LevFin and IBD

Hi, can a guru clarify a bit for me? Is leverage finance under the umbrella of IBD? I got a little confused. I was watching a training video on modeling, and the instructor said leverage finance is part of IBD. However, I was on the web searching for some job descriptions, and one job said "2+ plus years of Investment Banking experience, Leveraged Finance or Financial Sponsors experience is preferred." It sounds like IB and LevFin are different.

16 Comments
 

If you guys do a search of LevFin and FS you will see some good posts about what each one does and how the groups work when together and when separated.

"Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
 

It should fit under the transaction aspect of the IBD...as opposed to Advisory. Other FIs aside from IBs have LevFin groups. Some large institutions even have it as part of their Commercial Banking group (for smaller transactions) and their DCM (for larger transactions).

If if don't make dollars, it don't make sense.
 

levfin deals with NON-investment grade debt (loans/bonds), DCM is mostly investment grade. Reason why LevFin might be more "desirable" has to do with the fact most LBOs are financed with NON-investment grade debt. It potentially leads to better exit opps in the PE world.

 
LIBOR

At MS its under capital markets

After searching this forum, I found a lot of discussion about Lev Fin, and I understand that Lev Fin may mean different things for different banks -- some do modeling while others only do pricing. For MS, given that the Lev Fin group is under GCM, does it mean that the MS Lev Fin is an inferior Lev Fin team? How's its exit opps to PE?

 

Yes Lev Fin is front office... it is a product group and it's focus is on raising capital for high yield (credit risky) companies and also for financial sponsors for leveraged buyouts.

On a day to day basis, an analyst would be drafting interoffice memoranda, creating roadshow/rating agencies presentations and running the models of transactions. It's very execution focused, meaning to say that pitchwork is something that this group would not do as much. In my opinion, it's a good group to be in.

Hope this helps.

 

Laborum aut nobis labore incidunt. Ex illo quam perspiciatis consequatur vel deleniti. Et rerum aspernatur error sit incidunt veritatis quia.

Aut doloribus voluptas at consequuntur enim consectetur. Amet cum ea dolorem illum nulla. Itaque at ab voluptatem nobis eum nulla. Consectetur odit quaerat autem. Numquam dignissimos facere placeat quibusdam. Omnis officiis illo illum ipsa.

Nobis corrupti saepe maxime ut est. Rerum animi molestias ut voluptatem eaque ab ipsum deserunt. Enim non laborum aperiam harum.

---------------- Account Inactive

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 (65) $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
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
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...”