IB in Los Angeles - banks, groups, culture?
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!
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!
Raymond James' biotech banking group is now based in LA (new group head sits here) and they are opening a tech office here too.
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.
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.