RBC Calgary Mass Exodus
I've been interviewing with the group but really concerned with the number of folks who have left recently, hearing that it's around 9-10 people over the course of last year and 5 people in recent months. Does anybody have any context around this?
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God-awful culture (worst in the city and maybe all of Canada outside of CIBC and BMO Metals and Mining) with several MDs being well- known slave drivers, pay below market, terrible hours and just general state of oil and gas industry.
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Work at a BB in town and personally know 3 out of 4/5. All exited in last couple months.
How bad are things in calgary O&G right now? Would you opt for a banking role in calgary Vs say houston and curious as to what you reckon deal flow/exit ops/comp might look like going forward for some of the Calgary banks? Heard big 5/peters usually do well volume wise and BBs are a lot more sporadic?
1) Houston
2) BB in Calgary
3) Canadian IB Shop in Calgary (not RBC)
4) Peter's Drive-In
5) RBC Calgary
Terrible culture, honestly that's the biggest concern. In this hot job market, people have to option to leave for a better group, make more money, and not get treated like an absolute dog. Why would you stay? Objectively RBC YYC is the top Canadian energy shop (or has been historically), but given the awful culture and general decline in O&G, I think smart juniors are taking better offers at different shops (where they get treated like a human being). The recent mass exodus is true, and it's not by coincidence.
It happens to that bloody awful sweatshop every couple of years. 2 of my close buds worked there, so my take on the key issues below:
Would avoid at all costs if you have any other reasonable offers.
Curious why Scotia isn't counted? Don't have a dog in the race but Scotia M&A in Toronto does pretty well I think?
Scotia has an okay culture but they are not as busy as others in Calgary and pay the least.
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I'd say "give it a try and find out", but I couldn't live with the guilt
Nobody deserves that kind of punishment…
Jokes aside, if you have any Calgary IB friends, just bring up those 3 fabulous letters and start taking notes. You’ll get a bonus money shot if you bring a particular MD or two.
Understandable what's been said about RBC CGY to be fair but isn't this the norm across all shops in CGY? Know a few people in/close to the industry and this is what their summary was - Among Big 5, heard RBC, BMO, CIBC (6 juniors quit in december due to brutal hours with no exits lined) are super sweaty with RBC probably better than the other 2 in terms of deal flow and CIBC much farther behind. TD and Scotia probably slam you with a paycut though I believe hours are better.
Then across the BBs in town, heard GS, JPM, CS, Citi are disgustingly sweaty with absolutely shit dealflow (except JP). The likes of BAML/Barc probably haven't closed an M&A deal in a few years. Friend met/knows analysts/associates at GS, Citi and CS and they just seem like the typical awkward virgins trying to get high off of brand name but no comp/deal flow to show for it.
So is this an RBC specific thing or more related to CGY in general with the state of the industry?
This is not new, this a a group that routinely loses half of its analyst class a year in even in good times. As other have mentioned, serious cultural issue and a very toxic environment.
How many analysts are hired each year?
Difficult culture there for juniors to say the least, but good deal flow and good experience to be had. Heard BAML and Peters are also sweatshops, JPM has the best overall mix of culture and workflow, Barclays and JPM have good culture.
Latest news out of JPM seems as though culture has basically fallen apart. Tons of departures this year and the ones I spoke to have poor reviews. Deal flow still seems to be holding up at least (assuming the announced stuff actually closes).
Are you able to expand on this a bit? Very curious on the details
Turnover sounds like BMO Minneapolis
What happened to BMO Minneapolis??
BMO acquired GHF in 2016. Once earn-outs were paid and lock up periods expired, all of the senior bankers left. There is one MD left that does deals.
Do they do rotations out of Calgary office into PU&I or Houston?
They rotate right out of the bank
LOL... So if folks on this forum are not exaggerating, I should stay the hell away from this team and clearly put in more time into my lower tier BB NYC P&U process.
Know some folks from back in the day, couple who worked at MFs or so. Exits were good cause work on headline deals but with todays industry not sure anyone sees those deals anymore.
Also the US BBs do pay much better and everyone I know had a chance to look at other offices. But deal experience could vary.
HF PM from Calgary, who are you? I didn't think these existed.
What bank has the best culture in Calgary?
TD out of Big 5; BarCap and JPM out of BBs; boutiques / randoms have very little deal flow so hours and culture tend to be a lot better.
What do you think of CS O&G in Calgary? They don't have a lot of turnover but not sure about their deal flow.
The only boutiques worth a shot are:
Peters
Stifel (formerly FirstEnergy)
TPH (newest guys on the street)
All of the other boutiques are garbage: no expectation of deal exposure (nor A&D work) and pay is shit.
From those Peters has the shittiest pay: base pay of $70k (~$130k total comp) ~2yrs ago for Analyst 1. Add on top of the reputation of having an asshole culture forcing analysts to come in on Sunday's and other stupid shit.
JPM Calgary is becoming as toxic as the rest and quick. The amount of turnover there in recent months seems to be the result (~50%/5 people of the office in 2021).
what makes TD's culture good in Canada? I've seen comments about TD having good culture across every city in Canada
Pros: they had a very strong year and the deal flow continues to be decent, at least for now
Cons: inhumane hours, terrible leadership, extreme levels of disrespect by seniors, good people leaving left, right and center
Perfect summary with a couple of additions:
Pros: a couple of senior bankers are ok
Cons: the ones that are NOT truly make your life a living hell
how do seniors disrespect you? curious if you have any concrete examples?
Have a good friend from training in that team. You should avoid certain seniors like the plague. Would not like to be there personally!
They also had two of their best MDs leave in last couple of years so their ratio of tolerable ones to psychopaths is at its worst.
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One of my close buds quit this group less than a year in. Absolutely awful place.
Worked there several years ago and it's amazing to read all these comments and see that nothing has changed. It was a terrible place to work at but if you were lucky you got decent deal exposure.
Toxicity aside, my two biggest issues were: 1. lack of any coherent leadership or employee retention with us consistently losing best performers; 2. Bad advice to clients to make a quick buck.
Culture is still ok at the junior level to be fair. Seniors are a mixed bag - the ones that are bad are really bad. Comp is not great even if you perform well.
How problematic is the culture there? Can people share any specific examples? Isn't the current CEO of RBCCM from there?
THsi is BeyoNd sAd
So did they end up hiring anybody? A friend of mine turned down an associate offer from them recently.
Ha!! I think I know who your friend is.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around any group of Canadians anywhere that isn't polite to a fault and constantly apologizing to one another.
Gotta love banking, its like every other day I get learn about another bank or office with a horrendous culture. IB never fails to surprise me with how shitty it can be.
This particular one definitely deserves a place in Toxic Sweatshop Hall of Fame.
LMAO
Worked there some years ago, sounds like nothing has changed.
CIBC P&U in Calgary is also awful. There's one ED who juniors hate so much and turn over so much while blaming him directly that his promotion was tied to juniors under him not quitting for a minimum period of time.
Only in IB...
For a secondary finance city, Calgary has a disproportionate amount of bad banking culture.
yes and the weirdest thing is how the BBs have better culture than the big 5. It's a black eye for rbc especially because in Toronto, it's generally known for having comparatively chill vibe. The hours are the hours but not much toxicity.
Norm of the oil and gas business anywhere.
Is that ED still at CIBC? Heard a very similar story about another Director who actually left the bank to head the same group at a different bank.
Tuc Tuncay?
just looked on LinkedIn, you're right. guess he never got that MD promo after all, for good reason. sounds like he legitimately has mental problems.
Hopefully this means I have a higher chance of getting an offer...
At this stage they'll probably take anybody who puts their hand up...
East Coast RBC associate here.
Calgary office is terrible but is by no means representative of RBC culture in Canada. Had a few good acquaintances there and they are all either gone or are looking to leave ASAP. They've been trying to poach people from any team they can and folks are openly shutting them down. Heard some disturbing stories of senior abuse there as well.
how do the seniors disrespect juniors?
Funniest thing about this thread is how universally despised this group is. Typically you'd see at least some keyboard warriors jump on here and defend the mothership but alas.
Have heard that a staffer will walk the floor on Friday to assess your weekend workload. If it is deemed to be light, you will proceed to receive additional work.