Public Finance vs General IB
Hi All,
I received a summer analyst offer from Wells Fargo in their Public Finance Group, which is in their IBD. However, I'm worried that later on down the road, exit opportunities into HF/PE will be limited, in addition to the fact that Public Finance is specialized/niche as compared to some of the other IBD groups.
Thus, if I were to receive an offer from a lesser known, but still large bank (specifically KeyBank or SunTrust Robinson Humphrey) in their general IBD SA program, would that be a more attractive option than WF, even if the name is less well known?
Thank you all, really appreciate any insight or feedback!
I would stay away from public finance.
Thank you for your response! Really appreciate it. Any particular reasons why? Or is it mainly because of the reasons I already listed above?
Well regardless of exits, the work isn't going to be as interesting IMO. Depends on your interests, but underwriting municipal bonds doesn't sound that fun to me. Clients will be bureaucratic and lacking finance backgrounds i.e. highly regulated utilities. Project finance deals can be interesting to model though.
I see, that makes sense. Thank you!
bump
Before you worry about exits, work on getting a FT offer -----> moving to a better group------> moving to a better bank ------> maybe PE/HF..
BB PubFin vs. LOW MM Gen IB (Originally Posted: 12/18/2015)
Hey guys, stuck between two offers here.
Low low MM IB with a no-name boutique, but works across all industries. Deal sizes about $5-150mm.
Or a BB PubFin, which I know wso hates and is super nichey.
Is BB name worth it? What will be better for biz school and PE?
IBD. You'll get very good, transferable skills. The switch from IBD to PubFin is easy, the other way around isn't.
While I'd be working the on full deal process at the low MM IB, I'm concerned that I'd be missing out on a big name and much larger deals on my resume with the BB Public Finance group. Not to mention a larger salary/bonus structure.
Since the other place is a no name, would a top business school and PE be harder to get into?
If you want IB, take the "no name" MM. You can always lateral after six months to a year. Like you said, public finance is nichey, which will affect you come time for PE recruiting. Brand name is not everything- job experience is.
Realistically, how difficult will PE recruiting or top MBA admissions be from a micro-boutique? I wouldn't say the firm is terribly small in headcount, they just focus on small deals.
Side note- I'm coming from FLDP with corp dev experience, about 2 years out of school.
Pub fin gets a bad rap on here. If you aren't dead set on doing the traditional IB>PE>BS>Grab the World by the Balls route that everyone believes to be the be all-end all, then pub fin with a top BB would still generate a ton of unique opportunities for you.
End of the day, IB is essentially a professional development program. Yes, the technical work you'll do in pub fin is less attractive to a certain segment of the finance world than M&A, but the professional development component is not. You'll still be working with highly intelligent people and inherently the intangible, professional side of you will see considerable growth. Having worked at a no-name, I can tell you first hand that while you'll be getting more relevant experience, there's a strong chance you will lose that professional development component.
Public Finance analyst vs. Ibanking analyst (Originally Posted: 09/08/2006)
Hello! I was looking at the recruitment schedule at my school and I noticed that Lazard, Citi, and Lehman are recruiting public finance analysts here, while other banks recruit IB analysts. Is there a difference? I read the descriptions and it seemed that there is no difference between IB analyst and PF analyst, but I have heard that it is not so.
Any clarification would be greatly appreciated
PF usually falls under IB, but the work is substantially different than corp fin analysts. your clients are anybody who can issue tax-exempt debt (municipalities, states, utilities, airports, in some cases corporations, etc)
Is there a compensation difference or do you get the same salary?
And is how significantly different is the work? IE: What do Public Finance analysts go into upon completing their tenure?
Thanks!
at my firm there is no salary difference at the analyst level. exit opps are generally the same for PF analysts-law school/business school. might be a little tougher to branch out into hedge funds/PE, but I don't think it would be impossible.
What type of ?'s should be prepped for a PF analyst interview...
I know a guy that worked in PF at Lehman. He didn't really have anything great to say about it. I would think it would be boring as all hell.
yeah i agree. i no some guys in PF and they are not fond of it
It may be an opportunity to get into sales/trading of municipals. There's some good cash to be made there brcause of the size of the market.
Public Finance vs. Traditional Ibanking Spreads/Fees (Originally Posted: 09/17/2014)
I'm a public finance intern right now and I read about this before I started, but my boss has been talking about how the spreads keep getting smaller in public finance. Does anyone know by how much though? For example, on a 500m airport muni bond issuance versus a 500m tech company bond issuance, how much would the fees differ by? Just looking for like an average estimate. Also, is healthcare still seen as the best area in public finance to get into?
5$ a bond difference, corporate takedowns have been pretty consistent while munis have tightened because of lack of supply causing firms to bid down takedowns just to get business. Healthcare higher ed are the "best" due to p3 opportunities and more complex transactions and things they can do
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