Investment Banking in Denver
There was a thread regarding this topic five years ago, but reposting to see if there have been any updates regarding investment banking in Denver.
I'm aware of Petrie/TPH having energy offices, along with Raymond James having a relatively diverse shop out there. Have these firms been expanding their footprint in Denver? Are there any newcomers to the area? Any thoughts on what the future investment banking scene in Denver might hold?
Appreciate any input, thanks!!
MM - Capstone Partners, D.A. Davidson (has public finance arm), Stifel Public Finance, Piper Sandler Public Finance, William Blair (recently expanded to Denver)
Boutiques - Petrie, Q Advisors, FMI, Slate Partners, GLC Advisors, SDR Ventures, Quadriga Partners, Class VI Partners, Industria Partners
Denver never really had a strong IB presence but the boutiques have been getting a lot of deal flow. Mostly energy/industrials.
EDIT: adding in RBC
Throw in TPH as well, although I think the office is pretty small.
Also throwing in FMI. IB in Denver office has ~20 people. Also has IB in Raleigh and Houston
These plus Forbes M&A, WG Nielsen, Aaron Bell International, Clayton Capital Partners, Peakview Partners. A lot of small shops under 20 people. The amount of investment bankers in Denver could fit on a Rolodex.
Does anyone have any insight on the RBC office? Size, coverage areas, growth outlook, etc
PMCF is another
Aren't they a rough bank though?
wdym by rough
Looks quite weak tbh.
Blair opened up a shadow office there. Don’t think there’s a push though to increase their presence
I have reasonable confirmation that if the directors in that office do well, expansion will be on the horizon.
How have they done the past year?
Why move to some 6 person office in Denver out of all places
so you can ski 40 days a year i would guess, not a bad life.
Unless people have fam and friends out there, is there really a compelling reason beyond being able to ski to move out? Is skiing all that great?
As someone who just moved to Denver from NYC it is paradise. It is not cheap but cheaper than NYC. Denver has a pretty decent middle market banking scene. I would also like to add RBC is also in Denver. In addition to investment banks and PE firms, Denver has Charles Schwab, Janis Henderson, TIAA Cref etc. Denver has all the MBB consulting firms, big 4, valuation firms as well as oil and gas, and the food/agriculture companies. I think Denver can be a great starter city for someone trying to break into IB, PE, Consulting or Corp Dev. It is almost non competitive out here. The talent pool and competition are not out here to pursue a career. They are out here to play, so if you interview like you are interviewing for a NYC job, you will be a god send to your potential employer. Do not focus too much on prestige out here. It will be off putting. I went to a non target and still had to dumb down my resume. I hope this helps.
If you start at a Denver bank, do you think the PE presence is strong enough to stay in the city?
Also wondering this
Lol No, there's a handful of LMM PE and Partners group. There are definitely some up and coming shops, and some very well established RE shops, but most of the firms still recruit out of NYC.
I'd love to get in touch for advice on breaking into the IB denver scene if possible. Recently moved here and in consulting.
There are a few firms such as Partners Group, Excellere Partners, Bowriver Capital, Silver Peak Partners etc.. I am sure there are more. There are also real estate investment firms such as AIMCO, Black Creek Group, as well as other companies. If you end up not liking PE there are a lot of Corp Dev opportunities you can switch to. There are also hedge funds, O&G and other energy firms that operate similar to hedge funds.
Following
Ugh. Have any of you ever actually been to and spent time in Denver??? Worst city and people in America and it's not even close.
Yeah, I get it, they have skiing. But that has its own problems. People in Denver who ski do nothing but talk about "dropping in" and all that 50 year-old-wannabe-X-gamer crap. Not a lot of smart people in Denver.
I've lived in a bunch of cities across America, and this is just a bizarre comment. Who hurt you?
This is just a bad take, not everyone is some hippie snowboarder. Sounds like you got dumped by one or maybe one was chosen over you to be an MD at your BB before you did, while you only got the SVP status.
You have clearly not spent time in Denver.
This has got to be a joke. Denver is a great city (may not offer the career opportunities of many larger cities). Beautiful scenery and people. Tons of fun things to do. It’s full of fit fun people who happen to be quite intelligent.
My guess is you’ll see more and more BB and EB in denver only because one or two MDs move here and work remote. I could be wrong but that’s my guess. Not sure deal flow either.
Could see some satellite offices opening up there but unsure why firms wouldn't open up in FLA instead given better weather and no state tax?
Capstone might be the biggest, and they are going to implode post merger. Everyone who drives revenue there is going to be gone. They already lost one MD to HL NYC, and I know for a fact a lot of the other top producers and juniors are lateraling because of merger.
What is typical pay range in Denver? I was looking into a position there but was pretty disappointed by the anticipated pay range. Not sure if that's a one-off or indicative of the city as a whole.
what was the range they quoted you?
$125K base salary with bonus in the 75-100% range
what firm
I am guessing DA Davidson
Little off topic but I am looking to move and Denver is on my potential list. What makes it a good city, why should anyone move there? I like the outdoors aspect and it seems like a decent size with enough going on.
First and foremost, the outdoor lifestyle. You can experience world class skiing every weekend November through April, and you can go on awesome hikes/camping trips in the summer. The city is relatively affordable (cheaper than NYC, San Francisco, LA, Boston, etc), and there are a lot of millennials/gen z that have moved there in the last several years. It's a laid back culture, so very few hardos you have to deal with. It's a growing city that has all the major sports teams and a great music scene. Oh, and a shit ton of marijuana dispensaries too lol
Denver is paradise
Cheap, people are nice and it’s paradise if you’re actually outdoorsy. Not in the sense that it’s on your hinge profile with a picture of you on a rock wearing sneakers.
If being outdoors every weekend is your jam then you will love it.
Everyone I know who moved there has put roots down.
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