Lateral to Houston
Currently working as an AN1 at upper MM Bank in Chicago think Baird/Blair/Piper. For personal reasons, want to move to Houston (i know that sounds crazy). Looking to lateral as an AN2 to anywhere in Houston. Don’t really mind what group, more interested in location.
Any tips on lateral processes / how can i land an offer for a Sept 24 start / does anyone know of any openings?
Unlikely a solid team will bring you in at A2 from another industry.. this shouldn’t be a huge point as the lower COL and no taxes more than offsets it.
the bad teams in houston have severe risk of shutting down the entire office - be careful
Appreciate the insight. Should i look at PE? Any shops hiring analysts? What if i stay away from O&G? Hear there are opportunities in industrials.
There are no industrials IB teams in houston to my knowledge. PE in houston is mostly energy - one or two industrials / generalist places but they tend to take houston or Dallas analysts only.
Gulf Star is one of the few Houston firms that come to mind that isn't just energy. Are you dead set on Houston or just want to get to Texas in general? Texas Capital out of Dallas has been growing. Houlihan has a Dallas office and if I recall correctly JPM has a middle marker office in Dallas as well. Bunch of buy side in Dallas but the kind of stuff you'd need some time in IB before being a credible candidate.
Echoing above. Texas Capital Bank has been growing but have heard mixed things. HL has been growing fast and just got a brand new office. JPM does have a middle market team here as well.
Texas Capital could be a good option if you want WLF. Just keep in mind, compensation and deal flow are reflective of that (doubt your meals are covered / a quick look into recent transactions yields almost nothing)
HL office in Houston is new?
Houston is my main target. Family there. Open perhaps to Austin / Dallas. Thanks for ur input
Not sure what the above comments are on, have seen numerous internal transfers from NY/Chicago/even SF to Houston. Plenty of people want to move home, or to spouse's family etc. Energy is not the easiest industry to learn, but there are tons of primers publicly available. If you have Texas ties, which sounds like there are some, make sure to mention them as that's a big recruiting item for Houston. Make your personal reasons very clear and educate yourself on the energy industry.
Lateral processes move quickly and certainly not a year out, Sept 2024 won't start recruiting until late next spring / likely closer to early summer, can learn energy now and start networking in the early spring. i think internal is easiest, not all MMs have offices in Houston and some of them are kind of zombie groups, but if you have solid Texas ties and interview well, you could land some of the stronger BB/EBs. As someone else said, be careful as some of these offices do zero deals and an office essentially closes every year in Houston now, so try to get smart on what to avoid.
Appreciate it. Unfortunately my firm doesnt have a H-town office. But will try to get up to speed on energy. A little interesting for me, i have no experience or thought of pursuing that as a career. But will adjust accordingly as Hosuton is where i want to be
Yeah unfortunately even outside of IB a huge amount of people you'll meet in Houston work in energy. Dallas/Austin are much more broad industry (and imo both better cities to live in long-term) but sounds like Houston is the priority.
Houston is priority but open to Dallas and Austin as well. More ties to Houston in short term (3-5 years) but longer term ties to Dallas to settle down. Thoughts?
I'm partial to Dallas as a city and you'll have the widest range of opportunities there. Lots of non-energy IB/PE firms (actually few energy firms up there), and also a hub for real estate and F500 corporate HQs if either of those are of interest down the road.
Might be worth spending a few days in each to get a feel for the cities.
Don’t listen to anyone that says Dallas or Austin is better than Houston. Dallas is full of a bunch of highfalutin pussies and Austin is liberal af. Houston is a much better city to settle down in. But as some have mentioned above, if you want to work anywhere decent, you will be working in energy. If you want a more varied experienced, there are some banks that work across industries but are local Houston shops with less than 50 people. Can’t speak for gulf star or whatever was mentioned above.
Student in Texas. Outside of traditional energy I know that Scotia has a P&U, Clean tech, and regular energy groups. Jeff recently acquired Guggenheim's renewables team so they are getting more diversified than just upstream but still sweaty. I'm sure TCB is growing and has its merits but I know the more established names have pretty diversified focus in Dallas, I know that RBC has RE, HL has HC, and Jeff has PCA. Definitely more out there and a thread is probably already posted by wanted to give my thoughts.
Guggenheim would not take a lateral without power experience.
I’m acquainted with current bankers and alums who transferred into that power and renewables team without power-specific experience (I.e. general project finance, transportation, industrials etc); one of the previous senior MD alums was also a renowned utility banker (not necessarily renewables focused). This guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
There’s a lack of talent in the space given how technical is. If you show aptitude and have any real assets experience, it’s achievable.
Any interest in going corporate? Is IB the only thing you’re looking at?
Plenty of opportunities in hydrogen, RNG, CCUS, LNG, traditional O&G, energy tech, renewable fuels, etc.
Yes but i have no experience…
Don’t self-select yourself out of an opportunity if it’s interesting to you. Might as well apply to something if it’s interesting to you and you check most of the boxes.
Financial modeling skills, commercial analysis, etc is highly valued regardless of the industry you come from.
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