Jefferies SA 2023
Hey all! Wanted to just get a thread going for Jefferies SA 2023 considering applications for the Women's Symposium are about to close and form what I understand, the early recruiting process is going to ramp up!
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Source: lit af rn interning this summer at Jef. Everyone is super cool, hours are long but Jefferies is on its way to EB status.
Copy-pasting some comments on other Jefferies threads to centralize some recent information on Jefferies on WSO that other prospects may find useful.
From Jefferies 2022 Outlook:
I can provide some background. Full disclosure, I currently work at Jefferies after lateraling from a mid-BB as an An2. This is based on my own experience.
In terms of a general firm-wide overview, I think Jefferies is really transforming from a scrappy underdog into much more of an institutionalized bank. Jefferies has expanded like crazy over the past few years through poaching seniors from other banks, and around ~25% of our MDs are in their first year, which is insane. I feel like the general perception of Jefferies still lags a few years behind, and a lot of people don't realize how big of a player Jefferies is now. Last year, Jefferies recorded nearly $1.9B in advisory fees (above Citi and Lazard, and nearly 90% that of BofA's) and $4.4B in total IB revenues (over 85% that of BofA), and Jefferies does it with a much smaller headcount than every BB. I do think Jefferies has largely outgrown the label of being an upper-MM and is now in a sort of a no-man's land (DCM practice and global presence too small to be considered a "true BB", IB revenue stream too diversified to be considered one of the "established independents" like Lazard or Evercore). Our deal flow has also scaled to be too large to be a "true" MM (Average FY-21 deal size of $1.21B, over 102 M&A transactions >$1B in FY-21, and according to our 10-K we completed $380.4B of deals in FY-21). I'm extremely optimistic about our future, and I do think that we'll continue to scale upwards (although we'll continue to be a "jack-of-all-trades" rather than a BB). Our recent partnerships with Mass Mutual and SMBC have really positioned us to expand our LevFin franchise, which is the cornerstone of our IB division. Unlike other banks, especially a lot of balance-sheet banks and BBs, we'll also live and die on our IB franchise, so IB will always be prioritized and grown.
Culture-wise, Jefferies is an interesting bank. Jefferies has grown extremely rapidly through poaching other MDs, and culture is really set by the seniors, so culture across the bank really varies by group and office. Healthcare definitely has a much more blue-blooded culture (top guys are all ex-UBS guys), and even though Lorello is gone, I hear that the strict demanding culture that he set there is still ingrained (although I came to Jefferies at the very end of Lorello's tenure). Tech varies by office, and the other groups are definitely a bit more relaxed. At the junior level, Jefferies culture is definitely very "fratty" and "work-hard, play-hard". Compared to the BB I was at, the juniors I work with now are definitely more chill as a whole and are also a bit more extroverted.
Experience-wise, Jefferies is sweaty. There's no getting around it; to generate the revenues comparable to BBs with fewer bankers requires more hours and more work at every level. It's exasperated by the firm's growth, as senior headcount has grown rapidly and junior headcount hasn't caught up. On the flip side, junior exposure and responsibility is great. As a junior, you're often expected to "play up", and you'll definitely be getting in your deal reps and modeling experience. Personally, I have far more responsibility now than at my previous BB, and my deal exposure has been far better, especially in terms of M&A deal exposure. Jefferies also rewards you for your work and pays above the street in all-cash bonuses. There is a clawback for associates and up if you leave for a competing bank (not applicable for unrelated exits such as CorpDev or buy-side) though.
In terms of exits, Jefferies has improved tremendously over recent years, but isn't on-par with mid-BBs yet. MF is always a crapshoot, but I know of some people from Energy, Healthcare, and RX who placed to MF in the past. UMM and MM are very doable from nearly every group, and placement largely comes down to analyst background and strength. Placement at Jefferies is not on par with the BB I was at (Barcap/BofA/Citi), but is improving, and unless you're only gunning for MF or the most selective UMM firms, placement at Jefferies is nearly equal with my former BB, holding analyst background and group reputation equal.
In terms of groups, Energy, HC, LevFin, Industrials, and Tech are the better ones. Energy and HC get the best exits (obviously with an asterisk for Energy) but have the worst cultures. Tech's culture depends on office and are overall quite good (UMM is very doable and lots of people go to reputable MM shops). Industrials has a solid culture and top MM is also very doable, and LevFin has a pretty good and chill culture. PCA isn't traditional IB, but Jefferies poached the ex-Greenhill PCA team, supposedly the best on the street, and supplemented the group with some hirings from Guggenheim and PJT, so PCA should be a strong group, although I don't know anything about PCA.
Of the other groups, REGL is fine (not a super strong group, but deal flow is still solid + you get to work on all the Fertitta deals), C&R is solid but unspectacular, and Media & Telecom should be avoided (deal flow is OK but is the weakest of all coverage groups, and culture set by the seniors is horrible). Two groups to keep an eye out for are FIG and P&U (which technically isn't its own group but is differentiated enough to count). FIG used to be one of the weaker groups, but Jefferies just poached essentially all of CS FIG as well as some seniors from JPM and Barclays, and FIG's already showing early signs of promise (heard deal flow was ramping up rapidly). The P&U team was gutted when most of the seniors left for Cantor in 2017/18, but Jefferies has reloaded with a string of solid senior hires from MS and RBC. The P&U team has definitely established a solid foundation and deal flow has picked up significantly. RX used to be a great group until the seniors left for Moelis, and really isn't a large player these days, although Jefferies did hire two PJT RSSG seniors in 2020. I honestly don't see Jefferies focusing on RX that much in the future, as RX and originating/syndicating loans are essentially opposites and Jefferies is strategically focusing on the latter. Most of their deal flow these days is on UCC mandates.
Since you're recruiting, expect the interview process to be more technical than BB interviews, but definitely easier than EB interviews. If you're interviewing for one of the regional groups, expect the process to be more rigorous. The regional offices kick off in the Spring (not completely plugged in but I believe the offices recruit around April/May) while NY recruits later in the Summer (late July/August). Once again, I'm not 100% sure as I'm not the most plugged in about recruiting, but I believe you can submit up to 2 applications.
Lmk if I can answer any other questions, but hopefully this post was useful enough to provide a general overview of the firm.
From Jefferies 2022 Outlook about regional groups:
Yeah, although I should have used the term regional offices rather than groups in my earlier post. Jefferies IBD has regional offices in SF, Houston, Charlotte, Dallas, Richmond, Boston, and apparently one in LA as well. A number of the niche offices have niche groups, which I believe is part of the firm's strategy to offer sectoral specialism and enable it to build and maintain stronger relationships with clients.
- SF: Tech. A lot of the seniors are ex-CS guys. Deal flow is good there, solid mix of ECM and M&A. Don't know too many people in the office, but I've heard the culture can be pretty sweaty, but exits are solid (UMM PE and growth doable).
- Houston: Energy and a few renewables people. Obviously very strong group, very A&D focused traditionally but also expanding in the other divisions, especially in oilfield services. Also poached an ex-PJT RSSG person to bolster Energy RX, although I'm not sure if he sits in NY or Houston. Sweaty culture but great energy exits if you're into that.
- Charlotte: ADG, REGL, Tech-enabled Services, and C&R. ADG and Tech-enabled services are very strong groups, and REGL and C&R are solid as well. I've heard culture is very collegial and fratty, but hours are pretty tough and all the groups down there grind hard. I don't keep up with CLT analyst exits, but I know a couple years ago ADG sent someone to Carlyle and Tech-enabled services placed their entire class into MM PE, so exits are probably pretty solid.
- Dallas: PCA team poached from Greenhill. Supposedly a very strong team, although I know nothing about the group or the PCA scene in general.
- Richmond: Transportation and Logistics. Strong in the space, and I've heard culture is great there as well (MDs are supposedly super nice, genuine people, and really set a great culture from the top). The group loves recruiting from UR.
- Boston: Automotive aftermarkets. Very niche group, although they have a solid reputation in the space. Don't know too much about the group.
- LA: Completely forgot we had a group down there. I think it's a relationship office, mostly seniors with a few supporting juniors, and I don't believe that they recruit out of undergrad.
Another comment on regional groups:
I can offer color on a regional office as I am signed on for full-time and met in person with the banker who hired me. As the Associate above has articulated, culture is entirely group dependent, and that is because of the poaching of senior bankers from various shops meaning none of these guys are really engrained with Jefferies culture if that makes sense. My group's deal flow was extremely strong in '21 and is on pace for another strong year in '22 naturally leading to some longer hours, but was told 70-80/week on average is an extremely fair expectation. Additionally, WFH isn't frowned upon being in a regional office at least. These MD's have families and want to be home for dinner meaning Analysts can blow out most nights around 7 and finish up the remaining work at home. On top of all of this, we get paid like we're in NYC, which is extremely attractive for me due to COL and taxes. I genuinely liked all of the team I talked to and one of the Analysts I spoke to also said he has time to go out Friday and Saturday most weekends if he pleases, which was great to hear.
Another comment on groups (NY)
Wanted to provide some extra color for JEF groups
LevFin: Was the most difficult group to place into for past two years in terms of raw numbers. Hours / culture is considerably better than other top groups within JEF with the same and in some cases better exits, so this attracts a lot of kids and makes it very difficult to get placed there. Very much so a networking game here, story for why LF really matters as well, definitely more than other groups since they are such a unique group compared to other LF groups on the street (hairy, creative deals, true banking/origination group with separate capital markets team, etc). The full blown hardo kids that want to go straight to TPG after two years definitely do pref HC tho. Typical exits are broad given the nature of the product, primarily UMM PE, MM PE, MM or MF credit, L/S HF, and the occasional startup.
HC: Very competitive, but not as competitive as LF since reputation for rough hours detracts a lot of kids. The group is huge and they hire a TON of analysts (more than LF), so if you really want HC it's actually not that hard to place into it from a numbers perspective. Generally, the most hardo kids go for it that 100% will want to leave after 2 years. Excellent PE placement, w MF being relatively common if you want it. You will find a lot of JEF folks will tend to self select UMM for PE. Straight large cap PE exits are the best out of the NY JEF groups.
Tech. Great group that does M&A in house in both SF and NY. SF is more focused on software, hardware and internet while NY is more on TES with CLT. JEF SF has been killing it in M&A and ECM as of late and analysts have gotten several MF interviews and UMM placement.
M&A: Tough group to get placed in. Good group but honestly overrated imo from an hours / experience / PE exits ratio. The exits are great, but MF will be very rare with hours (along with pretty much all M&A groups) being pretty tough. Part of this is the nature that JEF's top coverage groups run M&A in house (HC, energy, tech), so you will primarily be working on industrials deals on the M&A side (which are still great btw, just tend to be more UMM deal size focused but are growing). Most exits will be strong MM PE shops along with UMM PE sprinkled in. Nearly everyone who recruits for PE will get an offer somewhere out of M&A.
Industrials: It's about everyone's second choice if they don't get one of the above. It's the best coverage group for exits that doesnt do M&A in house. Exits are also very good for PE, primarily MM PE and UMM PE. Very, very solid choice and if you pref them as your first choice and network hard early on you are likely to get an offer unless you suck.
The rest are smaller but are still solid. FIG is rapidly growing due to senior hires from CS, media is smaller but growing, closed multiple $1b+ deals this year, Power is small, but has killed it this year and is underrated in terms of infra fund placements, Gaming within REGAL is excellent (did draft kings / golden nugget sell side among other large mandates). The reality is that most data on this forum re JEF is quite stale. The growth has been truly explosive across all groups, and it's not just in fees (every bank is growing), it's in market share.
on Exits
Current/former JEF banker. TLDR, if you're in HC/Tech at JEF you will be totally fine in getting good deal reps and good exit opportunities.
HC: Healthcare is one of their best groups and dealflow is extremely strong. They do a ridiculous number of healthcare services M&A deals, and also have a very solid biotech & biopharma practice. Also, as you can see from the other healthcare IB post, their ECM practice was insane especially at the peak of the COVID bull market with a ton of IPOs and follow-on services. The group is extremely sweaty tho as a result- if you're doing a ton of deals, you're gonna get rocked, its that simple. Exits there are also very good, a handful of MFs (Ares, TPG, Carlyle) and very solid placement into UMM.
Tech: Divided between NY, CLT, and SF. NY/CLT focus on tech enabled services, and SF/NY focus on technology, with some cross-staffing. The global technology group has been doing great in the past three years with ~100Bn in deal value and 70 M&A deals with a healthy mix of sponsors and strategic M&A.
JEF SF has been killing it as of recently with a lot of deal flow in the software/hardware space and a healthy mix of M&A/ECM. That team especially has strong relationships with sponsors like Clearlake, Francisco, Thoma Bravo, and recent exits have been to Francisco, FFL, Marlin, GTCR, Clearlake, Onex, Angel Island.
JEF NY: The team works both on Tech-Enabled and pure-play Tech M&A/ECM, with a lot of sell-side exposure. The team is sweaty but the culture is solid and fratty. Exits have been good, recent analyst went to Permira.
JEF CLT (beyond having a C&R/ADG team down there) Tech-enabled services are very strong groups. ADG sent someone to Carlyle and Tech-enabled services placed their entire class into MM PE.
On HC
Healthcare banker at GS/JPM/BofA and have friends at 2 of the 3 groups you listed.
Jefferies: Healthcare is one of their best groups. Dealflow is extremely strong. They do a ridiculous number of healthcare services M&A deals, and also have a very solid biotech & biopharma practice. Their healthcare ECM practice is insane - at the height of the ECM craze this year they were doing something like 5 biotech IPOs and follow-ons every week. I've some friends there, and it seems like the group is an absolute sweatshop with some very old-school blue-blooded seniors (but the juniors are pretty fratty and chill). Exits there are also very good, a handful of MFs, and very solid placement into UMM and MM PE.
Barclays: Does very well in services, and is arguably the best BB in Healthcare IT. ECM dealflow and exposure is also solid. The hours there are pretty long, but the culture definitely seems to be solid (few sharp elbows, seniors actually care about you, junior people are chill). PE placement isn't the best out of Barclays groups (except for that year where the analysts were all unusually strong and placed lights out iykyk), but MF is possible and UMM/MM placements are very common.
Credit Suisse: Not one of the top groups there. They have a solid ECM practice driven by SPACs, which CS is all-around strong in, but their M&A practice is pretty weak. Don't know a lot about PE placement or culture there.
For overall Healthcare exposure, I'd say Jefferies = Barclays >> Credit Suisse. You'll get your modeling reps in, as both Jefferies and Barclays HC have solid M&A dealflow and do in-house M&A. If you care about ECM exposure (personally I find biotech ECM to be the sexiest part of my job), I'd go Jefferies. If not, I'd go Barclays for the culture.
If you just want PE, I'd go Barclays > Jefferies > Credit Suisse. From what I've seen, Barclays still edges out Jefferies in terms of PE placement. I have no clue about Credit Suisse, but I don't hear a lot about their placement so I assume they'd be last.