MEGA THREAD: Debt Capital Markets Information
WSO tends to be very M&A-heavy and biased, but here's an information/explanation thread for the latest DCM information, helping both current and prospective professionals. All replies, no matter how short or long, are appreciated.
Calling all DCM Monkeys to provide any insight you have regarding experience working in DCM. A short paragraph explaining one or all of the points below, or even just a personal story time experience, can help the future generation of individuals considering starting their career in DCM:
- Tiers of Banks
- State/evolution of the DCM landscape
- Typical Comp (Base + Bonus) + Comp Progression
- Work-Life-Balance
- DCM Career/Responsibility Progression
- Sub-Division (Origination, Syndicate etc)
- Exit Ops/Observed Exits
Add "Bump" if you are interested, to ensure some DCM monkeys see the post; definitely a minority topic on the site!
Bump - good idea to gather data on a product group across all banks
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did an internship in dcm (SSA) at a canadian bank in london a few years ago (currently in M&A now)
hours: 6:30/7 - 7/8pm - no weekend work
Exit opps: not really any tbh - one guy i know of who was in dcm at a competitor made it to a BB coverage group, but tbh why leave group with low hours and no weekend work
tiers of banks: balance sheet banks tend to dominate
Career: seems to be a fairly easy gig - little technical skills, more relationship driven (happy to be proven wrong though)
comp: base in line with M&A, bonus might be a bit different - this takes effect at assocate + level though from what i hear - again happy to be proven wrong
Is it common for the earlier start/end? I’m a bit of a morning person and don’t like the sound of a traditional 9am-10pm+
Yes, since you, broadly speaking, work more tied to market hours than coverage groups
At MM bank in Dallas where DCM is primary focus. If you want to get into syndications its the easiest thing in the banking world. Hours are super chill, not stressful , all directors and MD's have it made, get paid really good and come and go as they please as long as we are on track to hit budget. Syndications is perfect for someone who doesn't want to work hard and just stay in the same role forever. Pay is identical to street pay at the analyst and associate level with bonuses probably maxing out at 50%-60%
What bank?
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During my stint as DCM intern 2 years ago. In Europe JPM/BNP/DB/BOFA/HBSC are king due to their sheer BS. UBS FIG DCM is also very strong. General rule balance sheet is king in this product, so regional players like Santander/ING/UniCredit also perform well. Also if you look for WLB Goldman isn’t it, they work from 7-8 am till midnight/ post midnight
what about places like GS or MS that don't use balance shit?
Ah yes balance shits
Thanks for posting! Student prepping for the SA '26 process and would love to hear about the US scene and some individual experiences.
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Can DCM at an EB (PJT/Evercore/Moelis) exit to PE? Is the role fairly similar to LevFin at a BB?
DCM at EBs tend to be "debt advisory" - so essentially will act in as a role to court companies before a CM event e.g., restructuring, and then intro you to RSSG. Can also be helpful in providing immediate CRM for sponsors where they want to check or test pricing or markets data but wouldn't in most cases at a EB be the exclusive deal team in anything as there really isn't much to do. In-house they can be(come) very important, but for a "PE" exit will be extremely unlikely to impossible given sheer volume of M&A bankers who'll be better rep'd in models. But if you're referring to PE firms and a role there then Cap Markets could be something to look into - and no lol, it's not like LevFin at a BB at all - those are balance sheet banks
As a debt advisor in an EB, you’re basically advising companies on debt raises from a neutral POV. The benefit of that is because you’re not lending, there’s no conflict of interest, which means you can support quite a bit on reaching out to a variety of lenders, PC funds and underwriters to come to a suitable capital structure. So you end up being a DCM advisor and LevFin advisor. and Because you’re not lending, you’re also doing cool business-oriented work, like modelling operational metrics. If you’re in energy or project finance as a debt advisor, this makes for very interesting work.
exits from EBs are better than DCM at banks, simply because you’re working on PC lenders (mezzanine, TLs) and trying to raise from them. So you learn their product and investing strategy. I know a few people from the top EBs who have exited very well. Couldn’t say the same for DCM.
super helpful, SB'd. can you elaborate more on EB DCM exits? are PE, special sits, and growth equity possible?
Would you say exits from Houlihan Lokey debt advisory are decent? I'm interested in private credit
Does anyone have information specifically on DCM Syndicate?
I am DCM Syndicate. . If you want to get into syndications its the easiest thing in the banking world. Hours are super chill, not stressful , all directors and MD's have it made, get paid really good and come and go as they please as long as we are on track to hit budget. Syndications is perfect for someone who doesn't want to work hard and just stay in the same role forever. Pay is identical to street pay at the analyst and associate level with bonuses probably maxing out at 50%-60%
Most of the job would be finding comps for pricing/covenants. Then once you get mandated its essentially just building LPs, teaser, keeping dataroom updated. Nothing really sexy about it. Exit ops arent great just gotta tailor your resume to make it sound a lot better than what it is because you dont model at all.
Where have you seen people exit to?
I heard that some hedge funds take ECM syndicate people for teams that participate in equity issuances (rights issues, ABBs, etc). Is that something that exists on the DCM side as well?
Responding because the information so far is piss poor and i wouldn't listen to any of it, especially in regards to capital markets roles at EBs
Thanks for the in-depth information - highly informative.
Could you share some insight on what skills are gained from DCM (Syndicate/Origination) and how these are applied/marketed to the exit opps mentioned?
I think exit ops is an important point for some colour on for all interested prospects, as the general sentiment on this site is DCM is a dead end with no exit ops possible (however, that may just be due to a lack of experience and from WSO users having an M&A hardo bias.)
Thanks again for any info you can provide.
Why would someone exit to a treasury role? Sounds like similar hours for a massive pay cut.
Ignore title, will be heading into Corporate Banking at one of the top shops (BAML/JPM/Citi). In terms of hours, how much worse is DCM compared to CB at one of the above banks? I’ve heard a wide range of hours quoted for CB at BBs, from 45-50 to 60-70. Asking because If CB is closer to the 60-70 range, I’d much rather be in DCM. Also, can both CB (at one of above shops) and DCM get you into MM Private Credit?
Bump - similar situation.
In DCM and have been doing 7 am to 11pm since I started ( 1 year ago), so not sure about that work life balance…
What type of bank are you at?
Dude... you're an intern or a junior... getting off at 11pm is a wonderful work life balance... I used to get off at 2 - 3 am when I was a junior. Grow up.
I think you and I have very different conceptions of what 'wonderful WLB' looks like
Worked in DCM at a BB IBD for ~1yr before moving into another product group. In hindsight, DCM is a great career path for comp+hours+WLB. During covid hours were hell like all IBD, but in a normal market, I think its a group with a high probability for a sustainable career and good comp. However, some folks find the work to be boring, but that is subjective.
Like the person above mentioned, DCM Syndicate can be a great job as well. Super markets facing (almost closer to an S&T type of role rather than IBD), but rarely have many juniors (I think my BB only had 1 associate). But at the VP level and up, its a great job, and actually really interesting when deals are pricing and closing live and watching them manage the orderbook while deals are in market.
Comp from the analyst to associate level was about the same as coverage. Hours better, just start super early (7/8am). Oddly I still had some weekend work (weekly and monthly market updates sent to clients over the weekend + internal market updates for the whole IBD). Definitely limited exit opps but saw a few folks move to other parts of IBD, IR at Debt Funds, with quite a few moving into treasury / CFO office roles at corporates (DCM Clients), etc.
I think if you're interested in fixed income markets, the macro environment (rates, currencies, swaps, etc.), sprinkled with a little M&A financing / strategy around use of proceeds for the financing, it can be a great job.
Happy to answer any Q's.
Thanks for the rundown - could you provide some further detail on what skills are typically gained in syndicate? What/how does responsibility evolve as you move from A to AS to VP to D etc.
Thanks.
I didnt work in syndicate so take what I have to say with a grain of salt, but I worked with them every day. Like the name suggests, syndicate is closest to the actual secondary market for IG bonds, so I relied on them heavily during pricing exercises (eg. Showing corporate clients were they could potentially price new bonds across the curve based on where peer secondary levels are trading across 2,5,7,10,30yr bonds), and syndicate would let the origination team know if we were on or off market before showing our clients. Syndicate is also responsible for building an orderbook for new deals (eg. going out and calling IG bond asset managers and selling new deals to them), so they know which potential funds want exposure to say "Auto 7 yr IG bonds". And they're very in the know about trading volume for specific credits. so all in all, the skills you probably gain are tied to markets, pricing, and a ton of relationship management between trading desks, asset mangers, and corporate clients.
In terms of responsibilities, its similar to any IBD group. Person above mentioned that at the Jr. level its like watching paint dry lol which is kind of true. Jr's in this group kind of just pull pricing and trading levels for the origination team, refresh bloomberg trading levels, and maybe write a little market commentary. Im sure they did a little more but I wasnt on that team so cant fully speak to it. As you get more senior you manage relationships, syndicate new deals, and on pricing days, the VP and up is the one who leads the call with the Client, Trading desks, and origination team to price bonds. Again, these seats are very few and far between. A lot of them started as interns and rarely move, for obvious reason. Hope this helps.
Life as a junior on the syndicate desk will vary depending on your bank and team but there are a few things that are generally always true that they will do:
Applies to some banks / teams but not all:
Some syndicate teams are split out by asset class, so generally each of those will have a junior. Some are split out regionally and then there is generally only one or two junior(s). It depends on the team set up and the volume the desk has. You get variation even within the same bank from region to region.
There tends to be two main paths within DCM syndicate: syndicate manager or syndicate ops. Syndicate managers specialise in an asset class e.g. emerging markets, SSAs, FIG, corporates, high yield or private placements. Management usually tries to take preference into account but often it's about where there's an opportunity. Syndicate teams run lean so sometimes there's only one spot.
Syndicate ops are people in the syndicate team who specialise in the operational side of running the deal including managing the risk. Some teams have people who specialise in this. In other teams, there are no specialists and you do this side of the role when you are junior (in addition to the general activities) and then you generally graduate to syndicate manager, if you stay with syndicate.
DCM (origination) > syndicate or syndicate > DCM (origination) is not uncommon. I've also seen trading to syndicate and back (though this is less common).
As you get more senior, you generally get more face time with investors and the client. If there is no new junior though (which is not unusual), then you just gain responsibilities. You generally wouldn't be expected to run a deal by yourself until you got to director level. (Policy usually says VPs can run a pricing call under supervision).
It's not for everyone and there are a lot more entry level opportunities in DCM (on the origination side). You also have the option to change asset class if you want to mix things up a bit e.g. SSA > FIG.
Hours wise, there's a lot of variance. If you work for a regional bank that focuses on a particular market - you may find you have a great work life balance as you can work local market hours and work 7 - 6. If you work for one of the global leading banks that regularly runs ten deals a day, then during peak times you will be working later e.g. 7 - 11, but it will dip around bank holidays and market events.
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Is there any color on LFCM (Leveraged Finance Capital Markets)?
LCM (also known as LevFin) is usually run separately to DCM. LCM offer syndicated loan products (amongst others). LCM tends to focus on high yield financing.
LCM and DCM also have different industry bodies - LMA for loans and ICMA for bonds.
Just fwiw for any prospective monkeys reading this thread (since it’s pinned rn), much of what’s been said above is broadly applicable to ECM as well. Just working with stonks and other equity-linked products as opposed to bonds.
"Just remember, there's a hell of a lot more debt than equity in this world."
- Jamie Dimon, probably
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Does anyone have any color about different groups within DCM? We speak about DCM as if it was just one division but in most banks you will have a very different experience if you are in SSA, or in FIG, or Liability Management, or Emerging Markets… these are important considerations that can materially affect exit ops as well
Leaving in-depth commentary, because most of the inputs here are rubbish. Been doing DCM in New York + Hong Kong for the past 8+ years across the Global Top 3 DCM Banks (US Banks and a UK Bank) you see on the league table.
- Tiers of Banks: Depends on the region you're in and the product that you cover. If in the US, it's Citi, JPM, BofA. In Europe, HSBC, BNPP, JPM. In APAC, HSBC, Citi and @. The banks with the balance sheets will do well as mandates are most of the time given to banks with a large loan exposure especially for IG credits, and IG credits take up majority of the transactions in this market. If you're looking into HY stuff, UBS (lets's say ex-CS), JPM, DB, Barclays does pretty well but this also differs by region to region.
- Products: People seem to not have a sense how some products are pretty sophisticated. So if you do want to head into DCM and do more exciting stuff rather than plain vanilla IG bond execution, I advise you to check whether the DCM platform has Liability Management teams, Rating Advisory, Hybrid/Capital Specialist teams. If not, the platform will be stuck doing just plain vanilla bonds (which takes up majority of the market and fees, so I'm not saying this is bad). With those specialist team supporting the DCM origination/execution, the team will be able to conduct more in-depth analysis, follow regulatory/rating method changes, structure the bonds to suit the client needs. Also you'll be able to also buy back the bonds rather than just issuing these - so you get to play both ways. I've sitted in an LM role for two-years and to be frank it has been one of my most exciting part of my career.
- Comps: I saw another post written by a VP, and pretty much agree with it. To be honest, I call DCM the government worker at an Investment Bank - compared to the workload, you do get a competitive salary vs. ECM/M&A/Sector teams. Also, especially for BBs where DCM/Debt is the main fee generator (Citi, HSBC, etc.), DCM will have a much edge in terms of $$$ vs. other teams. Beginning from Director, believe most places cap Director salary and have them get paid with bonus and the bonus level varies a lot between each product teams but DCM, most of the time, is at the lower range. But hey, for a DCM banker, once you hit D and above level, all you do is fly around, pitch, wine and dine - so for such a life, the money is good.
- Work Life Balance: I can say its much better than the ECM/M&A guys. Even when I was a junior, I grinded until 2-3am on average, but the juniors in M&A/ECM was still there when I was getting out of office. Even at the VP level, I find the time much controllable. Of course, there's ups and downs in terms of how much time you need to spend, but it will be on average better than your other product group peers in IBD. Additionally, for DCM, you can at least also foresee when will be the downtime for markets and when will be the busiest. So with that, you'll able to kinda prepare your summer/winter holiday seasons. Not much product teams can do this.
- Exit Opps: Once you hit Associate, I'm pretty sure it's almost impossible to get into the investment side of PE/PC. The skill sets are largely different, unless the team was very HY bonds heavy driven - then yes you'll do some cash flow analysis, conduct deep credit analysis together with your ratings advisory peer etc. But most of the case, the skill sets don't match. Rather you'll get some interest from Buyside Investor Relations role or Treasury teams (especially clients where they fund themselves via bonds in a large portion). Internally, you may move to Syndicate, Fixed Income Sales, or maybe to the Corporate Banking side. Yes - the exit opps does look damn pissy compared to other product teams, but its what you get when your in DCM.
On the upside, DCM revenue hardly drops drastically vs. M&A/ECM. Less impact from Macro headwinds. It's the cheapest way for clients to fund themselves after loans, so there will always be a market even in ups and downs. This makes yourself safer than other colleagues and there will always be a DCM job out there. Also, less working hours and competitive comps vs. your friends and foes at a similar age. Stop comparing with ECM/M&A. Compare yourself with the guys in other roles and you'll be happy.
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How does DCM comp compare to ECM?
Have heard anecdotally DCM tends to pay more.
That differs by if the bank puts more spotlight on ECM biz or DCM biz. Naturally I would assume banks where ECM revenues are greater than DCM - the bonus over there would be higher (e.g. GS, MS, etc). However, while the ECM total comps could time to time be higher, the equity market is much volatile vs. fixed income, thus DCM will provide you with a relatively stable comp. For instance, during 2023, IPO markets were almost shut while Bond issuances were still there, so while DCMs got to keep their jobs with some bonus, ECMs reduced their head count.
Is it possible to move from IB at an EB (Laz/Roth) to DCM at a bank in Europe after your analyst years?
That should be doable during your analyst/associate years. You should have better technical skills vs. the DCM folks, while the DCM guys would have more macroeconomy understanding.
Thanks, appreciate your reply and other elaborate comment. Would you say it sets you up better for the specialist teams you mentioned under your products section or no difference?
Can anyone comment on the lateral prospective of DCM? How difficult it is to lateral from DCM to coverage or S&T at the different bank after first year/second year analyst stint
Bumps
Not that difficult
Thanks. Mind sharing any skillset that overlap/can bring up in interviews? Really wondering how doing mkt updates all day can be brought up/carried over to coverage with more emphasis on M&A and modeling
Thanks for this thread, just curious, why does JPM label DCM as part of Global Markets instead of IBD?
No. It's under IBD
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