Importance of Target/Differences in Recruiting for LA IB

Haven't seen a lot of info on this site for LA IBD recruiting, seems to be heavily geared towards NYC. Do LA banks have different sets of target schools from their NYC counterparts, or is it less rigid? And how does recruiting for LA differ from NYC (Obviously fewer slots, but possibly less competition, less target heavy?). 

I attend a Semi on the east coast

2 Comments
 
Most Helpful

LA IBD recruiting is usually done based on outreach. For a BB with a 4 person analyst class, ~280 students might reach for jr. summer, we'll superday 50, and give 4 offers (obviously tons more apply without the networking aspect). Given the smaller offices and tight-knit teams, we often pass students around if we like them and have 4-5 conversations before moving forward. Over the course of the process, students tend to meet at least 50% of the offices and the superday might consist of 6-8 interviews. 

There are not necessarily set target schools, but we tend to consistently get a solid group of analysts from the typical west coast targets - Berkeley, USC, UCLA, etc. (Stanford kids don't go for banking as much, but we do see them from time to time) in addition to the regular east coast students from LA who reach out. Since the process is much more ad hoc, students from all schools have a fair chance. A typical superday might have a mix of Berkeley, USC, UCLA, Stanford, Ivies, Duke, NYU, etc. 

A simple LinkedIn search will give you a sense of the analyst classes and schools:

GS - UChicago, OSU, Ivey, UCLA, BYU, USC, Penn, Berkeley

MS - UCLA, Harvard, CMC, UMich, Yale, Cornell, NYU, Berkeley, USC, Brown, Penn 

BAML - Dartmouth, USC, UCLA, Yale, WashU

Barclays - USC, Berkeley, Arizona, Washington, UMich, UVA, Harvard

CS - Berkeley, Pomona, UCLA, ASU, Utah, BYU, Penn, USC

Citi - USC, Berkeley, UCLA , BYU, Northeastern, CMC

Lazard - Berkeley, USC, Arizona, Villanova, McGill

Moelis - Yale, Penn, CMC, Georgia, Duke, USC, McGill, UCLA, Cornell, Ivey, McMaster, Berkeley, UBC, UChicago

PWP - Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Stanford

HL RX - Berkeley, McGill, USC, UCLA, Penn, Ivey

Some would argue that LA recruiting is harder than NY due to the extensive process and amount of touchpoints you have with the bankers. It's easy to hide in a group of 15-20 analysts in NY, but when you're in LA, you get the reps in from day 1. It's been a pleasure seeing my analysts go through the program and I'm personally a big advocate for banking in the best city. Feel free to ask further questions - happy to help in any way as there seems to be not enough information on here with regards to LA. Cheers. 

 

Delectus sint similique enim. Consequatur et dolorem minima est inventore. Vitae tenetur iusto ullam quis qui dicta aut. Consequatur totam debitis dolorem rem et est. Nesciunt similique non asperiores. Omnis reprehenderit sit aut soluta laudantium adipisci.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (67) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”