RBC NYC Groups / Culture
Hey-I've seen a handful of posts on here about RBC but they all seem decently outdated. Could anyone share insight on to which groups at RBC NYC are best or to avoid, and reasons why? Also if anyone knows the internal mobility seen at RBC, please share (Possibility of relocating from NYC to like SF, Charlotte, or Houston).
Strictly a culture / hours perspective from a friend who left fairly recently…
Would prob avoid M&A, Healthcare, PU&I, Real Estate unless it’s something you’re really interested in. They have some more old school MDs who run a tight ship and aren’t afraid to chew out analysts over small things or work them through the night.
M&A in particular is horribly understaffed because everyone quits after like a year (mostly lateral to BBs/EBs) and it’s a perpetuating cycle. Friend worked there and was very frequently up till 5AM, all nighters weren’t uncommon at all. Lateraled to an EB and actually working decently less now. A couple of the seniors and even mid-levels guys were almost intolerable.
LevFin / Sponsors has pretty solid WLB, and most people say good things about CME. Industrials and C&R are probably okay. Tech if you want to make TikToks but tbh that video makes it seem like they’re not too bad. But on the flip side they could overcorrect.
There are some other groups that aren’t talked about much but could be pretty chill. Private capital, ECM / equity-linked, capital solutions, SPAC, etc.
Obviously you’ll have to factor in your own thoughts on deal flow, comp, exit opps, internal promotion, etc. All a give and take since for example M&A exits easily and gets paid relatively well. On the flip side recruiting has to be fairly discreet.
Tech is either the best or worst group to be in depending on what you want. If you want to work less hours as an analyst than directors in other groups and socialize a lot during your office hours, great place to be (and there is merit in being able to cruise, so not trying to rule that out). If you want to be in a group that actually has MDs left and does a lot of M&A deals...maybe not so much. PU&I is a very strong group across the street and deal flow is monstrous but with that comes the hours. M&A has a very work hard / play hard culture and there are some not so nice seniors but also some very nice seniors including the group head (he puts on a kind of old-school, tough front but he's a very nice guy). LevFin is a strong group but coverage tends to hold the model. CME has some very strong dealflow in some verticals; seniors are very approachable and not old-school at all with things like face time.
I appreciate your comment and from my networking conversations and friends this is very accurate. I wanted to ask for FT do you have any insight regarding placement process? I know it officially kicks off Mid May but wanted to ask how the process works, any tips or things to consider, etc. thank you so much.
Found the CME VP lol
I interviewed with M&A and from the analysts and assocs I have spoken to, hours sound horrible. Working until 4 am, and everything is on the go all the time. But they are starting to exit pretty well now to the buyside.
Where can I find that tiktok lmao
Tik tok jokes aside tech culture is excellent
For NY - tried to rank best I could within tiers too:
- Exit Opps Ranked:
Tier 1 (Upper Middle Market achievable and MM easily) - M&A, PU&I, FIG (naturally the latter two are going to place better in certain type of funds)
Tier 2 (steady into MM) - Industrials, LevFin, Sponsors, RE, CME
Tier 3 (groups are completely rebuilding and trying to establish deal flow after recent senior turnover. can still place into good PE shops if you know how to interview) - Healthcare, Tech, CnR
- Culture Ranked (based on hours, WFH, douchebags):
Tier 1 - Tech, CnR, Sponsors, CME
Tier 2 - Industrials, LevFin
Tier 3 - Healthcare, RE, PU&I
Tier 4 - FIG, M&A
I'm an analyst in a group with a great culture and okay reputation for resume, and I love my job. I work 60 hours a week, will make 170+ all in, and in the grand scheme of things work at a good bank with good exit opportunities. I don't think this type of balance exists at your typical bulge bracket bank
Are they recruiting for Associate 1 in NY? Thanks
M&A cannot get enough people period.
Can you PM me I’d love to hear a bit morw
FIG is psychotic hours, I'd say analysts there average close to 100 hours a week and these are legitimate hours. They have a crazy amount of trouble hanging on to analysts. M&A hours are not great but the group is quite lively and close-knit.
Sometimes too close knit if you know what I mean.
The turnover has been wild in the past year in FIG. Can confirm these hours are real.
This is honestly a really good take
If I could choose again I’d do Tech. Buddies there have now A2A-ed and RBC has made it rain for juniors this past cycle. Always see the Tech guys enjoying life outside of work
Aren't they getting a little rocked by the Tik Tok stuff?
Could you share some insight into what the process from placing into a SA group to FT placement was like? Should I be networking with desired groups prior to the spring placement for SA? Or is that unnecessary?
Hi,
I was wondering if you could DM me as I cannot DM you, but had a couple of questions regarding my department and team if you could help answer. That'd be great. Thank you!
Do you have any insight on the ECM group culture wise? Thanks!
Great layout, I work at RBC myself as a second year and couldn't have ranked it better, here's some incremental thoughts:
Overall, one thing to note is that the groups are set up so that only FIG, PU&I and O&G(Houston) holds the pen on models, everyone else at best assists on modeling and M&A holds the pen. This means most coverage has a hard time learning technical skills.
Industrials: Rosenbaum, the co-author of IB bible heads the group, and he brings in at least a few high quality deals every year, get on those and your resume will be solid.
Healthcare: They hired a head/co-head/sub sector head not sure which a couple months ago as part of the rebuilding, quite the grinder, seen some thick pitches.
Tech: Their Fintech team MDs are still fully in-tact, strong dealflow and actually does m&a if Fintech is your thing. Also no real correction seem to have taken place after TikTok, still the loudest group on the floor with interesting arrival times.
Private Capital group: This one was started 2 years ago when they hired an executive director from JPM as head. Very knowledgeable guy, gets deals done as they are on every private placement so good optics for resume. Work wise very similar to Sponsors.
RE: My reservation with RE is that you need to finance aggressively to win deals at a bank level, RBC is not a US native bank and is very conservative, this is something a senior brought up to me during a casual convo.
M&A/PU&I: Strong deal flow and tough hours like everyone else says, but whenever I see them at happy hour the showing is strong and they seem to like each other, not a toxic environment.
FIG: Painfully close but fell through on many final bids of buyside advisory on recent years, so much so they have a special set of creds displaying those. Still a strong group tho.
Hey, when M&A gets understaffed enough sometimes these other coverage groups get dragged into holding the model! Better believe I didn't appreciate that as the great learning experience that was pitched to me…
In all seriousness, this is more of a commentary on coverage vs product groups as a whole rather than on RBC. But for recruiting I honestly found it easier to just learn how to model on my own, while being much more comfortable than M&A/LevFin peers with how to speak to an investment thesis. Knew a couple analysts on my deals who held the model but couldn't really speak to the company's story, and struggled in case study interviews because that was a bit tougher to cram.
Certainly not making the case that these coverage groups are better for recruitment, but just my 2 cents playing a bit of devil's advocate here. There's a give and take to everything IMO.
overall how would u rank RBC? Good overall in terms of culture + exists? how does it compare against weaker BB's or other MM's?
Hi,
I was wondering if I could ask a couple of questions regarding my department and team at RBC if you could help answer. That'd be great. Thank you!
Which mega funds recruit from RBC?
I work at RBC and have yet to see someone to exit to a MF, but we do a lot of work with Blackstone and Apollo - so it wouldn't surprise me if someone exited to them.
Hi, I was wondering if you worked at RBC and if I could DM you about some questions regarding team/department. Thank you.
Bunch of white frat boy culture. Be ready to fetch coffee and do push ups. Larger usa BB actually have better culture.
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