Moelis and CS Top in Los Angeles?

Eyeing LA banks and need some advice (preferably from someone familiar with the landscape). It is my understanding that Moelis and Credit Suisse have the best exits and reputation with a few other good offices as well (MS, Barclays, Lazard).

The Moelis rep is obviously unreal and I’ve heard it’s basically a fraternity. CS’s sponsors and LevFin are also known as top groups on the street from what I understand (and CS NY says the LA office is the place to be). Heard Barclays has a strong sponsors group as well, and that MS is great but is a coverage/regional office. Anything I have incorrect or missing? Would love some more insight as someone who works in a different city but is trying to get out to LA

 

do you have offers at any LA banks? trying to understand their recruiting timeline

 

LA does M&A execution work along with Media, Consumer Retail, & Gaming while SF does Sponsors & Industrials

 

NY is getting better, but LA is still the stronger office. This above commentator is completely misinformed. Exits continue to be very strong and I've heard the culture in LA is much better than NY.

 
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Completely untrue, wtf are you on about. Highly doubt this "prospect" knows what he's talking about. Navid or Jeff are going to be CEO when Ken steps down and both are relatively young.

 

Don't know what you're talking about - Ken has publicly stated that he's going to focus on deals once he steps down as CEO. Plus Navid & Jeff work primarily out of the LA office.

My info is also second-hand, but I'm pretty sure I'm better informed than a "prospect".

 

Not true, but not untrue.

Exits are not the same as they once used to be because LA office couldn't retain analysts and they were getting MBA associates that weren't as high caliber as analysts. Decided they will transition to encourage A2A and some of the recruiting support that used to be provided aren't there any more. With that, average pool of analysts going to LA office has deteriorated in the last year or two >> exits not as great as a class because not all analysts are as high caliber as previous classes were. With the exception of last one or two classes, placements into MF, UMM has been 80% of the entire class in LA office. Now, that's probably only 25% of the class (high caliber talents still go to LA office knowing that great track record gives them looks from all HHs and they are confident they can place).

 

This is blatantly untrue at the analyst level. Have several very close analyst friends in the LA office who mentioned how supportive of PE recruiting the team was. Many were encouraged to spend the on-cycle week in NY if they wanted to do PE back on the East Coast and many placed into MF and UMM on both coasts. The caliber of analysts continue to be top-tier, I went to a heavy target for the office (Wharton) where Moelis LA was considered one of the best groups on the Street. Have heard that the team continues to recruit heavily out of Wharton.

FWIW when I was speaking to headhunters, one of them specifically used Moelis LA as an example of a group that placed extremely well.

 

Agreed. Barclays FSG LA runs very under the radar - the culture is excellent there, exits are great and the mid-level/senior folk actually treat analysts like humans.

 

What are exits like from Barclays, MS and CS LA compared to NY generally?

 

Went through the LA banking analyst program at a mid-tier industrials group. I can confirm that Moelis and CS have their strongest groups in LA. However, after looking at exit opportunities, amongst LA banks, Moelis/CS/Barclays/Lazard/MS typically all have very similar exits to top MMs/MFs. Although Moelis does edge it slightly, If you're lucky to get into any of those five banks, you should be set to have a good career in finance. Don't worry!

 

what are exits like for the mid tier banks in LA( rbc,lincoln, rothschild). I'm a rising soph from a non-target so I'm focusing more on these, if you could provide any info that would be helpful

 

Not too sure! I know RBC is still a bit new, but they have poached a complete rainmaker from Moelis a while back, so their rep is growing like crazy. Lincoln has sent a few to MM banks. For Rothschild, I'm really sorry but I don't have too much info for this.

But you shouldn't be thinking about exit ops! Go to the place where you fit best and keep studying for PE while you're at it :)

 

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