LevFin group rankings
is anyone able to provide some insights into which banks are strongest in levfin?
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BofA seems to be top as they hold the pen on models
This is true at other banks as well, beleive RBC, Jefferies, and DB all have LevFin teams that hold the pen on the model. I assume other banks do. It is true that JPM doesn't hold the model, but it doesn't mean the group is weak in performance, which is being asked. JPM is also usually considered the best LevFin bank with BOFA as a fairly close second within the industry. JPM leads the most deals and in terms of volume either is always either first or second.
It was my under the BofA LevFin group didn’t hold the pen on the model but FSG did. Can correct me if I’m wrong. LevFin isn’t even part of the traditional IBD groups anymore.
It’s strange at BofA - I’ve been on deals where LF holds the model, but also FSG and even the coverage team. It completely depends on the team dynamic.
FSG holds the pen on the model if FSG is involved, but not every LF deal involves FSG
Bofa and JPM are the elite in the space regarding overall flow and overall activity. The rest are behind by enough to be in a different tier IMO. Other banks that are good in LevFin in alphabetical order: are Barclays, Citi, Goldman, and UBS. Jefferies and DB, are also pretty good but probably in the next tier in terms of overall flow and leads. Some banks like BMO, Nomura, Santandar, and WF show up a lot on the league tables by being large balance sheet banks but aren't top franchises in terms of winning leads for LevFin transactions almost always on the right of deals.
UBS a bit lower now, have been falling off
No, they aren't, they had the largest growth in LevFin in terms of lead-left market share, think it was ~2% or so and another ~1.5% or so in the broader leveraged loans space, which is pretty sizeable for such an established industry. Would say it's still materially better than Jefferies and DB. Was the leading bank for lead-lefts for LBOs last year and top 5 in overall sponsor-led LevFin deals? They were also top 10 in overall LevFin transactions and top 10 in Leveraged Loans. They are still better than Jeff and DB. Jeff and DB just win fewer lead-lefts than the tier above them, and Jeff is too heavy on only sponsor transactions unlike the other banks, which have more varied exposure. Balance sheet banks that might be higher on overall LevFin transactions like WF simply win nowhere near comparable leads to be viewed in the same tier.
I literally work in the LevFin industry so think I have a pretty good pulse on the state of the industry. Everything below BOFA and JPM is semi-debatable though, but think UBS remains on the second tier right below them even if they have a smaller balance sheet and are sponsor-heavy given they still do pretty decent on the corporate lending side and are so strong in getting sponsor leads.
https://thesource.lseg.com/thesource/getfile/index/b7c0e9f1-d920-4b8f-b…
This is the wrong list dude, it's overall fees which is derived from being a large balance sheet bank. Check Bloomberg or Factset for the league tables for leads and the volume of deals for leads. Nobody cares if you're on the right of a deal because you have a large balance sheet, that is not a good analyst experience nor what anyone in the LevFin industry cares about. For context, banks like WFC are almost always on the right for these deals and only rank "highly" because they are often brought in to deals because they can hold RCFs. They have minimal economics on these deals and the total IB fees are reflections of them simply being basically on the right of most deals since they are one of the first choices for banks to bring in on the right of a deal.
Also, syndicated loans include non-LevFin activity. You are simply looking at the wrong data.
The correct data to look for is:
US Leveraged Loans - overall volume
US Leveraged Loan Leads/Lead Agents - Overall leads for LevFin
US B3 Leveraged Loans - good proxy for overall sponsor activity as 90-95% of sponsor assets and LBO's are B3
US LBO Lenders - overall volume for LBO's
US LBO Leads - overall leads for sponsor-backed LBO's
Want to focus on LBOs for rankings b/c they are a much stronger analyst experience and are much more interesting than doing the 500th refi or amending and extending where a bank if brought in solely for their balance sheet. The real skill and differentiation of a LevFin franchise comes in their ability to successfully price and syndicate out LBOs better than their peers.
Again, the correct rankings in tiers are:
JPM - BOFA
BARCLAYS - CITI -GOLDMAN - UBS
JEFF - DB
With the tiers 2 and 3 are somewhat debatable in terms of placement as you can easily argue Jeff-DB is in the broader 2nd tier. Generally, those 8 firms are the places you want to be with the top 2 being by far the best places.
how does barclays compare to ohter banks in levfin?
Very good franchise, right below JPM and BOFA tier-wise in terms of LevFin stuff, at least in the US.
Appreciate the insight on this thread. Can I pm you? Incoming at one of the banks you mentioned above and had few qs related to my personal situation
how would you rank citi / MS / RBC in lev fin
Citi has a very strong LevFin franchise, much better than MS and RBC. MS LevFin is a bit too small to be viewed as elite in the space, they do have a really good ratio of winning leads though considering the broader lack of volume. They have a lot of bad debt they are stuck holding including the Twitter deal that means they'll probably be where they are at least for a while. It's not that MS isn't competitive in the processes they are in, they just don't lend much. A good way to think about it: JPM often leads with their LevFin franchise to win M&A deals whilst MS only really does LevFin things if their M&A side needs it for their relationship reasons. Just two different approaches. GS was like this until fairly recently, but GS has gotten significantly more aggressive. RBC is by far the worst of the 3, they are on a lot of deals because of their balance sheet but almost never win leads.
Does BofA really have a good levfin group? I’ve been seeing a lot of hate of the bank on this forum, and some towards levfin specifically. Seems like no one gets paid and senior quality is poor. I guess the balance sheet sells itself?
I think a lot of the hate comes from the pay and the fact people have literally died working there. Also that they refuse to lay off over performers, but the lev fin team itself is legit from what I’ve heard
BOFA pays poorly except for seniors. ED and MD comp is in line with other BBs. Terrible pay for VPs and down afaik. Also for seniors in coverage, you can get a ton of fees and pretty sizeable checks just from using the power of the great LevFin team and balance sheet to win lead-lefts and some M&A. There are also a lot of very bad associates at BOFA and a ton of what are basically lifer VPs that are terrible. However, those are general bank complaints that apply across the firm. The LevFin group is without a doubt elite and one of the top 2 alongside JPM.
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