How do you characterize banks like Wells Fargo/UBS/Mizuho/RBC etc.
Looking at summer internships at some of the bigger banks and was wondering how you would characterize these large balance sheet banks like Wells Fargo/UBS/Mizuho/RBC etc? I hear these firms have both balance sheet and M&A capabilities which is unique, but not sure if they're considered BB or not. Seems to be a great all around experience from what I've read on here.
Definitely different than banks like Jefferies and also different than large M&A advisors like GS/MS. Also, how do you recommend breaking in given the crazy number of applications at these large banks. Just curious to hear some overall thoughts.
Thanks!
To be honest, I wouldn't put Wells Fargo, UBS, Mizuho, or RBC in the same category.
UBS is generally considered a BB, albeit not to the same extent that the US banks like JP Morgan or Goldman are. Being Swiss, it's predictably got a very strong asset management / wealth management division and has been a decent player in M&A the past few years. It used to have a stronger trading arm (in Europe, at least), however this has been "strategically de-emphasised" the past few years.
Wells Fargo is what I'd term "a universal bank" - it has a huge balance sheet, so can support all the core (and, to a large extent, auxiliary) IB functions. That said, because of its broad service offering, it isn't considered a speciality / elite player in the same vein that BBs are.
Mizuho and RBC fall into the size bucket below. Both have a more geographically concentrated focus and less balance sheet, however tend to be very solid operators in their main competencies. This is especially the case for RBC: I'm less familiar with Mizuho, however I know that RBC gets decent M&A deal flow and is a very efficient trader. RBC also has a better presence outside of its main geography (North America), whereas Mizuho is still heavily Japan-focused.