Next next bulge bracket?

With CS going down there may be space for a new BB over the next 5-7 years - could come through an MM growing or EBs expanding into S&T, ER, AM etc (much less likely imo)

Any bets on the next BB? I would bet a European bank personally 

55 Comments
 

HL doesn't have the balance sheet or extensive S&T presence to be considered IMO. Even Jefferies is lacking on the WM / AM side of things most of the other bulges leverage.

Wells and RBC make the most sense for me too. I think Wells' advisory is a bit dysfunctional however, so RBC probably is my #1 pick.

 

Doesn’t seem likely, if you think about the history behind the current BBs they are all decades old. Doesn’t seem likely any new ones would come in. RBC has basically no representation outside of Canada. Jefferies would be closest imo.

 

There's talk and banter of people mentioning Nomura, especially with their more aggressive expansion and bumped salaries. But am hearing it in Asia (in a place where CS is amongst the top for deals), not sure if it has a good rep in western countries though.

 

They've done well with Greentech, but are too far down the league tables, especially in the US where so much IB gets done, at this point. Even in Asia (outside of Japan of course) I don't see them as a top-rated player. They've also been exiting a few offices (e.g. South Africa, Middle East).

On the other hand, well-developed S&T and Wealth Management, and a big balance sheet (albeit cost of fixing JPY/USD or JPY/EUR makes them a bit more expensive).

To be seen

 
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With CS going down there may be space for a new BB over the next 5-7 years - could come through an MM growing or EBs expanding into S&T, ER, AM etc (much less likely imo)

Any bets on the next BB? I would bet a European bank personally 

Too much focus on US-based M&A / capital markets in the other comments, Wells is absolutely nowhere in Europe or Asia.

If talking about banks with decent IB and S&T across multiple regions, along with at least a presence in ER and AM, it can only really be RBC, BNP Paribas or HSBC (though HSBC seems to be on a downward trend). Agree with Jefferies as well (though weak / non-existent in AM).

 

Work at RBC - unlikely that it will become a 'bulge' largely because RBC doesn't want to massively grow its capital markets division relative to the rest of the bank.  It's a highly stable oligopoly with the majority of its business being consumer lending in Canada.  Allowing capital markets to become a bigger and bigger share has all kind of knock on effects that make it unpalatable for RBC management / shareholders.  RBC is content gaining incremental market share (which it usually does in downturns like right now) and increasing revenue / head.

 

Work at RBC - unlikely that it will become a 'bulge' largely because RBC doesn't want to massively grow its capital markets division relative to the rest of the bank.  It's a highly stable oligopoly with the majority of its business being consumer lending in Canada.  Allowing capital markets to become a bigger and bigger share has all kind of knock on effects that make it unpalatable for RBC management / shareholders.  RBC is content gaining incremental market share (which it usually does in downturns like right now) and increasing revenue / head.

Are these weaknesses? I do think RBC has better odds compared to most.

What I see is a strong defensive moat against the threat of new entrants that gives them a fairly stable and conservative position in retail. They can afford to consolidate smaller regional players in times of strong economic headwinds. They are likely too big to fail at this point. If I was management I would be waiting for the next major downturn to buy an investment bank instead of investing in building that infrastructure myself. This does not diminish your perspective because I do think the greater Canadian markets are facing several challenges that will be constraints for the firm but it is something I think many people have in mind.

IMO I would rather own a boring bank with incremental growth if I thought the near term (5-10 years) might be a period of sustained issues with economic growth but that is for a different topic...

 

Work at RBC - unlikely that it will become a 'bulge' largely because RBC doesn't want to massively grow its capital markets division relative to the rest of the bank.  It's a highly stable oligopoly with the majority of its business being consumer lending in Canada.  Allowing capital markets to become a bigger and bigger share has all kind of knock on effects that make it unpalatable for RBC management / shareholders.  RBC is content gaining incremental market share (which it usually does in downturns like right now) and increasing revenue / head.

- expand -

Are these weaknesses? I do think RBC has better odds compared to most.

What I see is a strong defensive moat against the threat of new entrants that gives them a fairly stable and conservative position in retail. They can afford to consolidate smaller regional players in times of strong economic headwinds. They are likely too big to fail at this point. If I was management I would be waiting for the next major downturn to buy an investment bank instead of investing in building that infrastructure myself. This does not diminish your perspective because I do think the greater Canadian markets are facing several challenges that will be constraints for the firm but it is something I think many people have in mind.

IMO I would rather own a boring bank with incremental growth if I thought the near term (5-10 years) might be a period of sustained issues with economic growth but that is for a different topic...

Well I've worked at RBC for over 5 years so I don't think it's a weakness but as with everything, there are puts and takes.  Certainly glad to have my deferred comp tied to RBC stock vs almost any other bank 

 

This question is premised upon the idea that there will be MORE market entrants into the Global BB investment banking subsector. 

I would argue the premise is wrong entirely. If anything, additional banks will consolidate, blow up, have market share stolen, fall behind the other giants, etc. and market share will further consolidate. Thus I would expect non-BBs to continue to realize a greater disparity in global market share between themselves and the BB Giants in the future. 

 

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