Houston Banks: MS vs. Citi vs. Jefferies
thoughts on these options? With what's going on in the markets rn I'd like to gtfo of energy (or at least go to an energy Megafund vs. a local energy PE firm). NYC isn't really an option given OCR at my school but may be for FT recruiting
Assuming this is for SA 2021, I think there is a similar thread on GS vs. EBs. Historically, GS/MS have been considered the easier Houston banks to get to NY from. Not because they are top Houston BB, but just the brand.
I would say it’s hard to predict how summer 2021 or FT in 2022 will be. Historically, Jefferies has been considered the top Houston bank to learn O&G. But they have been downsizing recently, and it’s unlikely that prowess would carry over to non-energy recruiting. I would consider Jefferies as having a higher “O&G” beta compared to the other options.
For Citi vs MS, I’m not knowledgeable about how their analysts have recruited to get a “right” answer. Would say Citi has been considered a top Energy BB in terms of deal flow, but is also a much larger analyst class than MS. While MS is smaller and has fewer deals, there is evidence that the brand carries some weight.
If you were die-hard O&G, you would historically rank as Jeff>Citi>MS. You could argue Post-COVID that Citi is a better bet due to the capital markets exposure.
If you wanted to exit O&G, I would rank MS>Citi>Jeff
Also, the issue with MF energy is that it is becoming a smaller and smaller space. For example, Carlyle shut down its Mezz group and Warburg has closed its Houston office and won’t raise another energy fund. Hard thing to bet on in 2024.