Hoping to learn more about investment banks in Los Angeles. My current firm's only california presence is in San Francisco. I've done a bit of research and think I understand which banks are in LA, but it's hard to tell what groups are out there. Also hoping to know a little more about the culture of each shop. Thanks!
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There was a thread for Moelis LA vs Moelis NY a couple of days back and it had some insights. I'm from the eastcoast and the only two groups I know of is ->
1) Barclays LA - supposed to have the best culture in LA & maybe even SF, analysts place surprisingly well
2) Moelis LA - Supposed to have sick exits. Used to have a pretty rough culture but it's supposed to be improving? No idea
I'll tag some of the LA/westcoast bankers - Synergy_or_Syzygy , labanker , West Coast rainmaker , LAtoSF (don't know any others)
Edit -> Below post summed it incredibly well
Thanks, the landscape seems to change a bit every year. The exec summary is that all the LA groups are fairly strong due to the fact you need a strong MD to be able to pull in business and support an office here. That being said each bank has a different focus and culture, so recruiting here can be tough before you get to know the landscape and do lots of informationals at each bank. I won't get into "best bank" because I work here and it's subjective. If you want to do Sponsors work you have 2 (or maybe 3 with MS) fantastic options. If you want to do sell-side M&A there are also excellent options. Here's a summary of the last LA thread with my current take:
Los Angeles Investment Banking Landscape v_2019
Elite Boutiques * Moelis - Large office pseudo-HQ, exposure to lots of different things, Moelis rep, deal flow and exits. Culture appears to be improving (through hiring more people) although still you will work the hardest here. * PWP - growing fast, great team here with a lot of smart people who jumped from BAML LA. People seem happy * Lazard - Very strong A&D but also has Consumer and west coast coverage * Centerview - Media apparently although don't know much
BB groups * Morgan Stanley - I think the title of largest BB goes here. Mixture of a lot of things, Gaming, Consumer, M&A, etc. Seems to be expanding team with more Sponsors stuff but wouldn't call it a full-fledged Sponsors group (not at all like Barc/CS which can be 70%+ Sponsors work) * Bank of America Securities - kind of like MS but a more tight-knit office * GS - West coast coverage which focuses on media & entertainment and consumer retail * JPM - Small, regional coverage and M&A * Citi - metals and mining global HQ, smaller office, located in Downtown LA (DTLA) * RBC - Just started, hard to say what's going on with a prominent MD departure but over long term I would expect them to grow LA office quite a bit so may be "getting in on the ground floor"
Financial Sponsors (FSG) + Coverage BB * Barclays - FSG + Consumer cross-staffed with emphasis on Sponsors; (also has a separate small Gaming/Lodging group) * Credit Suisse - FSG + Gaming/Lodging cross-staffed, larger office than Barclays but practically mirror images of each other
MM + groups * Houlihan - HQ office, largest LA banking office. RX is a separate group and great reputation. Corporate Finance will be in a specific group e.g. aerospace and defense, healthcare, etc and more middle-market * Wells Fargo - Regional coverage and MM investment banking, formerly had Sponsors group * Rothschild - West Coast Coverage for sure, mix of industries * Lincoln International - Sell-side M&A with focus on Financial Sponsors sell sides; located in DTLA * Macquarie - Consumer, Gaming, and Leisure (think they also have Metals and Mining?) * Jefferies - I know they have a few senior people here but not sure about Analysts/Associates * Piper Jaffray - office in El Segundo, but may not have juniors according to NuclearPenguins * Deloitte Corporate Finance - middle market team with coverage in tech/consumer
Boutiques Common places for West Coast target students to do a sophomore internship
EDIT: Alphabetically organized the boutiques list. Please let me know if there is a better way to categorize the list:
Stout
Many others... tell me what I'm missing / correct me and earn a SB!
+1
Which banks are strongest in Biotech out there? Figure there would be some good demand for biotech teams in the bay area. Don't think you touched on healthcare specifically.
I'd add Macquarie (gaming) as well as Wells Fargo (regional coverage).
Livingstone Partners got an office in LA which works hand in hand with their Chicago office.
What banks would you say has a notable technology or TMT group?
I'd say the Piper one doesn't really count. Don't think there are any analysts there (at least there weren't any when I was in IB).
Wow, what a great list. Thank you for this.
Intrepid is also based in LA... decent lower MM sell side group with a fair amount of sponsor-related sale mandates
Deloitte Corporate Finance in LA? They have a middle market team with coverage in tech/consumer
Does anyone know which banks specialize in or well known for Healthcare IT / Healthcare Services?
TIA
FocalPoint Partners is a decently well-known boutique in that area. Objective Capital Partners is another, but probably not worth looking into.
cappello no longer at their nice SM offices :) DA davidson is not in LA its in costa mesa
Do you know if Rothschild LA has C&R coverage?
GS focuses on primarily Healthcare with a smaller presence in Consumer Retail. You recruit for one or the other (at least at the Associate level). LA and SF are a joint offices and work together on the Healthcare and Consumer side. TMT is only based in SF.
Source: Have friends who work there
Can anyone speak to the kinds of exits one could expect at these banks? As far as I understand, the strongest exits aren't exactly aligned with the traditional rankings one would expect from, say, the New York offices often spoken about on this forum.
Thanks!
Bump! Curious on how they differ from NY groups as well
I know that analyst exit ops are very strong for the sponsors/lev fin groups out there. Place into just about any west coast PE firm.
Duff & Phelps has an office in century city. They do aerospace, consumer, healthcare, and RX (Chanin Capital).
delete
Thanks, updated! Too much surfing perhaps.
Do west coast bankers go surfing instead of Golfing with C-Level execs?
I would add:
Sage Advisors - Consumer boutique. KAL Capital - Aerospace spinout of Salem Partners B. Riley & Co. DA Davidson Stout Roth Capital
These are all fairly big. Analysts class of >1 (besides KAL)
Added!
I'd also add Cascadia Capital (DTLA, opened up within the last two years)
Strongest bank in real estate related group (lodging or gaming too)?
MS / CS / Barcap, probably in order of team size. Not sure what other banks in LA have this function.
I've heard that Macquarie has a really strong gaming group.
Best exit opps definitely from Wells Fargo. They’re the only one of the above banks advising on the largest, blue-chip M&A deals with West Coast conglomerates. Their powerful brand name alone wins them deal mandates. Analysts here can expect to place with the most elite and selective PE firms such as Carlyle, KKR, Blackstone, etc.
Are you sure about this? Don't know much about LA but I've never heard of Wells being strong anywhere on the WC. Maybe NY LevFin analysts place well but otherwise, I'm pretty sure it isn't great.
He's trolling
Does anyone know which LA banks have the best work life balance (for the industry of course)? Where will you actually see Saturdays and enjoy the LA lifestyle? Moelis and GS are notoriously sweatshops there, but beyond that, there's just a lot of conjecture and outdated posts.
bump!
You'll probably only get that level of work-life balance at one of the small boutiques mentioned above (e.g., Cappello, Cascadia, Arrowroot).
Anyone have info on guggenheim's structured finance group in Santa Monica? Reputation?
Can anyone speak to the Rx groups in LA?
Dominated by HL obviously. Moelis also works on increasingly more RX situations. Not sure about others.
Innovation Capital can be added, focuses on gaming
Anyone have an opinion on FocalPoint? The firm seems to be growing, have recently opened up a NY and a Shanghai office
Raymond James' biotech banking group is now based in LA (new group head sits here) and they are opening a tech office here too.
When you say a tech office, are you referring to BioTech or other tech-specific verticals including fintech, wealtech, insurtech, and etc?
Does anyone have any more info on RBC’s LA office? I know they’re very new and small and hired Kent Savagian from Moelis but how has the integration been going? Deal flow, hours, culture, comp?
Any more info on CS's LA office? Specifically from an associate view if possible
They cover sponsors and real estate (gaming and lodging mostly). Small office (and arguably getting smaller), but cool group of guys. The sponsor team in LA also does LevFin.
Does anyone have any thoughts on Moelis vs HL RX? I like the fact that Moelis has a generalist platform, but RX itself seems more interesting and Moelis LA seems to be more focused on sell-side M&A, which could get old.
HL RX LA is def much better especially considering they're one of the top RX players and HQ'd in LA. Moelis LA used to be good but heard from people that it's a dying office as NY starts to get more deals especially with the RX focus.
You sure Moelis LA is a dying office? What's your source, I def haven't heard that piece of information.
If you want to do primarily RX, you should go to a group that focuses on purely RX. The only one in LA that does that is HL. Ducera recently opened up a very small office with a former MD from HL, but no idea if they have any deals yet.
If you're interested in exiting to the buy-side or want a generalist experience then Moelis LA would definitely be the better choice. It's considered one of the best shops on the west coast, just look at the quality of recent exits or analyst class for reference. However, if you're confident you only want to do RX then HL obviously makes more sense.
Any insight on Citi, Rothschild, RBC, or Lincoln?
Citi is located in dtla and does metals & mining m&a (3 year analyst program, global head sitting in the office) Rothschild does regional coverage (fsg and tech I believe) RBC covers media and poached folks out of moelis as mentioend above. (more of a lifestyle office) Lincoln is also in dtla and does generalist m&a (albiet strong a&d and fsg coverage)
Thanks for the groups, any info in terms of analyst experience/exits/reputation?
Heard from a friend that the RBC LA office has great media and entertainment deal flow because the new head of the office is a Vice Chairman at RBC. They said the people were really nice and the hours weren't crazy. Also said they had great exposure to seniors because the office is so small
Does anyone have any info on BAML LA?
BAML LA lost their top rainmaker to PWP LA a few years ago. SInce then half of the office's focus has shifted towards midmarket deals (much like what GS is trying to do with their focus downmarket). Large analyst classes and strange location (westwood on wilshire). I think the office has a pretty uncertain future.
They’re moving to Century City soon last I heard.
Any updates on GS LA in 2020?
GS LA is part of WRA (West Region Advisory) and now splits its analysts and associates into either HC or consumer/retail. It's GS, so you can expect solid deal flow and exits.
Do they not do as much media/entertainment work anymore?
deleted.
Thoughts on MS LA?
based on my experience recruiting for the office
Very strong office - has an M&A execution team and primarily covers Consumer / Retail / eCommerce, Media & Gaming. Also works with Financial Sponsors, Healthcare, Industrials, etc. (anything non-tech). After poaching Brian Stearns from BAML 2 years ago, office became a big player within Media & Entertainment and was recently Lead Left Bookrunner on Warner Music's IPO. Other clients covered out of the office include Disney, Revolve, Starbucks, Gap, Whataburger, Live Nation, MGM, Scripps, Jack in the Box, Regal, Levi's, etc. 2 Global Heads sit in the office along with 2 Western Region Heads and 4 other MDs - lot's of senior exposure. Heard they also do some work with sports, so very generalist experience. ~35 bankers total, largest BB in LA as @Synergy_or_Syzygy mentioned above.
This is spot-on. I just went through recruiting and had the privilege of interviewing with them. Amazing people. They work on some really cool deals.
Is the media work mostly financing. How are hours/lifestyle?
Check out @TigerCubber 's recent post, it gives a good lay of the land: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/los-angeles-ib
Redacted, reluctantly
damn u exposed him bro
Why you gotta expose him like that on an online forum? LA offices are typically very small. Please redact your comment.
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