You mfs should run as far away from Houston energy IB as you can. It’s a dead / dying breed. If you’re into renewables / infra there are some shops who are converting rapidly to try to position themselves in that space, but most of the Houston bankers are likely to be gone in the next decade as energy consolidates and declines

 

Any thoughts on who you believe are/will be most successful in the transition?

 

If you want to go that route, become really good friends with HR and people from other offices in your training class... then ask at the end of the summer if there're any openings

 

Updating this 2 years later. There was probably some unwarranted shade towards energy after going through a really down cycle for deal flow. 2 years later and a little smarter / more level headed, I think energy (conventional and transition) is one of the best places to be focused on for the next 5 years. I still don’t know how much longevity there is, and from a career development it is risky because so much of the analysis in energy is non-transferable to other industries, so I would still say all else equal a generalist seat is better. But it is definitely not going away anytime soon and the world needs conventional energy for another 2 decades at least. Within conventional energy - I’d be trying to be focused on midstream / infra as those are the most transferable to the energy transition opportunities that are still being developed.

Will come back in another two years to re-update everyone that energy is dead again when the supercycle doesn’t materialize and upstream companies start to outspend their cash flow

 
ChuckYatesNeedsAJob

Updating this 2 years later. There was probably some unwarranted shade towards energy after going through a really down cycle for deal flow. 2 years later and a little smarter / more level headed, I think energy (conventional and transition) is one of the best places to be focused on for the next 5 years. I still don't know how much longevity there is, and from a career development it is risky because so much of the analysis in energy is non-transferable to other industries, so I would still say all else equal a generalist seat is better. But it is definitely not going away anytime soon and the world needs conventional energy for another 2 decades at least. Within conventional energy - I'd be trying to be focused on midstream / infra as those are the most transferable to the energy transition opportunities that are still being developed.

Will come back in another two years to re-update everyone that energy is dead again when the supercycle doesn't materialize and upstream companies start to outspend their cash flow

Houston has too many banks and bankers covering the space. RIP DB / BMO and more to certainly get closed. 

Not a bad place to start a career but trying to be a career upstream banker starting as 22 YO now would be rough 

too many bank policies against oil and gas lending and other headaches to maneuver 

 

Yeah its laughable seeing everyone saying how dead energy is. Probably the same people who shorted Tesla at $50 and GME at $20. 

Reality is energy isn't as crazy as it was, but it's still a great place to be at the right bank.

If you're at Evercore or Jefferies, then you're doing great. I heard Jefferies Houston has protected weekends now and guaranteed large bonuses due to a ton of 2nd year analysts leaving.

Now if you're at UBS or BMO (rip), then maybe should try to exit to somewhere else.

 

as an incoming intern at one of the two shops you listed (EVR/JEF), you don't know how nice that makes me feel. 

 

I've heard of this recent protected weekend policy as well, my roommate used to work at JEF HOU and mentioned the culture has changed 180 and it's way more chill now. Apparently it's actually enforced, as in to work on the weekend you need to have clearance from the group head. Think Citi / TPH have recently implemented something similar as well

 

Don’t believe either one has something similar. Both have pretty long hours and I know TPH doesn’t have protected weekends. Also, I would look at the recent thread about Citi refusing to pay for seamless while WFH and the email from the MD to the analyst lambasting him for asking for a meal stipend. 
 

Both have historically solid deal flow but I would not go to either one if WLB is the goal. 

 

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