services at Moe/JPM
How is citi healthcare
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