Is Public Finance really IB ??

Been seeing posts that say PubFin is IB. Some BBs have it within IB and others have it separate. I’m not really educated on the muni space, confused on if they do the similar work of other IB groups.

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Haven’t worked in it directly but a friend of mine from HS I think started in public finance investment banking at like boutique public finance shops. Eventually moved over to JPM or another BB to do pub fin there and now I think does infrastructure / sports stadium financing / investment banking. So from what I know about his career so far seems like the work is related / or at least somewhat similar but I can only provide this high-level guidance to start you off so far. Maybe I can try to reconnect with him and see what he says and/or see if he is open to connecting with you directly to answer your questions. Either way, good luck. Best wishes 

 

are all public finance deals debt? if so how does that different from corporate banking debt deals

 

It is investment banking, but it's niche. The main differences are that Public Finance is very debt-focused and the pitch process is usually different due to procurement rules. Some areas (P3, Infrastructure, Transportation, NFP Healthcare, etc.) are more similar to corporate IB as they do some advisory/strategy work and equity financings. If you cover a specific region and not a specific sector then it's not as similar to corporate IB. Either way, it's a FO role so juniors get paid well.

 

It’s not lB. its just the public version of corporate banking. DCM is not banking either. They aren’t bad career paths and can actually be quite great from a work life balance stand point. One of the richest guys in my neighborhood, who owns a $3.5m house used to work as a director of Wells Fargo muni desk. In my opinion real Investment Banking is pure advisory and products. Things like M&A, RX, Lev Fin, Recaps, Divestitures, and IPOs are traditional investment banking. Unfortunately the industry has become diluted with BB banks winning clients and deals by providing a ton of ancillary services, that don’t have much to do with advisory.

 

One of the dumbest thing I've read on this website. The first investment bankers were 100% capital markets (railroad bonds / JP Morgan) - M&A is a relatively new addition to the financial industry. Also unsure how an IPO or recap is investment banking but a debt issuance isn't.

My firm's dealflow is almost 80-90% M&A, so don't come at me as if I'm a capital markets guy trying to justify myself or something. 

 

you do know the origin of the term investment banking came from the capital markets business right? M&A was only added later down the line. terrible take. 

 

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